UK Stamp Duty Rules (2026/27)

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is the tax charged on the purchase of land and property in England and Northern Ireland. It is paid by the buyer on completion, filed with HMRC within 14 days of the effective date, and calculated in slices across a set of bands that depend on whether the property is residential, mixed-use, or non-residential, whether the buyer is a first-time buyer, whether the buyer already owns another residential property, whether the buyer is a UK resident, and whether the buyer is a company. The 2026/27 regime sits on top of the standard mover bands (0% to £125,000, then 2%, 5%, 10% and 12% above £1,500,000), first-time buyer relief up to £500,000, a 5% additional-property surcharge (raised from 3% on 31 October 2024), a 2% non-resident surcharge, a flat 17% corporate-envelope rate above £500,000, 3 bands of non-residential and mixed rates, the abolition of Multiple Dwellings Relief on 1 June 2024, a 14-day filing window, and a 3-year refund rule for buyers who sell their previous main residence after paying the surcharge. This guide walks through every moving part with four worked examples and institutional sources at the end.

1. Overview of SDLT in 2026/27

Stamp Duty Land Tax replaced the old stamp duty on conveyances when it came into force on 1 December 2003 under Part 4 of the Finance Act 2003. It is a self-assessed transaction tax payable by the buyer, calculated on the chargeable consideration (broadly the cash price plus any debt assumed plus the cash value of anything else given for the property), and filed with HMRC's Stamp Office within 14 days of the effective date of the transaction. The effective date is normally completion, but it can be brought forward if the buyer takes possession or pays substantially all of the price before that. SDLT applies only in England and Northern Ireland; Scotland levies Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Wales levies Land Transaction Tax (LTT), each administered by its own devolved revenue authority.

For 2026/27 the headline mechanics of SDLT are built from five layers. First, the standard residential mover schedule of bands: nil rate to £125,000, then 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1,500,000, and 12% above. Second, the first-time buyer relief that replaces those bands with a more generous 0% band to £300,000 and 5% to £500,000, withdrawn entirely above £500,000. Third, the 5% additional-property surcharge stacked on every band when the buyer ends up owning more than one residential property. Fourth, the 2% non-resident surcharge stacked on every band when any buyer is non-UK resident under the SDLT test (for an individual, fewer than 183 days of UK presence in every 365-day window between 364 days before and 365 days after completion). Fifth, the flat 17% rate that replaces the bands entirely on corporate residential purchases above £500,000.

Two major structural changes from the 2024 Budgets carry into 2026/27. The Spring Budget 2024 abolished Multiple Dwellings Relief for any transaction with an effective date on or after 1 June 2024, after an external evaluation found no strong evidence that the relief played a significant role in supporting residential property investment (HMRC policy paper). The Autumn Budget 2024 raised the additional-property surcharge from 3% to 5% with effect from 31 October 2024, sharply increasing the cost of buy-to-let, holiday-home and second-home purchases. Together those two reforms are the most significant change to the SDLT landscape since the transaction tax was introduced in 2003, and they reshape most planning around portfolio purchases and additional properties. The numbers throughout this guide are the 2026/27 rates and thresholds; this is general information based on published HMRC and gov.uk material, not legal or tax advice for any individual purchase.

2. The standard mover band schedule

The five bands. The standard residential schedule that applies to a typical mover (a homeowner selling one property and buying another) is Table A in section 55(1B) of the Finance Act 2003; Schedule 4ZA substitutes a higher table for additional dwellings. For 2026/27 the bands are:

• 0% on the slice from £0 to £125,000
• 2% on the slice from £125,001 to £250,000
• 5% on the slice from £250,001 to £925,000
• 10% on the slice from £925,001 to £1,500,000
• 12% on every pound above £1,500,000

Slice rates, not slab. A critical and regularly misunderstood feature of SDLT is that the schedule is a slice schedule, not a slab schedule. Each band's rate applies only to the portion of the price within that band, in the same way that income tax bands apply only to the portion of income within each band. A £200,000 purchase therefore pays 0% on the first £125,000 and 2% on the remaining £75,000 - a total of £1,500, not 2% on the whole price. This was changed by the Autumn Statement 2014 from the old slab system, which had created sharp price cliffs around the band boundaries and discouraged transactions at prices just above each threshold.

