What is stamp duty?
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax you might have to pay if you’re buying a residential home in England or Northern Ireland.
Learn more about the stamp duty rules and find out if you qualify for any relief.
The headlines
- Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) usually applies to properties worth over £125,000.
- The rate you pay is worked out in tiers, based on the property value.
- First-time buyers don’t have to pay stamp duty on their first home if it’s under £300,000.
Stamp duty costs can vary from property to property and is worked out using bands. This means you pay different rates on different portions of the property price, rather than 1 flat rate on the whole amount.
As of April 2025, you don’t have to pay stamp duty tax on properties worth £125,000 or less.
Stamp duty thresholds in England and Northern Ireland
To work out your stamp duty charges, you’ll need to check which rate applies to each part of the property’s value. For example, if you bought a house valued at £350,000, you’d pay:
- 0% on the first £125,000 = £0
- 2% on the next £125,000 = £2,500
- 5% on the remaining £100,000 = £5,000
- £7,500 in total.
Try the government’s stamp duty calculator to work out how much tax you might pay.
The buyer is responsible for paying any stamp duty on the property they’re purchasing. So, it’s important you check whether it applies to your purchase and how much it might be. Then you can factor this into your moving costs.
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You can’t add stamp duty to your mortgage as a specific cost. But some lenders might let you increase your mortgage amount to cover your stamp duty tax payment. This means you’ll end up paying more interest and it could also impact your loan to value (LTV) ratio.
If possible, you should try to pay the stamp duty charges separately with savings or with equity if you’re moving house.
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Yes, non-UK residents still pay stamp duty on property purchases in England and Northern Ireland. A non-UK resident includes anyone that has spent less than 183 days (6 months) in the UK over the 365 days before the purchase.
Non-UK residents will also have to pay an extra 2% on top of standard stamp duty rates.
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