UK Stamp Duty Calculator (SDLT)
Calculate UK Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on a property purchase in England and Northern Ireland from the purchase price, first-time buyer relief, additional property surcharge, and non-resident surcharge, with a full band-by-band breakdown.
What is UK Stamp Duty (SDLT)?
SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) is a one-off national tax paid by the buyer when purchasing property or land in England and Northern Ireland. Rather than applying a single flat rate to the whole purchase price, it splits the price into a series of bands and applies a progressively higher rate only to the portion of the price that falls within each band — a one-time cost at the point of purchase, distinct from ongoing mortgage repayments.
On top of the standard rates, there is a relief for first-time buyers (First Time Buyer Relief), a surcharge for buying an additional residential property (+5%), and a further surcharge for buyers who are not UK residents (+2%) — so the amount owed on an identical property price can differ substantially depending on who is buying. Note that Scotland applies its own system, LBTT (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax), and Wales applies LTT (Land Transaction Tax); both have different rates and rules from the SDLT covered by this tool.
How to use
- Enter the property price Enter the price of the property you plan to buy, or are considering, in pounds sterling
- Choose the buyer type Select standard, first-time buyer, or additional property
- Check whether the non-resident surcharge applies Tick the box if you spent fewer than 183 days in the UK during the 12 months before the purchase
- Review the result The total SDLT, effective rate, and band-by-band breakdown are shown
Tips for getting more out of it
- First-time buyer relief requires that every buyer on the purchase is a first-time buyer. If you are buying jointly and even one buyer has owned property before, the standard rate applies to the whole purchase.
- If you are selling your existing home to move into a new one, briefly owning two properties is usually treated as replacing your main residence, so the additional property surcharge normally does not apply (you will typically need to sell your old home within a set period).
- If you buy a UK property while living abroad, the additional property surcharge and the non-resident surcharge can both apply at once, pushing the total up to as much as +7% above the standard rate.
- Rates and thresholds can change with UK government budgets, so always check the latest rates on the official gov.uk site before exchanging contracts.
Use cases
Budgeting for a home purchase
Work out the Stamp Duty due on top of the property price in advance to build an accurate overall budget
Checking the benefit of first-time buyer relief
Compare how much tax changes between the standard rate and the first-time buyer relief rate
Weighing up a buy-to-let or second home
Estimate the tax due once the additional property surcharge is included, and factor it into your investment returns
Buying UK property while living abroad
Estimate the total cost in advance, including the non-resident surcharge
Glossary
- SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax)
- A one-off national tax paid by the buyer when purchasing property or land in England and Northern Ireland.
- Progressive band taxation
- A system that splits the property price into several bands and applies each band's rate only to the portion of the price within that band — the same principle used for progressive income tax.
- First Time Buyer Relief
- A reduced rate available to buyers who have never owned property anywhere in the world. It does not apply to properties priced above £500,000.
- Additional property surcharge
- An extra charge added on top of the standard rate when the buyer will own two or more residential properties after the purchase (+5% as of 2026).
- Non-resident surcharge
- An extra charge (+2%) applied to individuals who spent fewer than 183 days in the UK during the 12 months before the purchase.
- LBTT and LTT
- The property purchase taxes used in Scotland and Wales respectively — separate systems with different rates and rules from SDLT.
FAQ
Side Note — Why it's called "Stamp Duty"
The name "Stamp Duty" comes from the old practice of physically stamping a document, such as a property deed, to prove that tax had been paid on it. In the UK, duties on various documents date back to the late 17th century, and property transactions were among the many kinds of paperwork covered. Before SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) was introduced in its current form in 2003, property purchases were taxed as part of this much broader, older system of document duties, simply known as "Stamp Duty".
UK SDLT works on a progressive band system, applying a different rate to each slice of the property price. It works much like income tax: for a £300,000 purchase, the tax is not simply the same rate applied to the full £300,000. Instead, the portion up to £125,000 is tax-free, the portion between £125,000 and £250,000 is taxed at 2%, and the remaining £250,000 to £300,000 is taxed at 5% — with the higher rate only ever applying to the amount above each threshold. Thanks to this structure, crossing a band boundary by a small amount never causes the tax bill to jump sharply; it simply rises smoothly.
In recent years, UK housing policy has leaned toward supporting first-time buyers while adding extra tax on purchases made for investment or as a second home. The additional property surcharge, introduced in 2016 at 3%, was raised to 5% in the October 2024 budget — a change widely read as an attempt to cool the buy-to-let market and take some of the heat out of house prices.