Recent reset. The nil-rate threshold was raised to £250,000 for transactions from 23 September 2022. HMRC's impact note says it was announced on that date as a permanent change, and that at the Autumn Statement 2022 the government announced it would end on 31 March 2025. It reverted to £125,000 from 1 April 2025 and that level applies in 2026/27. The reversion means a mover paying £250,000 in 2026/27 faces £2,500 of SDLT (the 2% band) where the same buyer paid nothing under the temporary regime.

Effective rate. Because the bands are sliced, the average effective rate is always lower than the marginal rate:

• £500,000: SDLT £15,000, an effective rate of 3.0%
• £1,000,000: SDLT £43,750, an effective rate of 4.4%
• £2,000,000: SDLT £153,750, an effective rate of 7.7%
• £5,000,000: SDLT £513,750, an effective rate of 10.3%

The effective rate curves asymptotically towards the 12% top marginal rate but never reaches it.

Joint purchases. SDLT is charged on the transaction, not per buyer, so two buyers purchasing a house jointly do not double the bands. The price is taken as a whole regardless of how the purchasers split the legal title. The slice schedule above runs against the full purchase price whether one person or four are named on the legal title. Where the buyers are partners in a business partnership the partnership rules can shift the picture, but for joint personal purchases the slice schedule is applied once to the gross price.

3. First-time buyer relief and the £500,000 cap

The relief. First-time buyer relief replaces the standard mover schedule with a more generous one when every buyer on the title meets the first-time-buyer test. For 2026/27 eligible buyers pay 0% on the slice from £0 to £300,000 and 5% on the slice from £300,001 to £500,000. The relief is withdrawn entirely if the purchase price exceeds £500,000 - a first-time buyer paying £500,001 falls back onto the full standard schedule and pays the same SDLT as a mover. There is no sliding withdrawal; the relief is a cliff at £500,000.

Eligibility. The qualifying conditions sit in Schedule 6ZA Finance Act 2003 and are tighter than most first-time buyers expect. Every buyer on the title must satisfy all three of the following:

• The buyer has never owned a freehold or leasehold interest in a residential property, anywhere in the world. Inheritance counts; a one-fortieth share in a family flat counts; a previous purchase by a spouse before the marriage normally counts against the buyer.
• The buyer intends to occupy the property as their only or main residence. A first-time buyer cannot use FTB relief to buy a buy-to-let or holiday let.
• The property is in England or Northern Ireland. Scotland's LBTT first-time buyer relief and Wales's LTT do not apply for SDLT purposes.

One previous owner kills the claim. The single most common mistake is one buyer on the title having previously owned a property (often a flat inherited as a teenager, or a former marital home in the buyer's sole name). FTB relief is all-or-nothing per transaction: if any buyer on the title has ever owned a residential interest, no part of the transaction qualifies for FTB relief even if every other buyer is a genuine first-timer. Solicitors run a formal FTB declaration before completion to flush out this issue.

Worth of the relief. Up to £300,000 the saving is the whole of the mover bill; from £300,000 to £500,000 it stays at £5,000, because both schedules then charge 5% on each extra pound. At £350,000 a mover pays £7,500 and a first-time buyer £2,500, a saving of £5,000. At £500,000 a mover pays £15,000 and a first-time buyer £10,000, a saving of £5,000. The saving disappears entirely at £500,001 because the relief is withdrawn.

Shared ownership. First-time buyers purchasing a shared-ownership property have two filing options: pay SDLT on the share they buy plus the capitalised rent (a "staircasing election", which fixes SDLT on the first purchase even if the buyer later staircases to 100%), or pay SDLT only on the share each time they buy more. The market-value election is usually better where the buyer intends to staircase, but it is irrevocable and locks in the full SDLT now. Shared ownership receives the same FTB relief band schedule.

Interaction with additional-property surcharge. A first-time buyer who is also acquiring an additional residential property at the same time (rare but possible - for example, buying a property to live in while still named on a family rental) gets neither relief: FTB relief is blocked by the existence of the other property under the FTB test, and the additional-property surcharge then applies to the purchase. The two regimes are designed to be mutually exclusive.

