Housing

UK Stamp Duty 2026: SDLT, LBTT and LTT Rates

By Rahman · 22 June 2026 · 9 min read · Last reviewed 18 October 2026

Quick answer

Stamp duty is charged in bands, so each slice of the price is taxed at its own band's rate, and crossing a threshold never taxes the whole purchase at the higher rate. England and Northern Ireland use SDLT, Scotland uses LBTT and Wales uses LTT, each with its own thresholds, and first-time buyers and people buying an additional property pay different rates again.

When you buy a home in the UK, there's a tax bill on top of the price. Depending on where you're buying, and whether it's your first home or your second, that bill can run into tens of thousands of pounds. The rates and reliefs differ quite a bit between England, Scotland and Wales, and that surprises a lot of people the first time they see the numbers.

This guide covers the 2026/27 rules in all three nations: how the bands work, who gets first-time buyer relief, and what you pay on an additional property. (England and Scotland add a percentage on top of the normal rates, while Wales taxes the whole price again under a separate table.) There are worked examples for the most common purchases, and you can run your own figures through the UK Stamp Duty Calculator, which handles all three systems and applies the right relief for you.

What is stamp duty?

"Stamp duty" is the everyday name for the tax you pay when you buy land or property in the UK. Each nation runs its own version:

**England and Northern Ireland:** Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), set by HMRC.
**Scotland:** Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), set by Revenue Scotland.
**Wales:** Land Transaction Tax (LTT), set by the Welsh Revenue Authority.

How the rates work (it's not a single percentage)

All three systems work in bands. The price is split into slices, and each slice is taxed at its own rate. The first slice might be tax-free, the next is taxed at a low rate, and so on up. The top rate only touches the part of the price above the top threshold, never the whole thing.

That's why the headline rates look more alarming than the bill usually is. A standard £400,000 purchase in England is taxed at 0%, 2% and 5% across three bands, and the overall rate works out at about 2.5%, not 5%.

2026 SDLT rates (England + Northern Ireland)

Price band	Standard rate	First-time buyer	Additional property
Up to £125,000	0%	0%	5%
£125,001 – £250,000	2%	0%	7%
£250,001 – £300,000	5%	0%	10%
£300,001 – £500,000	5%	5%	10%
£500,001 – £925,000	5%	standard rates apply	10%
£925,001 – £1.5m	10%	standard rates apply	15%
Over £1.5m	12%	standard rates apply	17%

First-time buyer relief in England only applies when the price is £500,000 or less. Above that, standard rates apply. The additional-property surcharge rose from 3% to 5% in October 2024.

2026 LBTT rates (Scotland)

Price band	Standard rate	First-time buyer	Additional Dwelling Supplement
Up to £145,000	0%	0% (up to £175k)	+8% on whole price
£145,001 – £250,000	2%	2%	+8% on whole price
£250,001 – £325,000	5%	5%	+8% on whole price
£325,001 – £750,000	10%	10%	+8% on whole price
Over £750,000	12%	12%	+8% on whole price

Scotland's first-time buyer relief raises the 0% threshold to £175,000, with no price cap (unlike England). The Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is 8% on every band, the highest in the UK.

2026 LTT rates (Wales)

Wales has one table for a standard purchase, and first-time buyers use it too, because there's no first-time buyer relief on LTT. An additional property has its own, steeper table, which comes next.

Price band	Main residential rate
Up to £225,000	0%
£225,001 – £400,000	6%
£400,001 – £750,000	7.5%
£750,001 – £1.5m	10%
Over £1.5m	12%

Wales doesn't offer first-time buyer relief on LTT. Its 0% threshold of £225,000 is higher than England's £125,000, though, so most first-time buyers in Wales still pay less than they would for a similar home in England.

Wales additional-property rates: a separate table, not a surcharge

England and Scotland add a percentage on top of their normal rates for an additional property. Wales does something different: it taxes the whole price under a separate, steeper table that starts from the very first pound. There's no 0% band at all for a second home or a buy-to-let.

Price band	Additional-property rate
Up to £180,000	5%
£180,001 – £250,000	8.5%
£250,001 – £400,000	10%
£400,001 – £750,000	12.5%
£750,001 – £1.5m	15%
Over £1.5m	17%

For an additional property, these bands replace the main residential table entirely. They aren't added on top of it.

First-time buyer relief: who qualifies?

The basic rules are much the same everywhere. Everyone buying must be a first-time buyer, anywhere in the world and not only in the UK, and the property must be your only or main home. If you've ever owned a property before, even a share you inherited, you don't qualify.

