> Quick Answer: A £350,000 standard residential purchase in England or Northern Ireland owes £7,500 in Stamp Duty Land Tax. The same £350,000 purchase as a second home or buy-to-let owes £24,500 (a £5,000 base charge plus a £17,500 additional-property surcharge), because the +5-percentage-point surcharge applies across the entire price, including the portion that would otherwise be tax-free.
Overview
This calculator covers Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on residential property purchases in England and Northern Ireland only. SDLT is not a UK-wide tax: Scotland charges its own Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) instead, with entirely different bands and rates, and Wales charges its own Land Transaction Tax (LTT). If you are buying in Scotland or Wales, this calculator's figures do not apply to you -- use each nation's own devolved tax calculator instead.
Every rate and threshold here has been verified directly against gov.uk. The standard residential nil-rate threshold reverted from a temporarily raised level back down to £125,000 on 1 April 2025, following the expiry of the mini-budget-era thresholds. First-time buyer relief similarly reverted to a £300,000 nil-rate threshold with a £500,000 price cap above which the relief does not apply at all. The additional-property surcharge was raised from 3 to 5 percentage points at the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, and the non-UK-resident surcharge remains 2 percentage points, both stacking on top of the standard rate bands where applicable.
How This Is Calculated
| Portion of Price | Rate |
|---|---|
| £0 – £125,000 | 0% |
| £125,001 – £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 – £925,000 | 5% |
| £925,001 – £1,500,000 | 10% |
| Above £1,500,000 | 12% |
Worked Example
Standard purchase, £350,000:
- £0 – £125,000 @ 0% = £0
- £125,001 – £250,000 (£125,000) @ 2% = £2,500
- £250,001 – £350,000 (£100,000) @ 5% = £5,000
- Total SDLT: £7,500 (an effective rate of about 2.1% of the price)
First-time buyer, £295,000 (under the £300,000 FTB threshold):
- Entire £295,000 falls within the FTB nil-rate band
- Total SDLT: £0
First-time buyer, £600,000 (over the £500,000 FTB price cap):
- Relief does not apply at all -- standard bands apply from £0
- £0 – £125,000 @ 0% = £0; £125,000 – £250,000 @ 2% = £2,500; £250,000 – £600,000 (£350,000) @ 5% = £17,500
- Total SDLT: £20,000 -- a stark cliff-edge compared to a £499,999 FTB purchase, which would owe only £9,999.95 under the relief
Second home / buy-to-let, £400,000:
- Standard-band tax: £0 (to £125k) + £2,500 (£125k–£250k) + £7,500 (£250k–£400k) = £10,000
- Additional-property surcharge: 5% × £400,000 = £20,000
- Total SDLT: £30,000 (an effective rate of 7.5%)
Non-UK resident, standard £350,000 purchase:
- Base tax (as above): £7,500
- Non-resident surcharge: 2% × £350,000 = £7,000
- Total SDLT: £14,500
What This Does Not Account For
- Multiple Dwellings Relief, which can reduce SDLT when a single transaction buys two or more residential properties (e.g. a house with an annexe), by averaging the price across dwellings.
- Linked transactions, where two or more property purchases between the same buyer and seller (or connected parties) are aggregated for SDLT purposes.
- Mixed-use and non-residential property rates, which use a different band structure (0%/2%/5% with no residential surcharges) and apply when a purchase includes commercial elements.
- The 3-year "replacing your main residence" refund, where a buyer who pays the additional-property surcharge because their previous main home hasn't sold yet can reclaim the surcharge if they sell within 3 years.
- Shared ownership, lease premium, and rent-based SDLT calculations for new long leases, which have their own separate rules (Net Present Value calculations on rent).
- Wales (Land Transaction Tax) and Scotland (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax), which are entirely separate devolved taxes with their own bands, not modeled here.
Common Pitfalls
- Assuming first-time buyer relief tapers gradually above £500,000. It does not -- it is a hard cliff-edge. A £500,001 first-time buyer purchase loses the entire relief, not just the benefit above the cap.
- Forgetting the additional-property surcharge applies to the whole price, not just the amount above £125,000. Many buyers wrongly assume the "nil-rate band" stays tax-free even on a second home; it does not once the surcharge applies.
- Confusing this calculator with Scotland's LBTT or Wales's LTT. These devolved taxes have different band structures and different first-time-buyer and additional-property rules; using SDLT figures for a Scottish or Welsh purchase will give the wrong answer.
- Overlooking the non-UK-resident surcharge's 183-day test, which is based on physical presence in the UK, not citizenship, visa status, or where tax is otherwise paid.
- Missing the interaction between first-time-buyer status and jointly buying with someone who isn't a first-time buyer -- HMRC generally requires every buyer on the transaction to qualify as a first-time buyer for the relief to apply at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Stamp Duty the same across the whole UK?▸
Why did the nil-rate threshold change to £125,000?▸
Can the additional-property surcharge be refunded?▸
Does the first-time buyer relief apply if I'm buying with someone who has owned property before?▸
Do non-UK residents pay the surcharge even if they plan to live in the property?▸
When is SDLT actually due, and who pays it?▸
Does buying a second home always trigger the additional-property surcharge?▸
Why is the first-time buyer price cap set at exactly £500,000?▸
Sources
- GOV.UK: "Stamp Duty Land Tax" (overview) -- gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax
- GOV.UK: "Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates" -- gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates
- GOV.UK guidance: "Stamp Duty Land Tax: relief for first-time buyers" -- gov.uk/guidance/stamp-duty-land-tax-relief-for-first-time-buyers
- GOV.UK guidance: "Higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax for additional dwellings" -- gov.uk/guidance/stamp-duty-land-tax-higher-rates-for-additional-dwellings
- GOV.UK guidance: "Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax for non-UK residents" -- gov.uk/guidance/rates-of-stamp-duty-land-tax-for-non-uk-residents
- HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2024 (30 October 2024): increase of the additional-property surcharge from 3 to 5 percentage points, effective 31 October 2024.