Stamp duty

How much stamp duty will I pay in 2026?

Last updated 23 July 2026

Stamp duty is a transaction tax on residential property. You don't pay anything on the portion below the first threshold, then higher rates on the amounts above. The total is the sum of tax on each band, not a flat percentage of the whole price.

On a £350,000 main home, stamp duty is about £7,500 in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales, and about £8,350 in Scotland. Same price, different nation rules.

Note: Main-home rates. England & Northern Ireland SDLT bands apply through 2026/27 (until April 2027) unless a Budget changes them. Use the nation where the property sits.

Easy mistakes to avoid

Using a single percentage of the whole price is wrong. Tax is sliced by band.
England & Northern Ireland (SDLT), Scotland (LBTT), and Wales (LTT) use different bands and reliefs.
First-time buyer relief, additional-property surcharges, and non-resident rules can change the bill more than the purchase price alone.

Worked example: £350,000 main home in England

Purchase price

£350,000

Region

England & N. Ireland (SDLT)

Buyer type

Single Property

SDLT on this purchase (bands for 2026/27)

Slice of price	Rate	Tax on slice
£0 – £125,000	0%	£0
£125,001 – £250,000	2%	£2,500
£250,001 – £350,000	5%	£5,000
Total		£7,500

Effective rate: 2.1%

Key takeaways

Total SDLT is £7,500: the sum of all slices, not 5% of the full £350,000.
The effective rate on this purchase is about 2.1%.

UK stamp duty bands for 2026/27

Standard residential rates for a single property (main home). Each nation uses its own tax name and slices. Confirm on the official site before you exchange.

England & Northern Ireland (SDLT)

Standard residential SDLT

Slice of price	Rate
£0 – £125,000	0%
£125,001 – £250,000	2%
£250,001 – £925,000	5%
£925,001 – £1,500,000	10%
Above £1,500,000	12%

Scotland (LBTT)

Standard residential LBTT

Slice of price	Rate
£0 – £145,000	0%
£145,001 – £250,000	2%
£250,001 – £325,000	5%
£325,001 – £750,000	10%
Above £750,000	12%

Wales (LTT)

Standard residential LTT

Slice of price	Rate
£0 – £225,000	0%
£225,001 – £400,000	6%
£400,001 – £750,000	7.5%
£750,001 – £1,500,000	10%
Above £1,500,000	12%

Same price, three nations

Single-property (main home) totals at three price points. Effective rate is total tax divided by the purchase price.

£200,000 (lower-priced)

£200,000 purchase · single property

Nation	Tax	Total	Effective %
England & N. Ireland	SDLT	£1,500	0.8%
Scotland	LBTT	£1,100	0.5%
Wales	LTT	£0	0.0%

£350,000 (mid-priced)

£350,000 purchase · single property

Nation	Tax	Total	Effective %
England & N. Ireland	SDLT	£7,500	2.1%
Scotland	LBTT	£8,350	2.4%
Wales	LTT	£7,500	2.1%

£750,000 (higher-priced)

£750,000 purchase · single property

Nation	Tax	Total	Effective %
England & N. Ireland	SDLT	£27,500	3.7%
Scotland	LBTT	£48,350	6.4%
Wales	LTT	£36,750	4.9%

Key takeaways

At £200,000, Wales can be £0 while England & N. Ireland and Scotland still pay tax.
At £350,000, England & N. Ireland and Wales match at £7,500; Scotland is higher at £8,350.
At £750,000 the gap widens: Scotland has the highest total and effective rate of the three.

Who controls the tax bands

England and Northern Ireland use SDLT set by the UK Government. Scotland’s LBTT is set by the Scottish Government, and Wales’s LTT by the Welsh Government. Always use the nation where the property sits.

Bands for 2026/27 can still change after a Budget or a devolved tax decision. Second homes and buy-to-let usually attract an additional-property surcharge, and each nation sets its own rules for that too.

Quick answers

Is stamp duty a flat percentage of the purchase price?

No. It is charged in slices: each portion of the price above a threshold is taxed at a higher rate. The bill is the sum of tax on each slice.

Do first-time buyers always pay less?

In England and Northern Ireland, relief applies only if every buyer qualifies and the price is £500,000 or less. Scotland has its own LBTT relief; Wales has no separate first-time buyer relief.

Are 2025 bands still used in 2026?

Yes for main residential SDLT. Bands from 1 April 2025 still apply through 2026/27 unless a future Budget changes them. Always check GOV.UK (or Revenue Scotland / the Welsh Revenue Authority) before you exchange.

Try your scenario

Change the inputs on the calculator (price, nation, or buyer type) and see how the numbers respond.

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