4. The 5% additional-property surcharge

The surcharge. The additional-property surcharge is a flat 5 percentage points added on top of every band when the buyer will own more than one residential property at the end of the day of completion. It was introduced at 3% on 1 April 2016 and raised to its current 5% level by the Autumn Budget 2024, with effect from 31 October 2024. The 5% rate carries into 2026/27 and is the headline rate buy-to-let investors and second-home buyers face today.

The test. Schedule 4ZA Finance Act 2003 provides that the surcharge applies where, at the end of the day of the effective date, the buyer owns more than one dwelling and is not replacing their main residence. The relevant tests are:

• The buyer owns at least one other residential property worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world at the end of the day of completion.
• The buyer is not replacing their previous main residence (sold within the 3 years before completion, or to be sold within 3 years after).
• The property being acquired is residential and worth £40,000 or more.

What counts as another property. The other interest must be a major interest in a dwelling with a market value of £40,000 or more, and not a reversion on a lease with more than 21 years to run (Sch 4ZA para 3(4)), so a share in a property counts only if the share itself is worth that much. An inherited share of 50% or less is ignored for 3 years from the inheritance (para 16). If the buyer is married or in a civil partnership and living with their spouse or partner, the purchase is a higher rates transaction if it would have been one had the spouse or partner also been a buyer (para 9), so a couple living together cannot avoid the surcharge by buying in one name. Where an interest is held for a child under 18 through a settlement or bare trust, the parent (and a spouse or partner living with them who is not the child's other parent) is treated as holding it instead, unless the trustee acts under a court appointment such as a deputyship (para 12). Non-residential property is not a dwelling and does not count.

Stacking with bands. The surcharge is added to every band of the standard schedule. A £400,000 buy-to-let pays 5% on the first £125,000 (where the mover schedule would pay 0%), 7% on the next £125,000, and 10% on the remaining £150,000 - a total of £30,000 versus £10,000 on the same price as a main residence. The jump from 3% to 5% in October 2024 raised the tax on this purchase by £8,000.

Mid-transaction sale. Where the buyer sells their previous main residence on the same day as the new completion the surcharge does not apply because at the end of the day they own only one residential property. The same-day rule is strict; selling the previous home one day after the new completion triggers the surcharge on the new purchase, but a refund is then available under the 3-year refund rule (see section 11).

Annexes and subsidiary dwellings. An individual buying two or more dwellings in one transaction pays the higher rates if at least two of them meet conditions A to C (Sch 4ZA para 5). An annexe within the grounds of, or in the same building as, the main dwelling is "subsidiary" and fails condition C where the main dwelling accounts for two thirds or more of the price attributable to the main dwelling, the annexe and any other dwellings within its grounds or building (para 5(5)) - in other words, where the annexe and the others make up one third or less. Buying a house with such an annexe does not by itself trigger the higher rates; the ordinary ownership test still applies (para 6). HMRC's guidance is at SDLTM09766 and SDLTM09755.

5. The 2% non-resident surcharge

The surcharge. From 1 April 2021, Finance Act 2003 s.75ZA adds 2 percentage points to every residential rate, including the zero band, first-time buyer rates, the higher rates for additional dwellings and the 17% company rate, on a "non-resident transaction". A non-resident additional-property purchase therefore pays standard bands plus 5% plus 2% across every slice. A purchase is a non-resident transaction only if a buyer is non-resident, the main subject-matter is a major interest in one or more dwellings (not a lease with 7 years or less to run), and the price is £40,000 or more (or, on a lease, a premium of £40,000 or more or annual rent of £1,000 or more) (Sch 9A para 2).

The residence test for individuals. An individual is UK resident in relation to the purchase if present in the UK on at least 183 days during any continuous 365-day period within the "relevant period", which runs from 364 days before to 365 days after the effective date (normally completion); a day counts if the buyer is in the UK at the end of it (Sch 9A para 4). Where the buyers include a company, a trustee of a unit trust scheme, an individual buying as a partner, or a trustee of a settlement under which no beneficiary is entitled to occupy the dwelling for life or to its income, that rule is replaced by a fixed window: 183 days in the period from 364 days before the effective date up to the effective date itself (para 5). The test is bespoke: HMRC's non-UK resident guidance says nationality, citizenship and residence under the Statutory Residence Test are not relevant. Days in the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands do not count, because the schedule counts presence in the "United Kingdom", which the Interpretation Act 1978 Sch 1 defines as Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Crown servants working abroad (and a spouse or civil partner living with them) can claim to be treated as present in the UK (para 6).

