Reference data
UK stamp duty by nation
There is no single UK stamp duty. Devolution split the tax three ways, and the bands, thresholds, first-time buyer rules and second-home charges all differ. This page computes what a buyer actually pays in each nation at real prices, from rate tables transcribed from HMRC, Revenue Scotland and the Welsh Revenue Authority.
What the data shows
Below about £300,000 the three nations land close together, and Wales is often the cheapest because it has the highest starting threshold in the UK at 225,000 pounds: a £200,000 purchase costs a Welsh buyer £0, against £1,500 in England and £1,100 in Scotland. Above that the tables diverge sharply. At £1,000,000 an only-home buyer pays £43,750 in England and £78,350 in Scotland, a gap of £34,600 on an identical price.
The second-home rules are not three versions of one policy. England adds 5 percentage points to every band. Wales throws the main table away and uses a separate, steeper one. Scotland charges 8 percent of the whole purchase price on top of the normal bill, which is why it is the most expensive place in the UK to buy a second home at almost any price: £28,600 on a £300,000 purchase, against £19,950 in Wales.
Buying your only home
Tax due: buying your only home
You will own one residential property after the purchase.
| Purchase price | England and Northern Ireland SDLT | Scotland LBTT | Wales LTT |
|---|---|---|---|
| £150,000 | £500 | £100 | £0 |
| £200,000 | £1,500 | £1,100 | £0 |
| £250,000 | £2,500 | £2,100 | £1,500 |
| £300,000 | £5,000 | £4,600 | £4,500 |
| £400,000 | £10,000 | £13,350 | £10,500 |
| £500,000 | £15,000 | £23,350 | £18,000 |
| £750,000 | £27,500 | £48,350 | £36,750 |
| £1,000,000 | £43,750 | £78,350 | £61,750 |
First-time buyer
Tax due: first-time buyer
You have never owned a home anywhere in the world.
| Purchase price | England and Northern Ireland SDLT | Scotland LBTT | Wales LTT |
|---|---|---|---|
| £150,000 | £0 | £0 | No relief in Wales |
| £200,000 | £0 | £500 | No relief in Wales |
| £250,000 | £0 | £1,500 | No relief in Wales |
| £300,000 | £0 | £4,000 | No relief in Wales |
| £400,000 | £5,000 | £12,750 | No relief in Wales |
| £500,000 | £10,000 | £22,750 | No relief in Wales |
| £750,000 | £27,500 | £47,750 | No relief in Wales |
| £1,000,000 | £43,750 | £77,750 | No relief in Wales |
Wales has no first-time buyer relief, so a Welsh first-time buyer pays the only-home figures in the first table. England withdraws its relief entirely above 500,000 pounds rather than tapering it, which is why the English column jumps from £10,000 at £500,000 to £15,000 one pound later.
Second home or buy-to-let
Tax due: second home or buy-to-let
You will own more than one residential property after the purchase.
| Purchase price | England and Northern Ireland SDLT | Scotland LBTT | Wales LTT |
|---|---|---|---|
| £150,000 | £8,000 | £12,100 | £7,500 |
| £200,000 | £11,500 | £17,100 | £10,700 |
| £250,000 | £15,000 | £22,100 | £14,950 |
| £300,000 | £20,000 | £28,600 | £19,950 |
| £400,000 | £30,000 | £45,350 | £29,950 |
| £500,000 | £40,000 | £63,350 | £42,450 |
| £750,000 | £65,000 | £108,350 | £73,700 |
| £1,000,000 | £93,750 | £158,350 | £111,200 |
Figures assume the surcharge applies. England does not charge it where the purchase replaces a main residence sold within 36 months of completion, and Scotland and Wales have their own replacement-of-main-residence rules.
Calculator
Work out your own bill
Enter a price to see all three nations at once, using the same rate bands as the tables above.
Every nation
The rules behind each number
England and Northern Ireland Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
Main residential bands
- £0 to £125,000 0%
- £125,000 to £250,000 2%
- £250,000 to £925,000 5%
- £925,000 to £1,500,000 10%
- Above £1,500,000 12%
First-time buyers
A first-time buyer pays nothing up to 300,000 pounds and 5 percent on the portion from 300,001 to 500,000 pounds. The relief is lost outright above 500,000 pounds: buy for one pound more and the standard rates apply to the whole price, which makes 500,000 pounds a genuine cliff edge rather than a taper.
Second homes and buy-to-let
Five percentage points are added to every band, including the zero band, so a second home is taxed from the first pound rather than from 125,000 pounds. It does not apply if the purchase replaces a main residence sold within 36 months of completion.
Overseas buyers
A further 2 percentage points apply to a buyer not present in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before the purchase. It stacks on top of the additional-property rates and applies even to a first-time buyer claiming relief.
