Stamp Duty for First-Time Buyers 2026: What You’ll Actually Pay

Last updated: 29 July 2026

If you’re buying your first home in England or Northern Ireland in 2026, you pay zero stamp duty on properties up to £300,000. Buy at £350,000 and you owe £2,500. Buy at £500,000 and you owe £10,000. Go above £500,000 and you lose the first-time buyer relief entirely and pay the full standard rates instead.

Those thresholds changed in April 2025. Before that, first-time buyers paid nothing up to £425,000 and kept the relief on purchases up to £625,000. The reduction hit buyers in London, the South East, and parts of the East of England hardest, where the average first-time buyer property price sits well above £300,000. A buyer paying £400,000 for a flat in Bristol or Manchester now faces a £5,000 SDLT bill that would have been zero 18 months ago.

This guide covers the exact rates, worked examples at every common price point, how the rules differ in Scotland and Wales, and the definition of “first-time buyer” that catches people out. Bookmark it. You’ll need it.

What Stamp Duty Do First-Time Buyers Pay in 2026?

First-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland pay stamp duty at two rates. Zero on the first £300,000 of the purchase price, and 5% on any portion between £300,001 and £500,000. If the property costs more than £500,000, the relief disappears completely and you pay the standard residential rates on the full price from the first pound.

Purchase price band	SDLT rate (first-time buyer)
£0 to £300,000	0%
£300,001 to £500,000	5%
Above £500,000	No relief. Standard rates apply on entire price.

These are marginal rates, not flat rates. You pay each rate only on the slice of the price that falls within that band. A property costing £400,000 doesn’t attract 5% on the whole amount. You pay 0% on the first £300,000 and 5% on the remaining £100,000, which is £5,000 total.

What Changed in April 2025?

The temporary thresholds that were in place from September 2022 to March 2025 were more generous. First-time buyers paid nothing up to £425,000 (compared to £300,000 now) and kept the relief on purchases up to £625,000 (compared to £500,000 now). Those temporary rates were always time-limited. They ended on 31 March 2025 and the current, lower thresholds took effect from 1 April 2025.

The real-world impact depends on where you’re buying. In the North East, where the average first-time buyer property costs around £139,000, nothing has changed. You paid zero before and you pay zero now. In London, where the average sits at £472,000, the difference is stark. A £450,000 purchase that was SDLT-free under the old rules now costs £7,500 in stamp duty.

No further changes have been announced for 2026. The 2026 Budget left these thresholds untouched.

Worked Examples at Every Common Price Point

Purchase price	First-time buyer SDLT	Standard buyer SDLT	FTB saving
£200,000	£0	£1,500	£1,500
£250,000	£0	£2,500	£2,500
£300,000	£0	£5,000	£5,000
£350,000	£2,500	£7,500	£5,000
£400,000	£5,000	£10,000	£5,000
£450,000	£7,500	£12,500	£5,000
£500,000	£10,000	£15,000	£5,000
£525,000	£16,250 (no relief)	£16,250	£0

The maximum first-time buyer saving is £5,000, which you get on any purchase between £300,001 and £500,000. The £500,000 to £500,001 cliff edge is brutal. Buy at £500,000 and you owe £10,000 with the relief. Buy at £500,001 and you owe £15,001 without it. That single pound costs you an extra £5,001. If you’re negotiating near the £500,000 mark, this is worth knowing.

Check your specific numbers with our mortgage calculators, and you can also use the official HMRC stamp duty calculator.

What Do Non-First-Time Buyers Pay?

If you’ve owned property before, anywhere in the world, you don’t qualify for the first-time buyer relief. The standard residential SDLT rates from 1 April 2025 are:

Purchase price band	Standard SDLT rate
£0 to £125,000	0%
£125,001 to £250,000	2%
£250,001 to £925,000	5%
£925,001 to £1,500,000	10%
Above £1,500,000	12%

If you’re looking to remortgage rather than buy a new property, there’s no SDLT to pay. SDLT only applies on purchases, not refinancing.

What About Second Homes and Buy-to-Let?

Buying an additional property, whether it’s a second home, a holiday let, or a buy-to-let investment, attracts a 5% surcharge on top of the standard rates. This applies on every band, starting from £40,000. The surcharge was increased from 3% to 5% in October 2024.

So a £300,000 buy-to-let purchase by someone who already owns a home would cost: £15,000 in standard SDLT plus £15,000 surcharge, totalling £30,000. That’s triple what a first-time buyer pays on the same property (£0). If you’re a first-time buyer, you have a significant cost advantage over landlords at every price point.

Non-UK residents pay an additional 2% surcharge on top of all applicable rates, including the additional property surcharge. An overseas investor buying a £300,000 BTL property could face over £36,000 in combined SDLT charges.