Joint buyers. The purchase is a non-resident transaction if the buyers include anyone who is non-resident, so one non-resident co-buyer brings the surcharge onto the whole price (para 2(1)(a)). The exception is spouses and civil partners: where two joint buyers are married or civil partners living together, neither is acting as a trustee, and one is UK resident, the other is treated as UK resident too (para 12).

Companies, partnerships and trusts. A company is non-resident if, on the effective date, it is not UK resident for Corporation Tax purposes, or if it is UK resident but is a close company (on a modified CTA 2010 definition), meets the non-UK control test (broadly, control by non-resident participators, counted in any number) and is not an excluded company such as a UK REIT, a property authorised investment fund or a company acting as a trustee (paras 7, 8, 9 and 11). A purchase for a partnership is treated as made by the partners (FA 2003 Sch 15 para 2), so it is a non-resident transaction if any partner is non-resident, with individual partners tested on the 12-month window. For trusts, the trustees' residence is tested, except where a beneficiary is entitled to occupy the dwelling for life or to its income, when the beneficiaries are tested instead (para 14); a bare trustee taking a new lease is likewise looked through to the beneficiaries (para 13).

Becoming resident after completion. Because the para 4 window extends 365 days past completion, a buyer may not yet know whether they pass it when the return is filed. The return must then assume they are outside the UK for the rest of the period, so the surcharge is paid (para 18). If every buyer assessed on that assumption later meets the para 4 test, the return can be amended to remove the surcharge at any time within 2 years beginning with the day after the effective date (para 19). HMRC's guidance says that where there is more than one buyer, this refund is possible only if all the buyers are individuals and each meets the rule (the 365-day window can differ for each). There is no refund route for the 12-month para 5 test, which ends on completion.

6. The 17% corporate envelope rate

The flat rate. Section 55A Finance Act 2003 and Schedule 4A charge a flat 17% of the whole price where a company, a partnership with a company partner or a collective investment scheme buys a dwelling to which more than £500,000 of the price is attributable (Sch 4A para 1(2), para 3). The flat rate replaces the standard schedule entirely - a £1m purchase pays 17% on the whole price (£170,000), not the £43,750 that the standard bands would produce for an individual's main home. At or below £500,000 a company buying a single dwelling for £40,000 or more pays the higher rates for additional dwellings (standard bands plus 5%), whether or not it owns any other property (Sch 4ZA para 4).

Who is a non-natural person. The flat rate catches companies (other than public bodies), partnerships in which a company is a partner, and collective investment schemes (typically open-ended investment companies and unit trusts holding UK residential property). It also catches bodies corporate with separate legal personality. The individual buyer is never a non-natural person; family trusts (where the trustees are individuals) are also outside the flat rate, though they may face the additional-property surcharge.

Reliefs from the flat rate. The 17% rate does not apply to a dwelling acquired for a qualifying property rental business, for development and resale in a property development trade or for resale in a property trading business (Sch 4A para 5), for a trade that offers the public the chance to stay in or enjoy the dwelling on at least 28 days in any calendar year (para 5B), by a financial institution in the course of a lending business (para 5C), for occupation by certain employees (para 5D), as a farmhouse (para 5F) or by a qualifying housing co-operative (para 5FA) (FA 2003 Sch 4A). Each relief has conditions and can be withdrawn if they stop being met. A relieved company purchase is then charged at the higher rates for additional dwellings instead. Separately, a company holding a dwelling worth more than £500,000 may owe the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED), which for the chargeable period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 runs from £4,600 to £303,450 a year depending on value, with its own reliefs and exemptions (gov.uk ATED guidance).