Source: Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates (GOV.UK)
Scotland Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT)
Main residential bands
- £0 to £145,000 0%
- £145,000 to £250,000 2%
- £250,000 to £325,000 5%
- £325,000 to £750,000 10%
- Above £750,000 12%
First-time buyers
Scottish first-time buyer relief lifts the nil rate band from 145,000 to 175,000 pounds. That caps the benefit at 600 pounds, but unlike the English relief it is not withdrawn at a price ceiling, so a first-time buyer still receives it on an expensive home.
Second homes and buy-to-let
The Additional Dwelling Supplement is 8 percent of the entire purchase price, not a set of banded top-ups, and it sits on top of the normal LBTT bill. Because it is charged on the whole price from the first pound, it is the harshest second-home charge in the UK at almost every price point. The 8 percent rate applies to transactions on or after 5 December 2024.
Overseas buyers
Scotland charges no non-resident surcharge. An overseas buyer pays the same LBTT as a Scottish resident, which is not true in England and Northern Ireland.
Wales Land Transaction Tax (LTT)
Main residential bands
- £0 to £225,000 0%
- £225,000 to £400,000 6%
- £400,000 to £750,000 7.5%
- £750,000 to £1,500,000 10%
- Above £1,500,000 12%
First-time buyers
There is no first-time buyers relief in Wales, in the Welsh Revenue Authority's own words. Wales instead sets the highest starting threshold in the UK at 225,000 pounds, which it applies to every buyer of a single home rather than reserving a lower rate for first-timers.
Second homes and buy-to-let
Wales does not add a surcharge to the main table. It replaces it with a separate, steeper set of bands that start at 5 percent from the first pound and reach 17 percent, and those bands break at different thresholds from the main ones. The current higher rates apply from 11 December 2024.
Overseas buyers
Wales charges no non-resident surcharge, so an overseas buyer pays the same LTT as a Welsh resident.
Use or cite this data
Free to reuse with credit under CC BY 4.0. Always link readers to the official authority for the rates themselves.
BestFSBOGuide.com. "UK property transfer tax by nation: SDLT, LBTT and LTT compared." Reviewed August 2026. https://www.bestfsboguide.com/uk-stamp-duty-by-nation
Writing about this? The dataset is free to reuse with credit, and we are glad to share the sourcing or give a comment. Email editors@bestfsboguide.com.
Common questions about UK stamp duty
Is stamp duty the same across the whole UK?
No, and it has not been for years. England and Northern Ireland charge Stamp Duty Land Tax, Scotland replaced it with Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in 2015, and Wales replaced it with Land Transaction Tax in 2018. The bands, the starting thresholds, and the treatment of first-time buyers and second homes all differ. On a £1,000,000 home bought as an only residence the bill ranges from £43,750 in England to £78,350 in Scotland, a difference of £34,600 on the same price.
Which UK nation has the highest tax-free threshold for buyers?
Wales, at 225,000 pounds. England and Northern Ireland start charging at 125,000 pounds and Scotland at 145,000 pounds. That is why a £200,000 purchase costs a Welsh buyer £0, against £1,500 in England and £1,100 in Scotland. Wales pairs the highest threshold with having no first-time buyer relief at all, so it treats every buyer of a single home the same way.
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty in Wales?
Wales has no first-time buyers relief, in the Welsh Revenue Authority's own words. A Welsh first-time buyer pays exactly what any other buyer of a single home pays, starting above the 225,000 pound threshold. England and Northern Ireland give first-time buyers a nil band up to 300,000 pounds, and Scotland lifts its nil band from 145,000 to 175,000 pounds, worth up to 600 pounds.
What happens if a first-time buyer in England pays more than 500,000 pounds?
The relief is withdrawn completely rather than tapered, which creates a cliff edge at exactly 500,000 pounds. A first-time buyer paying £500,000 owes £10,000. At 500,001 pounds the standard rates apply to the whole price and the bill becomes £15,000. One extra pound on the price costs just over £5,000 in tax, so negotiating to the threshold rather than just above it is worth real money.
Which part of the UK taxes second homes most heavily?
Scotland, at almost every price. The Additional Dwelling Supplement is 8 percent of the entire purchase price rather than a banded top-up, and it sits on top of the normal LBTT bill. On a £300,000 second home that means £28,600 against £20,000 in England and £19,950 in Wales. At £1,000,000 the gap between Scotland and England widens to £64,600.
Do overseas buyers pay extra stamp duty in the UK?
Only in England and Northern Ireland, where a 2 percentage point surcharge applies to a buyer not present in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before the purchase. It stacks on top of the additional-property rates. Scotland and Wales charge no non-resident surcharge, so an overseas buyer pays the same LBTT or LTT as a local one.