Bands at a glance
All three taxes are slice-based — each rate only applies to the portion of the price within that band. The exception is Scotland's Additional Dwelling Supplement, which is charged on the whole price as a single line.
Buying in Scotland or Wales instead? Use the LBTT calculator (Scotland) or the LTT calculator (Wales).
Standard residential (England & NI)
| Portion of price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% |
| £125,001 – £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 – £925,000 | 5% |
| £925,001 – £1,500,000 | 10% |
| Over £1,500,000 | 12% |
First-time buyer relief (England & NI)
Property must be ≤ £500,000 — at £500,001 you lose all FTB relief and full standard rates apply.
| Up to £300,000 | 0% |
| £300,001 – £500,000 | 5% |
Additional property (England & NI)
+5% on every band's rate (was +3% before 31 October 2024). Non-UK residents add a further +2% on top.
| Up to £125,000 | 5% |
| £125,001 – £250,000 | 7% |
| £250,001 – £925,000 | 10% |
| £925,001 – £1,500,000 | 15% |
| Over £1,500,000 | 17% |
Standard residential (Scotland — LBTT)
| Portion of price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £145,000 | 0% |
| £145,001 – £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 – £325,000 | 5% |
| £325,001 – £750,000 | 10% |
| Over £750,000 | 12% |
First-time buyer relief (Scotland)
Nil-rate threshold raised from £145k to £175k — a £30k uplift. No upper price cap, unlike England.
| Up to £175,000 | 0% |
| £175,001 – £250,000 | 2% |
| Then standard rates above £250k | 5–12% |
Additional Dwelling Supplement — ADS (Scotland)
Calculated on the whole price, not band-by-band. Applies if price ≥ £40,000. Rose from 6% to 8% effective 5 December 2024.
| Standard LBTT (as above) + flat 8% of total price | +8% |
Main residential (Wales — LTT)
| Portion of price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £225,000 | 0% |
| £225,001 – £400,000 | 6% |
| £400,001 – £750,000 | 7.5% |
| £750,001 – £1,500,000 | 10% |
| Over £1,500,000 | 12% |
First-time buyer relief (Wales)
Wales has no FTB scheme. The £225,000 main-rate nil-rate threshold is intended to substitute.
Higher residential rates — additional property (Wales)
Separate band schedule (not standard rates + a surcharge). Rates rose 1pp across all bands on 11 December 2024.
| Up to £180,000 | 5% |
| £180,001 – £250,000 | 8.5% |
| £250,001 – £400,000 | 10% |
| £400,001 – £750,000 | 12.5% |
| £750,001 – £1,500,000 | 15% |
| Over £1,500,000 | 17% |
Built around the rates that actually apply right now — in all four UK nations.
SDLT post-April 2025
Nil-rate band back to £125k after the September 2022 holiday ended on 31 March 2025. FTB nil-rate back to £300k with the £500k cap.
LBTT with the new 8% ADS
Scotland's Additional Dwelling Supplement rose from 6% to 8% on 5 December 2024 and is charged on the whole price — not band-by-band. Most calculators get this wrong.
LTT with the December 2024 higher rates
Wales raised its higher-residential band schedule by 1pp across the board on 11 December 2024. This calculator uses the post-change rates.
FTB rules per country
England: 0% to £300k with a £500k cliff. Scotland: 0% to £175k, no cap. Wales: no FTB scheme at all. The calculator surfaces the right rules for each.
Non-resident only where it applies
The +2% non-resident surcharge only exists for SDLT (England & NI). The toggle is hidden automatically when you pick Scotland or Wales — they don't have one.
Band-by-band working
Every contributing band is shown beneath the result. Scotland's ADS appears as a separate whole-price line so the mechanic is visible, not hidden.
Track your property in the bigger picture
WealthR tracks property value, mortgage balance, and equity alongside your investments and pensions — so you see net worth, not just the bricks.
How UK property purchase tax actually works in 2026
The UK has three separate property-purchase taxes — one per devolved jurisdiction. SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) is paid in England and Northern Ireland, administered by HMRC. LBTT (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax) is paid in Scotland, administered by Revenue Scotland. LTT (Land Transaction Tax) is paid in Wales, administered by the Welsh Revenue Authority. The tax you pay is determined by where the property sits, not where you live.