7. Mixed-use and non-residential bands

The mixed-use schedule. Where a transaction includes both residential and non-residential elements, or is wholly non-residential, SDLT is charged on the non-residential and mixed rates. For a freehold purchase, or the premium on a lease, there are 3 bands (gov.uk non-residential and mixed rates):

• 0% on the slice from £0 to £150,000
• 2% on the slice from £150,001 to £250,000
• 5% on every pound above £250,000

For the grant of a new non-residential or mixed lease there is also a separate charge on the net present value of the rent: 0% on the first £150,000 of NPV, 1% on £150,001 to £5,000,000 and 2% above £5,000,000, added to the tax on any premium. Six or more dwellings bought in a single transaction are also charged at these rates.

No residential surcharges. The higher rates for additional dwellings and the non-resident surcharge both work by modifying the residential rate table, so they do not reach the non-residential and mixed rates (Sch 4ZA para 1, s.75ZA(2)). The 17% company rate is different: where a company's purchase includes a dwelling worth more than £500,000, that dwelling is split out and charged at 17% (Sch 4A para 2(3)). The gap between the schedules is large: a £2,000,000 house bought as a main residence pays £153,750 at residential rates, while £2,000,000 at the non-residential and mixed rates is £89,500. That is why mixed-use claims attract attention. Gov.uk notes that agricultural land sold as part of the garden or grounds of a dwelling is charged at residential rates.

HMRC scrutiny. Whether land is part of a dwelling's garden or grounds, and so residential, depends on the facts. A return that claims the non-residential and mixed rates can be enquired into like any other (FA 2003 Sch 10 para 12), and an inaccurate return can attract a penalty (see section 10).

8. Multiple Dwellings Relief abolition

What MDR was. Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) allowed a buyer purchasing two or more dwellings in a single transaction or a series of linked transactions to compute SDLT on the average price per dwelling rather than the total. The buyer applied the bands to the average price, calculated the SDLT on a single dwelling, multiplied by the number of dwellings, and paid the higher of that figure or a 1% minimum floor (FA 2003 Sch 6B para 5, as it stood before abolition). Take an individual buying 5 flats at £400,000 each (£2,000,000) in one transaction, which is a higher rates transaction because it includes two or more dwellings (Sch 4ZA para 5). Applying the mechanism to today's bands for illustration (MDR had gone before the current bands took effect), MDR would have given 5 × £30,000 = £150,000, against £253,750 on the full price - a difference of £103,750.

The abolition. The Spring Budget 2024 announced MDR's abolition, and Finance (No. 2) Act 2024 s.7 repealed Schedule 6B for transactions with an effective date on or after 1 June 2024. HMRC's policy paper says MDR was introduced in 2011 to reduce a barrier to investment in residential property and support private rented sector supply, and that an external evaluation "found no strong evidence that the relief plays a significant role in supporting residential property investment, and that it has a minimal positive impact on overall housing supply or PRS supply". The evaluation itself was carried out for HMRC by IFF Research, Frontier Economics and Ipsos; HMRC notes that the views in it are the authors' own. The policy paper puts the cost of MDR at £700 million in 2022 to 2023.

Transitional rules. MDR still applies to a transaction effected under a contract that was (a) entered into and substantially performed before 1 June 2024, or (b) entered into on or before 6 March 2024, whenever it completes, provided it is not "excluded" (s.7(4)). A transaction is excluded if, after 6 March 2024, the contract is varied or rights under it are assigned, it is effected because an option, right of pre-emption or similar right is exercised, or an assignment, subsale or other transaction means someone other than the original purchaser becomes entitled to call for a conveyance (s.7(5)). Where transactions straddle the change and are linked, MDR can be claimed only for the pre-commencement transactions (s.7(6) and (7)).

The new picture. From 1 June 2024 every multiple-dwelling purchase is charged on the full price under whichever rule set applies. A portfolio buyer acquiring five flats in a single transaction now faces the full residential schedule on the aggregate price, plus the 5% higher rates across every band (an individual buying two or more dwellings in one transaction pays them under Sch 4ZA para 5, whether or not they own anything else), plus the 2% non-resident surcharge if applicable. On a £2,000,000 portfolio purchase by a non-resident buy-to-let investor that is £293,750, an effective rate of 14.7%. The 17% company rate is not an alternative here: it applies only to a dwelling to which more than £500,000 of the price is attributable (Sch 4A para 1(2)), so a company buying these flats would pay the higher rates instead (Sch 4ZA para 7). Where six or more separate dwellings are the subject of a single transaction, they are treated as not being residential property, so the non-residential rates apply instead (FA 2003 s.116(7)); that rule does not help a five-flat purchase.

