Stamp Duty for first-time buyers, explained

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax you pay when you buy a home or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland. It's charged on a sliding scale, so you only pay the higher rate on the portion of the price that falls into each band — not on the whole amount.

Scotland and Wales run their own separate systems (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland, Land Transaction Tax in Wales), with different thresholds — so the rules below apply to England and Northern Ireland.

You normally have 14 days from completion to file an SDLT return and pay. In practice your conveyancing solicitor handles this for you and collects the money as part of completion.

If you and everyone you're buying with are first-time buyers and the home will be your main residence, you get a discount. As of 2026 you pay no SDLT on the first £300,000, and 5% on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000.

There's a cliff edge to watch: if the price is more than £500,000, you can't claim first-time buyer relief at all and you pay the standard rates on the whole purchase instead.

If you're not a first-time buyer — or the price is above £500,000 — these are the standard single-property rates for 2026. If buying the property means you'll own more than one home, you usually pay a further 5% surcharge on top, and non-UK residents pay an extra 2%.

A first-time buyer purchasing at £295,000 pays £0, because the whole price sits under the £300,000 threshold. A first-time buyer at £400,000 pays 5% on the £100,000 above £300,000 — that's £5,000.

A first-time buyer buying right at £500,000 pays £10,000 (5% on the £200,000 above £300,000). But a first-time buyer at £520,000 loses the relief entirely and pays the standard rates, which work out far higher — a strong reason to be careful negotiating around that £500,000 line.

For comparison, a non-first-time buyer purchasing at £295,000 pays £4,750 under the standard bands.