Updated to 1 April 2025 SDLT rates
Buy-to-Let Stamp Duty Calculator
Buy-to-let and second-home Stamp Duty in England and Northern Ireland: +5% surcharge (was +3% before 31 October 2024) on every band of the standard schedule. See exactly what the additional-property status costs you.
- Purchase price (93.3%)
- SDLT (6.7%)
SDLT adds about 7.1% on top of the purchase price.
| Purchase price | £350,000 |
|---|---|
| Additional-property: 5% band | |
| £125,000 at 5% | £6,250 |
| Additional-property: 7% band | |
| £125,000 at 7% | £8,750 |
| Additional-property: 10% band | |
| £100,000 at 10% | £10,000 |
| Total SDLT | £25,000 |
| Total cash required | £375,000 |
Information
Buying a residential property in England or Northern Ireland that isn't your main residence (buy-to-let, second home, accidental-landlord situation) adds a 5% surcharge on every band of the standard SDLT schedule (was 3% before 31 October 2024). The surcharge applies on the whole purchase price, which means a £300,000 buy-to-let pays substantially more than a £300,000 first home. This calculator shows the surcharge isolated as its own line so you see exactly what the second-property status costs you.
What's modelled. Standard residential rates, the +5% additional-property surcharge (was +3% before 31 October 2024), first-time buyer relief (untick the "Additional property" box if your circumstances change), the corporate flat rate (17% on residential purchases over £500,000 by limited companies), and the date-dependent rate changes since the September 2022 mini-budget.
When the surcharge doesn't apply. If you're genuinely replacing your only main residence (selling your current home and buying a new one), the surcharge does NOT apply. If the timing is off (you complete the new purchase before selling the old one), you pay the surcharge upfront and can claim a refund when the previous home sells within 3 years.
The October 2024 raise. The surcharge jumped from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024 as part of the Autumn Budget. Pre-Oct-2024 completions paid the lower rate; use the completion-date input to see how a historical purchase would have been taxed.
What's not. Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) have their own additional-property regimes; dedicated calculators coming soon. The non-UK resident +2% surcharge stacks on top of the additional-property surcharge for overseas buyers and is out of scope for this calc.
FAQ
- What counts as an "additional property"?
Any residential property you'll own at completion that isn't your main residence: buy-to-let, holiday homes, and accidental-landlord cases (you're keeping your old flat while moving). The surcharge does NOT apply when you're replacing your only main residence and selling the previous one within 3 years. If the sale completes after the new purchase, you can claim a refund.
- What if I'm a first-time buyer?
If your purchase price is £500,000 or less and neither you nor any joint buyer has ever owned residential property anywhere in the world, you pay 0% on the first £300,000 and 5% on the slice between £300,001 and £500,000. Above £500,000 the relief disappears completely: you pay the standard rates on the whole amount. (For purchases between 23 Sep 2022 and 31 Mar 2025 the thresholds were £425,000 and £625,000 respectively; change the completion date to see.)
- What counts as an "additional property"?
Any residential property you'll own at completion that isn't your main residence: buy-to-let, holiday homes, and accidental-landlord cases (you're keeping your old flat while moving). The +5% surcharge (was +3% before 31 October 2024) applies to every band of the standard schedule. The surcharge does NOT apply when you're genuinely replacing your only main residence and selling the previous one within 3 years; you can claim a refund if the sale completes after the new purchase.
- Do I pay SDLT in Scotland or Wales?
No. Scotland has Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT); Wales has Land Transaction Tax (LTT). Use the region selector at the top of this page to switch between them. All three are tiered like SDLT but with different bands, rates, and reliefs.
- Why is the corporate rate so high?
When a limited company (or any "non-natural person" such as a partnership with corporate members, collective investment scheme) buys residential property worth more than £500,000, HMRC applies a flat 17% rate (was 15% before 1 April 2025) on the entire purchase price. The rate exists to discourage owning residential property through corporate structures, previously a tactic for avoiding SDLT on subsequent share transfers. Genuine property-rental, property-development, and employee-accommodation providers can claim exemption and pay normal rates plus the additional-property surcharge, but those tests aren't modelled in this calc.
Recent changes
-
Thresholds reverted to pre-2022 levels. Residential nil-rate band dropped from £250,000 back to £125,000, with a new 2% band added to £250,000. First-time buyer relief tightened: nil-rate ceiling reverted to £300,000 and the property-price cap to £500,000 (down from £425,000 / £625,000). Corporate flat rate for residential purchases over £500,000 raised from 15% to 17%.
-
Autumn Budget: additional-property surcharge raised from +3% to +5% on every band of the standard residential schedule. Applied to second homes, buy-to-let, and any purchase where the buyer owns two or more residential properties at completion.
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Mini-budget: residential nil-rate band raised from £125,000 to £250,000. First-time buyer relief expanded: nil-rate ceiling raised to £425,000 with the property-price cap raised to £625,000 (from £300,000 / £500,000). The corporate flat rate stayed at 15% and the additional-property surcharge stayed at +3%; both rose later.
Sources
Disclaimer
Not financial or legal advice. Figures are computed from the legislative tables published by HMRC and do not account for personal circumstances such as replacement-of-main-residence rules, multiple-dwellings relief, linked transactions, or buy-to-let mortgage interest rules (separate income-tax consideration). Consult a conveyancer or qualified adviser for the authoritative figure on your specific purchase.