9. Charity, group, partnership and relocation reliefs

Several statutory reliefs and exemptions survive the MDR abolition. Most work as an exemption from charge when their conditions are met; some, such as charities relief, must also be claimed in the return (FA 2003 s.68(2)). The main ones in 2026/27 are:

• Charities relief (section 68 and Schedule 8 Finance Act 2003) - a purchase by a charity is exempt if the charity intends to hold the property for qualifying charitable purposes (for use in furtherance of its own or another charity's charitable purposes, or as an investment whose profits go to its charitable purposes) and the purchase is not for tax avoidance (Sch 8 para 1). The relief is withdrawn if, within 3 years, the purchaser stops being established for charitable purposes only or the property is used or held otherwise than for qualifying charitable purposes (Sch 8 para 2).
• Group relief (Schedule 7 paragraph 1) - a transfer between companies in the same group (one a 75% subsidiary of the other, or both 75% subsidiaries of a third company) is exempt. It is withdrawn if the buyer leaves the group within 3 years while still holding the property (Sch 7 para 3).
• Partnerships (Schedule 15) - special rules apply to transactions involving partnerships; for a transfer of property into a partnership, the charge is reduced by reference to the "sum of the lower proportions" (Sch 15 para 12).
• Reconstruction and acquisition relief (Schedule 7 paragraphs 7 and 8) - cover transfers of land when a company acquires the whole or part of another company's undertaking, subject to conditions.
• Employer buying an employee's home (Schedule 6A paragraph 5) - an employer's purchase of an employee's home is exempt if the employee lived there as their only or main residence at some time in the 2 years before, the purchase is connected with a change of residence resulting from relocation of employment, the price does not exceed market value, and the land does not exceed the permitted area (FA 2003 Sch 6A, given effect by section 58A). Schedule 6A also exempts, subject to conditions, a house-building company taking an old home in part-exchange for a new one (para 1).
• Compulsory purchase, public bodies and the Crown - a compulsory purchase facilitating development is exempt (s.60), as are certain transfers between public bodies on a statutory reorganisation (s.66) and purchases by Ministers of the Crown, the devolved governments and the corporate bodies of the UK's parliaments and assemblies (s.107).
• Social housing - Schedule 9 (via section 70) gives relief for right-to-buy transactions and shared ownership leases, and section 71 exempts certain purchases by registered providers of social housing.

10. The 14-day filing window and penalties

The 14-day window. The buyer must file an SDLT return (form SDLT1) and pay the tax within 14 days of the effective date of the transaction. The effective date is normally the date of completion but can be brought forward if the buyer takes possession of the property or pays substantially all of the price before completion. Low prices are not tax-free: a £200,000 mover purchase pays £1,500, due with the return inside the same window. Sending the return produces an SDLT5 certificate, which proves the return was sent and goes to HM Land Registry with the registration application (gov.uk guidance). The 14-day filing window was shortened from 30 days for transactions on or after 1 March 2019.

Conveyancer practice. In almost every conveyancing transaction the buyer's solicitor or conveyancer files the SDLT1 and pays the tax from completion monies on completion day or the day after, and submits the SDLT5 to HM Land Registry along with the AP1 transfer-of-title application. The legal duty stays with the buyer: section 76(1) says "the purchaser must deliver a return" (FA 2003 s.76), and "the purchaser is liable to pay the tax" (s.85(1)), so the buyer remains responsible for both even when a conveyancer files the return. The 14-day window is the same either way.

Late filing penalties. A return delivered after the filing date attracts a flat £100 penalty if it is delivered within 3 months after that date and £200 in any other case (FA 2003 Sch 10 para 3). If it is more than 12 months late there is also a tax-related penalty of up to the amount of tax chargeable (para 4). Interest accrues on unpaid SDLT at the HMRC late-payment rate (currently 7.75%, set by reference to the Bank of England base rate).

