Stamp duty on a second home and buy-to-let
An additional residential property in England and Northern Ireland is taxed at 5 percentage points above every ordinary band, including the nil-rate band, so the charge starts at the first pound once the price reaches £40,000. It does not apply at all when the purchase replaces your only or main residence. Rates in force from 1 April 2025, checked 12 September 2026.
Work out your own figure
Opens as an additional property. Say whether you are replacing your main home, or switch residency.
Selling the home you live in as part of this purchase removes the higher rates.
Stamp duty to pay
£30,000
7.5% of the price, £430,000 in total
- Purchase price
- £400,000
- Stamp duty (additional property)
- £30,000
- Of which higher rates
- £20,000
- Total to find
- £430,000
The extra cost at every price
What an additional property pays against a home mover, at the prices where the rules change.
| Purchase price | Additional property | Home mover | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|
| £40,000 | £2,000 | £0 | £2,000 more |
| £125,000 | £6,250 | £0 | £6,250 more |
| £250,000 | £15,000 | £2,500 | £12,500 more |
| £300,000 | £20,000 | £5,000 | £15,000 more |
| £400,000 | £30,000 | £10,000 | £20,000 more |
| £500,000 | £40,000 | £15,000 | £25,000 more |
| £925,000 | £82,500 | £36,250 | £46,250 more |
| £1,500,000 | £168,750 | £93,750 | £75,000 more |
What triggers the higher rates
When the higher rates apply
The test is what you own at the end of the day of completion, not what you plan to do with the property you are buying. If you already own any other residential property anywhere in the world and you are keeping it, the higher rates apply, even when the new place is the one you will live in.
- A second home, a holiday home or a buy-to-let, whether or not it is ever let.
- A first rental property bought while you already own the home you live in.
- A share of a property you inherited, which counts as ownership.
- A property owned abroad, which counts the same as one owned here.
When they do not
Replacing your only or main residence in the same transaction removes the higher rates entirely, which is the ordinary case of moving house. They also do not apply to a freehold purchase below £40,000: at £39,999 a second home pays £0, the same as a first home, and at £40,000 the charge applies to the whole price and the bill is £2,000.
Buying before selling is the awkward case: you pay the higher rates up front because you still own the old home on completion day, then reclaim them once it sells.
What it does to the numbers on a rental
The surcharge is 5 percentage points on every band from the first pound, so it is a fixed share of the purchase price rather than a slice of the tax. That makes it the single largest one-off cost of acquiring a rental property after the deposit, and it is not deductible against rental income.
It is worth modelling alongside the rent and the eventual gain rather than on its own, because the three taxes together decide whether a purchase works.
Non-UK residents pay both charges
A buyer who is not UK resident for stamp duty purposes adds 2 percentage points on top of every band, and that stacks with the additional-property charge rather than replacing it. Residency here is counted in days spent in the UK around the transaction, not by nationality or visa status, and a couple buying together is treated as non-resident if either of them is.
The prices people ask about
Each has its own page with the home mover figure, the additional-property figure and the difference.
Buying this to let?
Stamp duty is the first of several tax jobs on a rental property, and the only one you pay up front. After it come the rental income, the quarterly updates and eventually the gain on sale. TapTax tracks rental income and files quarterly MTD updates to HMRC.
Start tracking rental income free- Rental income calculator
What the rent is worth after tax, mortgage interest relief and expenses.
- Making Tax Digital for landlords
When quarterly filing starts for property income, and what it asks of you.
- Capital gains calculator
What the tax looks like when you come to sell.
Where to go next
- First-time buyers
The relief, the cliff edge and who counts as a first-time buyer.
- Second home and buy-to-let
The higher rates, the floor and when they do not apply.
- Reclaiming the surcharge
What comes back when you sell the old home, and by when.
- All stamp duty rates
The bands, the thresholds and every price page in one place.
- Full stamp duty calculator
Any price, with the band breakdown and the worked detail.
- Rental income calculator
What a rental property earns you after tax.
- Capital gains calculator
The tax when you sell a property that is not your main home.
Second home and buy-to-let questions
How much is the second-home surcharge?
5 percentage points on top of every ordinary band, including the nil-rate band, for completions on or after 31 October 2024. It is charged on the whole price rather than on the part above a threshold, so the bill starts at the first pound. A freehold purchase below £40,000 is outside the higher rates and pays the ordinary rates instead.
Does it apply if I am buying a home to live in?
Not if the purchase replaces your only or main residence. It does apply if you already own any other residential property anywhere in the world and you are keeping it, even when the new place is the one you will live in, and even when the other property is a share you inherited.
Do the surcharges stack for a non-UK resident?
Yes. A non-UK resident buying an additional property pays both: 5 percentage points for the additional property and 2 percentage points for residency, on top of every band. Residency here is counted in days spent in the UK around the transaction, not by nationality or visa.
Does this cover Scotland and Wales?
No. These are Stamp Duty Land Tax rules, which apply in England and Northern Ireland only. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax, both with their own bands and their own additional-property charge.
Where these figures come from
SDLT rates in force from 1 April 2025, checked against GOV.UK on 12 September 2026.
These figures are estimates for a straightforward residential purchase, and your own circumstances decide the final bill. Your conveyancer files the return, and GOV.UK publishes the official rates and calculator.