How much is stamp duty?
What you’ll actually pay on a home in England or Northern Ireland — by buyer type, by price band, and the thresholds that quietly cost more buyers in 2025.
Stamp duty is rarely as scary — or as simple — as people expect. A standard buyer pays nothing on the first £125,000, then rising percentages on the slices above. On a typical £300,000 home that works out at £5,000. A first-time buyer on the same property pays nothing at all. The tax is banded, not flat, which is the single fact that fixes most people’s overestimates.
The quick answer
For a standard residential purchase in England or Northern Ireland, stamp duty (SDLT) is 0% up to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, then 5% to £925,000. First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000 and 5% on the slice from £300,001 to £500,000. Buying an additional property adds a 5% surcharge on every band. You only pay each rate on the portion of the price within that band — not on the whole price.
The one thing people get wrong
The biggest misconception about stamp duty is that it’s a flat tax — that nudging just over a threshold suddenly taxes the entire purchase price at the higher rate. It doesn’t work that way. SDLT is banded, like income tax: each rate applies only to the slice of the price that falls within its band.
So on a £300,000 home, a standard buyer pays nothing on the first £125,000, then 2% on the £125,000 above that, then 5% on the final £50,000 — £5,000 in total, not 5% of the whole £300,000. Understanding this one mechanic is what separates a calm budget from a panicked one. Nobody jumps from £0 to a huge bill by going a pound over a threshold; they just start paying a slightly higher rate on that next slice.
That threshold change matters more than the headline suggests. From September 2022 a temporary higher nil-rate band of £250,000 had been in place; it expired on 31 March 2025, and the threshold reverted to £125,000. The practical result: a £300,000 home that attracted no standard SDLT under the temporary rules now carries a £5,000 bill. For first-time buyers the relief threshold dropped too, from £425,000 back to £300,000. If you’d been quoted a stamp duty figure before April 2025, it’s worth re-checking — the number moved.
Standard buyer: what you pay by price
These are the bands for someone moving home who isn’t a first-time buyer and isn’t buying an additional property. Use them to sanity-check a budget before you go further.
| Purchase price | Standard SDLT | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| £200,000 | £1,500 | 0.8% |
| £250,000 | £2,500 | 1.0% |
| £300,000 | £5,000 | 1.7% |
| £400,000 | £10,000 | 2.5% |
| £500,000 | £15,000 | 3.0% |
| £600,000 | £20,000 | 3.3% |
Notice the effective rate stays well below the headline band percentages — that’s the banding at work. Even on a £600,000 home, where the top slice is taxed at 5%, the overall bill works out at about 3.3% of the price.
First-time buyers: the relief, and its cliff edge
First-time buyers get a more generous deal — but with a hard catch. You pay nothing up to £300,000, and 5% on the slice from £300,001 to £500,000. So a first-time buyer on a £400,000 home pays £5,000 (5% of the £100,000 above £300,000), against £10,000 for a standard buyer.
The catch worth knowing: the relief vanishes entirely above £500,000. Buy at £500,001 as a first-time buyer and you lose the relief completely, paying full standard rates as if you’d never qualified — a genuine cliff edge, not a taper. And “first-time buyer” is strict: if you’re buying jointly, both of you must be first-time buyers. One partner who has ever owned property anywhere in the world — including an inherited share you never lived in — disqualifies the whole purchase.
Additional properties: the 5% surcharge
Buying a second home, a buy-to-let, or any property when you already own one adds a surcharge on top of standard rates across every band. The surcharge rose from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024, so the numbers are steeper than older guides suggest.
The effect is dramatic at the lower end, because the surcharge applies even below the standard £125,000 nil-rate band. An additional property at £300,000 carries £20,000 of SDLT — four times the £5,000 a standard buyer pays for the same home. This is the single biggest cost most aspiring landlords underestimate.
The levers that change your bill
Buyer status
First-time, moving, or additional — the same price produces wildly different bills. It’s the first thing to establish, not the price.
Where you’re buying
SDLT covers England and Northern Ireland only. Scotland has LBTT and Wales has LTT, with their own bands and thresholds.
The £500k FTB ceiling
A first-time buyer one pound over £500,000 loses all relief. Negotiating below the line can save thousands outright.
Prior ownership
Ever owning property — even an inherited share, even abroad — removes first-time status and can trigger the surcharge later.
A worked example
First-time buyer, £400,000 flat in England
First-time buyer relief halves the bill here — £5,000 versus £10,000. The deadline that matters most isn’t a band, it’s the 14-day filing window: SDLT must be paid and the return filed within 14 days of completion, which your conveyancer usually handles.
The bands are fixed, but your bill depends entirely on which buyer you are. The fastest way to your exact figure — including the surcharge and any relief — is to run your own numbers rather than read off a table.
Common questions
How much is stamp duty on a £300,000 house?
A standard buyer pays £5,000 in stamp duty on a £300,000 home in England or Northern Ireland — nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,000, and 5% on the final £50,000. A first-time buyer pays nothing, as the price is within their £300,000 nil-rate threshold. An additional-property buyer pays £20,000, because the 5% surcharge applies across every band.
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty?
Not on properties up to £300,000. First-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland pay 0% up to £300,000 and 5% on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000. Above £500,000 the relief is withdrawn entirely and standard rates apply. To qualify jointly, both buyers must be first-time buyers.
Is stamp duty charged on the whole price or just part of it?
Just the relevant parts. SDLT is a banded tax, so each rate applies only to the slice of the price within that band — not to the entire price. This is why going slightly over a threshold doesn’t cause a sudden jump on the whole amount; you only pay the higher rate on the next slice.
When did stamp duty change, and does it affect me?
The thresholds changed on 1 April 2025, when temporary higher bands from September 2022 expired. The standard nil-rate threshold reverted from £250,000 to £125,000, and first-time buyer relief from £425,000 to £300,000. If you completed before that date, you’ll have paid under the old rules; purchases completing afterwards use the current thresholds.
How much is the stamp duty surcharge on a second home?
An additional 5% on top of standard rates across every band, since the surcharge rose from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024. Because it applies even below the £125,000 nil-rate band, the effect is significant: an additional property at £300,000 attracts £20,000 of SDLT, against £5,000 for a standard buyer.
Does stamp duty apply in Scotland and Wales?
No. Stamp Duty Land Tax covers England and Northern Ireland only. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax (LTT), each with its own thresholds and bands that don’t automatically mirror the SDLT rules.
When do I have to pay stamp duty?
SDLT must be paid and the return filed within 14 days of completion. In practice your conveyancer or solicitor handles this as part of the purchase, but the money comes from you — so factor it into your funds for completion, not something you can settle later. Late filing attracts automatic penalties.
Related tools & guides
How we put this together
Rates and thresholds reflect SDLT rules for England and Northern Ireland from 1 April 2025: a £125,000 standard nil-rate band, £300,000 first-time buyer relief threshold (withdrawn above £500,000), and a 5% additional-property surcharge. SDLT is banded, so each rate applies only to the portion of the price within its band.
Worked figures are calculated directly from these bands and cross-checked. Stamp duty applies in England and Northern Ireland only; Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) operate separately.
We review this guide against current HMRC rates and refresh it when thresholds or surcharges change in a Budget.