UK stamp duty rates 2025/26

The buyer pays. In England and Northern Ireland the tax is SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax), collected by HMRC. In Scotland it is LBTT (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax), collected by Revenue Scotland. In Wales it is LTT (Land Transaction Tax), collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority. The amount you pay depends on the purchase price, whether you are a first-time buyer, and whether you already own another residential property.

SDLT in England and NI is due within 14 days of completion. LBTT in Scotland is due within 30 days. LTT in Wales is due within 30 days. In all three cases your conveyancer normally files the return and pays the tax on completion day from funds you transfer at the same time as the purchase price.

Yes. The nil-rate band in England and NI fell back to £125,000 on 1 April 2025 after the temporary 2022 uplift to £250,000 expired. The first-time buyer threshold also reverted from £425,000 to £300,000 on the same date. Buyers above those prices pay more than they would have done in the year to March 2025.

All three UK systems use marginal banded rates. Each slice of the purchase price falls in a band and pays that band's rate, not a single flat rate on the whole price. For example, an English property bought for £400,000 by a standard buyer pays 0% on the first £125,000, 2% on the slice from £125,000 to £250,000 (£2,500), and 5% on the slice from £250,000 to £400,000 (£7,500). Total: £10,000.

No. Inherited property does not trigger stamp duty because no purchase has taken place. You may owe inheritance tax depending on the estate value, and you may pay stamp duty later if you buy another property and the inherited one counts as an additional dwelling under the surcharge rules.

Not directly. Mortgages are secured against the purchased property and the lender will lend up to a percentage of its value. You could increase your mortgage to release cash that then covers the stamp duty, but that only works if the loan-to-value still fits the lender's criteria. Most buyers pay stamp duty from savings on completion day.

You pay the additional-property surcharge upfront. If you sell your previous main home within 36 months of buying the new one, you can claim a refund of the surcharge. The refund window is three years from completion of the new purchase. File the claim with HMRC, Revenue Scotland or the Welsh Revenue Authority depending on where you bought.

Yes. The main reliefs are first-time buyer relief (England, NI and Scotland), multiple dwellings relief (purchases of multiple residential properties in one transaction), and certain mixed residential plus commercial transactions which can be treated as non-residential and taxed at lower rates. The rules are technical; a solicitor or chartered tax adviser is worth consulting for high-value or mixed-use purchases.