Enter the price, location and purpose of the property you’re buying and our stamp duty calculator will tell you how much tax you’ll have to pay on it.
It reflects the changes to stamp duty for people purchasing buy-to-let properties and second homes that were announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget and the rates in operation from 1 April 2025.
Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms and conditions of a provider before committing to any financial products.
Stamp duty is a tax that you have to pay when buying property in England or Northern Ireland.
- Buying elsewhere in the UK? Check out our guides on Scottish stamp duty (LBTT) and Welsh stamp duty (LTT).
Stamp duty is tiered, meaning that you pay different rates on different portions of the property price.
You’ll also pay different rates depending on whether you’re a first-time buyer, home mover or buying a buy-to-let, second or holiday home.
Home mover stamp duty rates
As of 1 April 2025, if you buy a property you’re planning to live in (and you’ve owned a home before), you’ll pay the following rates on each portion of the property price:
- £0-£125,000: 0%
- £125,001-£250,000: 2%
- £250,001-£925,000: 5%
- £925,001-£1.5m: 10%
- Over £1.5m: 12%
This example shows how much stamp duty you’d need to pay when buying a property for £350,000.
- Property price: £350,000
- Portion 1 (£0-£125,000): 0% tax, so total stamp duty paid for this portion of the purchase price = £0
- Portion 2 (£125,001-£250,000): 2% tax, so stamp duty for this portion = £2,500
- Portion 3: (£250,001-£350,000): 5% tax, so stamp duty for this portion = £5,000
- Total paid: £357,500 (£7,500 of which is stamp duty)
Stamp duty surcharge for overseas buyers
Overseas-based buyers of residential property in England and Northern Ireland pay an extra 2% on top of the standard stamp duty rates.
First-time buyer stamp duty rates
Different rates apply for first-time buyers getting on to the property ladder.
As of 1 April 2025, if your first home costs less than £300,000, you won’t need to pay any stamp duty.
If it costs between £300,001 and £500,000, you’ll pay 5% on the amount above £300,000.
If, however, the home costs more than £500,000, you’ll need to pay stamp duty at the standard home mover rates listed above.
The table shows how much stamp duty you’d need to pay depending on the price of your first home.
First-time buyer stamp duty FAQs
Buy-to-let stamp duty rates
Unless you’re a first-time buyer or purchasing a property for £40,000 or less, anyone buying a second home, holiday home or buy-to-let property – i.e. any property that won’t be your primary residence – has to pay an extra 5% on each tier of stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland, or 4% in Scotland and Wales.
First-time buyers purchasing buy-to-let property will be subject to standard home mover rates.
The current rates in England and Northern Ireland are as follows:
- £0-£250,000: 5%
- £250,001-£925,000: 10%
- £925,001-£1.5m: 15%
- Over £1.5m: 17%
Additional stamp duty for overseas purchasers
Overseas-based buyers of property in England and Northern Ireland are required to pay an additional 2% stamp duty surcharge on top of the normal rates.
The 5% buy-to-let surcharge also applies, so foreign buyers purchasing buy-to-let properties or holiday homes will need to pay 7% more than the standard rates for UK home movers.
When and how do I pay stamp duty?
Property buyers in England and Northern Ireland have 14 days from the ‘effective date’ of the transaction (usually the date of completion) to pay their stamp duty bill. If you fail to do this on time, there’s an automatic £100 fine.
In Scotland and Wales, buyers have 30 days to make the payment for the equivalent land taxes.
In terms of how you pay, usually your solicitor or conveyancer will handle the stamp duty return for you – but you are still responsible for making sure this is done on time.
You can also submit the stamp duty return yourself by completing a paper return.
If you don’t need to pay stamp duty, you won’t have to submit a return.
Which? mortgage calculators
Use our mortgage calculator toolkit for help with your research on buying a home or remortgaging.
- Mortgage repayment calculator Work out how much your monthly repayments will cost.
- Loan to value (LTV) calculator Check your LTV based on the property value and amount of deposit or equity you have.
- Mortgage deposit calculator Find out how long it will take you to save enough deposit to buy a property in your chosen area.
- How much can I borrow? See how much mortgage you’ll be able to borrow to buy a home based on your income.
How to find the right mortgage deal for you
We regularly sift through thousands of deals on the market to find the best mortgage rates for first-time buyers, home movers and those planning to remortgage.
You can also use our unique research on the best mortgage lenders to see how customers rate banks on everything from the application process to the ease of managing their mortgage online and overall customer service.