Inaccurate returns. An error in a return is penalised separately under Finance Act 2007 Sch 24: for a domestic matter, up to 30% of the potential lost revenue for careless action, 70% for deliberate action and 100% for deliberate and concealed action, reduced for disclosure, in the case of unprompted disclosure of a careless error to as little as 0% (para 10). HMRC can open an enquiry into a return within 9 months after the filing date if the return was delivered on time, or within 9 months after delivery or amendment otherwise (FA 2003 Sch 10 para 12). Outside an enquiry, an assessment can generally be made up to 4 years after the effective date, 6 years where the loss of tax was careless and 20 years where it was deliberate (para 31).

11. The 3-year refund window

The refund. Where a buyer pays the 5% higher rates because they own another dwelling at the end of the completion day (typically the home they are about to sell), the purchase stops being a higher rates transaction if all of these are met (FA 2003 Sch 4ZA para 3(7) and (7A)):

• on the completion date they intended the new home to be their only or main residence;
• they, or their spouse or civil partner, dispose of a major interest in another dwelling within the 3 years beginning with the day after the new purchase (or a longer period HMRC allow for exceptional circumstances);
• immediately after that sale neither they nor their spouse or civil partner still has a major interest in the sold dwelling (para 3(7)(ba)); and
• the sold dwelling was their only or main residence at some time in the 3 years ending with the new purchase (para 3(7)(c)).

What is repaid is the difference between the higher rates and the rates that would otherwise have applied.

The claim deadline. The claim is an amendment of the SDLT return for the new home, which can be made within 12 months beginning with the date of the sale or, if later, the filing date of that return (Sch 4ZA para 8(3)). HMRC's refund guidance gives the same rule for sales on or after 29 October 2018; for earlier sales the first limb was 3 months after the sale. If the old home took longer than 3 years to sell, HMRC can allow a longer period where exceptional circumstances that could not reasonably have been foreseen prevented the sale, on an application made within 12 months of the sale (para 3(7A)(b) and (7B)). The guidance says this route is open where the new home was bought on or after 1 January 2017, gives government-imposed restrictions and action by a public authority as examples, and says that ordinary events such as failing to find a buyer at the price you want, or a chain breaking down, do not count. This application is made by letter, explaining why the sale could not happen within 3 years, to BT Stamp Duty Land Tax, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1HD.

How to claim. The gov.uk guidance says the main buyer, or an agent acting for them, applies through HMRC's online service (sign-in required) or, if they cannot use it, on form SDLT16 printed and posted to HMRC. The application needs the new purchase's effective date and SDLT unique transaction reference, details of the sold home (effective date of sale, address and buyer), the tax paid and the amount claimed, and the bank details for the repayment. A repayment to an agent rather than the buyer needs a signed authority from the buyer.

Non-resident refund. The 2 percentage points of non-resident surcharge are recovered a different way: not by a refund application but by amending the SDLT return, within 2 years beginning with the day after the effective date, once every buyer who was assumed to be non-resident has met the 183-day test in a 365-day window ending no later than 365 days after completion (Sch 9A para 19; HMRC guidance). See section 5.

12. Four worked examples

Example A: standard mover at £350,000

A homeowner selling one property and buying a new primary residence at £350,000. No FTB relief (the buyer has owned property before), no additional-property surcharge (the previous home is being sold on the same day), no non-resident surcharge. The standard mover schedule applies:

• £0 to £125,000 at 0% = £0
• £125,001 to £250,000 at 2% = £2,500
• £250,001 to £350,000 at 5% = £5,000
• Total SDLT: £7,500 (effective rate 2.14%)

Example B: first-time buyer at £450,000

A genuine first-time buyer (never previously owned any residential property, anywhere in the world) buying a primary residence at £450,000. The price is under the £500,000 cap so FTB relief applies in full:

• £0 to £300,000 at 0% = £0
• £300,001 to £450,000 at 5% = £7,500
• Total SDLT: £7,500 (effective rate 1.67%)

Without FTB relief the same purchase under the standard mover schedule would face £12,500 of SDLT - a saving of £5,000 from the relief. A purchase at £500,001 would see the relief withdrawn entirely and the buyer pay £15,000.05, against £10,000 at £500,000 - an extra £5,000.05 for one more pound of price.

