Quick Answer: A £350,000 second home or buy-to-let attracts £25,000.00 of Stamp Duty in England and Northern Ireland. That is £7,500 on the standard bands plus a £17,500 surcharge, because the 5% additional dwelling charge applies to the whole price rather than just the portion above a threshold. A home-mover buying the same property pays £7,500.
Overview
Buying a property when you already own one triggers the additional dwelling surcharge, raised from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024. It is charged on the entire purchase price, not banded, which is why it dominates the bill on ordinary properties.
On a £350,000 purchase the surcharge is more than twice the standard charge. The effective rate rises from 2.14% for a home-mover to 7.14% for a second-home buyer on an identical property.
This calculator covers England and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales operate entirely separate taxes with their own rates and surcharges.
How This Is Calculated
Step 1 -- The standard banded charge. Each slice of the price is taxed at its own rate:
- Nothing on the first £125,000
- 2% from £125,001 to £250,000
- 5% from £250,001 to £925,000
- 10% from £925,001 to £1.5 million
- 12% above £1.5 million
Step 2 -- First-time buyer relief, where it applies: nothing to £300,000, then 5% to £500,000. The relief is withdrawn entirely above a £500,000 purchase price.
Step 3 -- The surcharge. If you will own more than one residential property at the end of the day of completion, 5% of the whole price is added:
Step 4 -- The non-resident surcharge. A further 2% of the whole price for non-UK residents, which stacks on top, giving 7% in total.
Worked Example
£350,000 second home:
- Band 1: £125,000 at 0% = £0
- Band 2: £125,000 at 2% = £2,500
- Band 3: £100,000 at 5% = £5,000
- Standard charge: £7,500
- Surcharge: £350,000 × 5% = £17,500
- Total: £25,000, an effective rate of 7.14%
The same property as a home-mover: £7,500, an effective rate of 2.14%. The surcharge alone costs £17,500 more.
The same property as a first-time buyer: nothing to £300,000, then £50,000 at 5% = £2,500.
As a non-UK resident second-home buyer: the surcharge becomes 7% of £350,000 = £24,500, so £32,000 in total.
What This Does Not Account For
- Scotland and Wales. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax with its own Additional Dwelling Supplement, and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax. Neither is calculated here.
- The 36-month replacement rule. If you are replacing your main residence but have not yet sold the old one, the surcharge is payable and then reclaimable if you sell within 36 months.
- Mixed-use and non-residential rates, which are lower and apply to properties with a genuine commercial element.
- Multiple dwellings relief, abolished for transactions from 1 June 2024.
- The £40,000 threshold, below which the surcharge does not apply at all.
- Purchases by companies, and the 15% flat rate on dwellings over £500,000 bought by certain corporate bodies.
- Linked transactions, where several purchases between the same parties are aggregated.
- Leasehold purchases, where any net present value of rent may attract a separate charge.
- Shared ownership, where the buyer can elect to pay on the full market value or in stages.
Common Pitfalls
- Assuming the surcharge is banded. It is not. It is a flat 5% of the whole price from the first pound, which is why it is so large relative to the standard charge on modest properties.
- Using the old 3% rate. The surcharge rose to 5% on 31 October 2024. On a £350,000 purchase that change alone added £7,000.
- Thinking it only applies to buy-to-let. It applies to any purchase leaving you owning more than one residential property, including holiday homes, a property bought for a child, and inherited shares in a property.
- Forgetting the replacement rule works in both directions. If you buy before selling your existing home, you pay the surcharge and reclaim it after the sale, provided that happens within 36 months.
- Applying English rates in Scotland or Wales. Both have separate taxes with different bands and different surcharge rates.
- Overlooking that non-resident status stacks. A non-resident buying a second home pays 7% on top of the banded charge, not 5%.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the 5% surcharge charged on the whole price?
When did it go up to 5%?
What if I am replacing my main home but have not sold yet?
Does it apply if I inherit a share of a property?
Do these rates apply in Scotland or Wales?
Is there a minimum price?
Sources
- GOV.UK: "Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates" -- band thresholds, first-time buyer relief, the 5% additional dwelling surcharge and the 2% non-resident surcharge
- HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2024 -- the additional dwelling surcharge raised from 3% to 5% with effect from 31 October 2024
- All figures verified on 30 August 2026, mirrored in engine/tables/2026/uk-2026-27.json and cross-checked against the live engine constants by uk-table-consistency.test.ts