All three are sliced — each rate only applies to the portion of the price within its band, the same way income tax works. SDLT moved to slice basis on 4 December 2014; LBTT and LTT have been slice from inception (April 2015 and April 2018 respectively). You can never lose money by paying £1 more for a property, with one exception: England's first-time buyer relief has a hard cliff at £500,000, where at £500,001 the entire FTB scheme disappears.
SDLT (England & Northern Ireland)
The headline rates above were the temporary higher thresholds from 23 September 2022 to 31 March 2025 — the "stamp duty holiday". From 1 April 2025 the nil-rate band reverted from £250k to £125k, the FTB nil-rate threshold reverted from £425k to £300k, and the FTB property cap reverted from £625k to £500k. The +5% additional-property surcharge has been in place since 31 October 2024 (raised from +3%). The +2% non-resident surcharge has been in place since 1 April 2021.
LBTT (Scotland)
LBTT bands sit a touch below SDLT — nil-rate to £145k (vs £125k in England), the standard 12% top rate kicks in at £750k (vs £1.5m in England). First-time buyer relief in Scotland is much simpler than in England: just a higher nil-rate threshold of £175k, with no upper cap. A Scottish FTB buying a £400,000 property still benefits from £175k of nil-rate, then standard rates apply above.
The Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is the biggest mechanical difference from England's surcharge. Rather than adding to each band's rate, Scotland charges a flat 8% on the whole purchase price as a single line, provided the price is at least £40,000. The rate rose from 6% to 8% on 5 December 2024 (Scottish Budget). The consequence: a £200,000 second home in Scotland faces £1,100 of standard LBTT plus £16,000 of ADS — £17,100 in total — while the same property in England faces about £11,500.
Scotland does not have a non-resident surcharge. A non-UK resident buying in Edinburgh pays the same LBTT as a Scottish resident.
LTT (Wales)
Wales has the highest nil-rate threshold of the three — £225,000 — and no first-time buyer scheme at all. The Welsh Government's position is that the higher main nil-rate does more for first-time buyers than a targeted relief would. In practice it means a Welsh FTB buying at £225,000 pays £0 LTT, but a Welsh FTB buying at £300,000 pays £4,500 — meaningfully more than an English FTB at the same price (£0 under FTB relief).
The Wales higher-residential rate schedule is also different — Wales doesn't use "standard rates + surcharge" like England. It defines a completely separate band schedule that applies to additional-property purchases: starting at 5% from £0, then 8.5%, 10%, 12.5%, 15% and 17%. Welsh higher rates were raised by 1 percentage point across all bands on 11 December 2024. Wales has no non-resident surcharge either.
The reclaim window — common to all three
If you complete on a new main residence before selling your old one, the additional-property surcharge / ADS / higher rates kick in. Across all three jurisdictions you can reclaim the surcharge portion (not the standard tax) if you sell the previous main residence within 36 months of buying the new one. The claim is made through each tax authority's own refund service — HMRC for SDLT, Revenue Scotland for LBTT, the Welsh Revenue Authority for LTT.
What this tool deliberately doesn't model
- Mixed-use property. SDLT mixed-use uses the non-residential bands (max 5%). Scotland and Wales have their own non-residential schedules. Not modelled here — this calculator is residential only.
- Companies and SPVs. Corporate residential purchases over £500k in England are normally hit with a flat 17% SDLT (ATED-related), with exceptions for genuine letting businesses. Scotland and Wales have their own corporate rules.
- Linked transactions. If you buy two properties from the same seller or in the same arrangement, the tax authority may "link" them — the combined price determines the rate.
- Shared ownership. You can pay either on the full market value (one-off) or just on the equity share you buy (with staircasing rules). Different rules per country.
- Anti-avoidance and edge cases. Properties held in trust, partnerships, and certain leasehold arrangements have specialist rules.
Common questions
What's the difference between SDLT, LBTT and LTT?
What are the SDLT rates in England & NI for 2025/26?
What are the LBTT rates in Scotland?
What are the LTT rates in Wales?
Why is Scotland's ADS so much higher than England's surcharge?
Does the non-resident surcharge apply in Scotland or Wales?
Who counts as a first-time buyer?
Can I reclaim the additional-property surcharge?
When do I have to pay?
Are fixtures and fittings taxed?
Want to model the rest of the property maths?
WealthR has a mortgage overpayment calculator that shows whether overpaying or investing the difference comes out ahead at your specific interest rate.