Example C: buy-to-let at £400,000

A UK-resident buy-to-let investor purchasing a £400,000 flat as an additional property. Standard mover bands apply, plus the 5% additional-property surcharge across every band:

• £0 to £125,000 at 5% = £6,250
• £125,001 to £250,000 at 7% = £8,750
• £250,001 to £400,000 at 10% = £15,000
• Total SDLT: £30,000 (effective rate 7.50%)

The same purchase as a main residence (no surcharge) would face £10,000 of SDLT - the 5% surcharge adds £20,000 on this transaction. With the previous 3% surcharge (before 31 October 2024) on today's bands the same purchase would pay £22,000 - the October 2024 increase adds £8,000 to this example.

Example D: non-resident additional-property purchase at £1,200,000

A buyer who is non-UK resident in relation to the purchase (present in the UK on fewer than 183 days in every 365-day window between 364 days before and 365 days after completion, and with no UK-resident spouse buying jointly) purchasing a £1,200,000 London flat as an additional property. Standard bands plus the 5% additional-property surcharge plus the 2% non-resident surcharge - 7 percentage points of uplift across every band:

• £0 to £125,000 at 7% = £8,750
• £125,001 to £250,000 at 9% = £11,250
• £250,001 to £925,000 at 12% = £81,000
• £925,001 to £1,200,000 at 17% = £46,750
• Total SDLT: £147,750 (effective rate 12.31%)

The same £1,200,000 purchase as a main residence by a UK-resident buyer who owns no other property would face £63,750 of SDLT on the standard bands, so the combined surcharges add £84,000. Buying through a company does not escape the surcharge: the 17% flat rate (£204,000 on this price) becomes 19% (£228,000) if the company is non-resident, which includes a UK close company under non-UK control (s.75ZA(2)(c), Sch 9A para 7).

13. Related calculators and guides

SDLT interacts with most other parts of the UK property-tax landscape. For readers building a complete picture of a UK property purchase the most relevant cross-references on SalaryTax are:

• Stamp Duty calculator - model an SDLT bill under the 2026/27 rules including FTB relief, additional-property and non-resident surcharges.
• First-time buyer stamp duty checklist - step-by-step pre-completion checklist covering the FTB eligibility tests and common pitfalls.
• UK landlord tax guide - the broader tax framework for buy-to-let after the additional-property surcharge increase and section 24 mortgage interest restriction.
• UK FHL abolition guide - the parallel reform abolishing the furnished holiday let regime from April 2025 and how it interacts with second-home SDLT.
• UK Capital Gains Tax rules guide - CGT on property disposals (28% residential rate, 60-day filing) and how it interacts with SDLT on the buy side.
• UK Inheritance Tax rules guide - residential property is one of the largest IHT-bearing asset classes and SDLT is a transaction cost on lifetime gifts of land.
• UK residence (SRT) guide - the Statutory Residence Test underpins residence questions across the tax code, though the SDLT non-resident test is bespoke.
• UK Corporation Tax rates guide - context for the 17% corporate envelope rate and decisions on holding property through a company.
• UK digital nomad tax guide - for globally mobile buyers navigating the 2% non-resident surcharge.
• Budget 2024 summary - the announcement that abolished MDR and raised the additional-property surcharge to 5%.
• How UK tax works - primer on the income tax, CGT, IHT and SDLT machinery these rules sit inside.

Sources: gov.uk Stamp Duty Land Tax overview, gov.uk residential property rates, gov.uk non-residential and mixed-use rates, gov.uk first-time buyer relief guidance, gov.uk higher rates for additional properties, gov.uk non-UK resident surcharge guidance, HMRC Stamp Duty Land Tax Manual, gov.uk Autumn Budget 2024 Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates (OOTLAR), gov.uk publication on the abolition of Multiple Dwellings Relief, gov.uk SDLT filing and payment guidance, and gov.uk additional-properties refund application guidance. All figures checked 2026-10-17 and apply to 2026/27 unless explicitly stated otherwise. This guide is general information based on published HMRC and gov.uk material, not legal or tax advice for any individual purchase. Anyone making decisions about a property purchase that involves the surcharges, the corporate envelope rate, mixed-use treatment, or a relief claim should consult a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) or a solicitor with specialist SDLT experience on their own facts.