Scotland and Wales: Different Rules

SDLT applies only in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales each run their own systems with different bands, different thresholds, and different first-time buyer provisions.

Scotland (LBTT): First-time buyers get a nil-rate band up to £175,000 (compared to £300,000 in England), with tapering relief above. The standard nil-rate band for all buyers is £145,000. The Additional Dwelling Supplement (Scotland’s equivalent of the surcharge) is 8%, increased from 6% in December 2024. Revenue Scotland administers the tax.

Wales (LTT): There is no specific first-time buyer relief in Wales. The standard nil-rate band is £225,000 for all residential purchases. The higher residential rate surcharge is 5%, increased from 4% in December 2024. The Welsh Revenue Authority administers the tax.

If you’re buying in Scotland or Wales, do not use the England/NI figures in this guide. Use the official Revenue Scotland LBTT calculator or the Welsh Revenue Authority LTT calculator for your specific numbers.

Who Actually Counts as a First-Time Buyer?

HMRC’s definition is stricter than most people assume. You qualify as a first-time buyer only if you have never owned, or had an interest in, a residential property anywhere in the world. Not just in the UK. Anywhere. If you inherited a share of a property, even if you never lived in it and sold it years ago, you may not qualify. If you owned a home abroad before moving to the UK, you don’t qualify.

Joint purchases where one buyer qualifies and the other doesn’t: the relief is lost entirely. Both buyers must be first-time buyers for the relief to apply. This catches couples where one partner previously owned a property. It also catches situations where a parent is added to the mortgage as a joint borrower. If the parent has ever owned property, the relief vanishes.

A Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor (JBSP) mortgage solves this problem. The parent goes on the mortgage but not on the property title, so their ownership history doesn’t disqualify the buyer from first-time buyer relief.

When and How Do You Pay Stamp Duty?

SDLT must be paid and the SDLT1 return filed with HMRC within 14 days of completion. Not exchange. Completion. Your solicitor or conveyancer handles this automatically. They deduct the SDLT from your completion funds, file the return, and receive an SDLT5 certificate from HMRC that the Land Registry needs to register your title.

Late filing triggers an automatic £100 penalty, rising to £200 after three months and a percentage-of-tax penalty after six months, plus interest on the unpaid amount. In practice, this rarely happens because your solicitor handles it, but if you’re using a conveyancer for the first time, confirm they’ll manage the SDLT filing as part of their service.

How UK Mortgage Finder Can Help

Stamp duty is one of several upfront costs that eat into your deposit savings. If you’re buying near the £300,000 or £500,000 thresholds, the purchase price you negotiate directly affects your tax bill. UK Mortgage Finder connects you with FCA-regulated whole-of-market brokers who factor SDLT into the full cost calculation, including whether shared ownership offers a lower-tax route into the same area. The service is free and there’s no obligation to proceed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty in 2026?
Not on properties up to £300,000. Between £300,001 and £500,000, you pay 5% on the portion above £300,000. Above £500,000, you lose the relief and pay full standard rates.

What is the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers?
£300,000 nil-rate band in England and Northern Ireland, effective from 1 April 2025. Properties must be £500,000 or less to qualify for any first-time buyer relief.

Has stamp duty changed for first-time buyers in 2026?
The rates that took effect on 1 April 2025 remain unchanged. The 2026 Budget made no further adjustments. The previous temporary thresholds (£425,000 nil-rate, £625,000 cap) ended on 31 March 2025.

Do I pay stamp duty on a shared ownership property?
You choose between paying SDLT on your share only or on the full market value upfront. Most first-time buyers choose the share-only option to keep upfront costs low. Full details in our shared ownership guide.

Does a gifted deposit affect stamp duty?
No. Receiving a gifted deposit has no impact on your stamp duty bill or your first-time buyer status, provided the person gifting the money isn’t named on the property title.

Can I add stamp duty to my mortgage?

Some lenders allow this, but it increases your loan amount and your LTV, which may push you into a higher rate band. In most cases, paying SDLT from savings or as part of your completion funds is more cost-effective over the mortgage term.

What if I buy with someone who already owns a property?
You lose the first-time buyer relief entirely. Both purchasers must qualify as first-time buyers. If a parent is on the title and has owned property before, the relief is gone. A JBSP mortgage avoids this.

Is there stamp duty on a new-build?
Yes, the same SDLT rates apply to new-builds as to existing properties. Some developers offer SDLT incentives or contributions as part of their purchase packages, but the tax itself is unchanged.

Do I pay stamp duty when remortgaging?
No. SDLT only applies to property purchases. Remortgaging (switching your mortgage deal without buying a new property) does not trigger SDLT.

What is the stamp duty deadline after completion?
14 days. Your solicitor must file the SDLT1 return and pay the tax to HMRC within 14 calendar days of completion. Late filing incurs automatic penalties.