England has the tightest limit. The relief only applies when the price is £500,000 or less, and above that you pay standard rates with no relief at all. Scotland has no price cap. It simply raises the 0% threshold from £145,000 to £175,000.

Wales is the odd one out, with no first-time buyer relief on LTT. Its reasoning is that the lower bands already favour cheaper homes.

The additional-property surcharge

If you already own a property anywhere in the world and you're buying another, you'll pay more than the standard rates. The extra charge is meant to discourage buy-to-let and second-home purchases, which push up prices for people buying their first home.

In 2026, England adds 5% on top of each band. Scotland adds 8%, and it charges that on the *whole* price rather than only the part above a threshold, which makes a Scottish additional property a good deal more expensive than the headline rate suggests. Wales has no percentage to add. As above, it taxes an additional property entirely under its separate table, starting at 5% and rising to 17%.

If you're moving home and selling your old main residence at the same time, you don't pay the surcharge. If there's a gap between buying the new place and selling the old one, you pay it upfront and can claim it back within 36 months (England) or 18 months (Scotland) of the sale.

Worked example: a £400,000 home in England

If you're a **first-time buyer** at the same £400,000: 0% on the first £300,000 (£0) + 5% on £300,001–£400,000 (£5,000). Total SDLT: £5,000, so the relief saves you £5,000.

If the same £400,000 home is an **additional property** (a second home or buy-to-let), you pay the standard amount plus the 5% surcharge on the whole price: £10,000 + £20,000 = **£30,000**. That's three times the standard bill, and a big part of why buy-to-let investing has fallen away since 2016.

Standard buyer

On a £400,000 standard purchase: 0% on the first £125,000 (£0) + 2% on £125,001–£250,000 (£2,500) + 5% on £250,001–£400,000 (£7,500). Total SDLT: £10,000. Effective rate: 2.5%.

When do you pay?

In England and Northern Ireland, your conveyancer files the SDLT return and pays HMRC within **14 days** of completion. In Scotland and Wales you have **30 days**. Either way, the tax comes out of your completion funds, so you won't be writing a separate cheque. Your solicitor will show it as a line on your completion statement.

Filing late brings a penalty that starts at £100 and grows the longer it goes on, and late payment also builds up interest. In practice it rarely comes to that, because your solicitor handles it all. Just make sure they have the money in their client account a few days before completion.

Common pitfalls

**Leaving stamp duty out of your savings plan.** It's easy to plan for the deposit and fees and forget this bill. On a £400k second home in Scotland it comes to £45,350 (£13,350 LBTT plus £32,000 ADS).
**Getting first-time buyer status wrong.** A share of an inherited property counts, even if you never lived there. So does a property abroad.
**Thinking "additional property" only means an investment.** A second home your family uses part of the year still attracts the surcharge.
**Mixed-use property.** A purchase with a commercial part, such as a flat above a shop you're also buying, uses different non-residential rates, which are usually cheaper.
**Not allowing for higher LBTT.** In Scotland, the part of a price above £325k is taxed at 10%, well above the matching English band.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the £40,000 surcharge threshold real?

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Yes. In England, properties under £40,000 are exempt from the additional-property surcharge. It rarely matters for homes, but it does apply to things like parking spaces, lock-up garages and other low-value property.

What happens if I gift a property to my child?

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Stamp duty is based on what's paid for the property, so a pure gift with no money involved has no stamp duty, although it may mean capital gains tax for the person giving it. If your child takes over a mortgage on the property, that counts as payment and SDLT applies.

Are non-UK buyers taxed differently?

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Yes. Non-resident buyers in England and Northern Ireland pay a further 2% on top of everything else, so an additional property bought by a non-resident costs standard + 5% + 2% = standard + 7%. Scotland and Wales don't currently have a non-resident surcharge.

Can stamp duty be added to the mortgage?

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Not directly, because lenders won't lend specifically for stamp duty. If you have enough equity, though, you can borrow a little more than the bare price and use the extra to cover it. In practice that means a slightly bigger loan and slightly higher monthly payments.

How often do stamp duty rates change?

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Fairly often, and sometimes at short notice. The Chancellor and the devolved governments announce changes in the Spring and Autumn Budgets. England's surcharge rose from 3% to 5% in October 2024, and Wales's additional-property table went up by a percentage point in December 2024. Before you rely on these figures for a real purchase, check the current SDLT, LBTT or LTT thresholds on GOV.UK. This calculator and guide are updated when new rates are confirmed.