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, six bands of mixed-use 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the first-time buyer relief that replaces those bands with a more generous 0% band to £300,000 and 5% to £500,000, withdrawn entirely above £500,000.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 the buyer has spent fewer than 183 days in the UK in the 12 months before 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, closing a relief that had been widely used and (HMRC found) widely abused on annexe and subsidiary-dwelling arguments. 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) sits in section 55 and Schedule 4ZA of the Finance Act 2003 and is set out in regulations. 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 temporarily raised to £250,000 from 23 September 2022 to 31 March 2025 (the "mini-Budget" stamp duty cut, retained by the new government). 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 of £125,000) 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. At £500,000 (a popular London mid-market price) the SDLT is £12,500 - an effective rate of 2.5% on the whole price even though the top slice is paying 5%. At £1m the SDLT is £41,250 (effective 4.1%); at £2m the SDLT is £153,750 (effective 7.7%); at £5m the SDLT is £513,750 (effective 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. The maximum cash saving from FTB relief is at a purchase price of £500,000: a mover pays £12,500 SDLT but an FTB pays £10,000 (5% of £200,000) - a £6,250 saving versus the same purchase by a mover. At lower prices the saving narrows: a £350,000 purchase saves a first-time buyer £2,500 versus the mover bill of £5,000. The saving is meaningful at the top of the relief but evaporates entirely at £500,001 because the cliff kicks in.

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. Any dwelling counts: a UK or overseas rental, a holiday home, a parental home in which the buyer has any ownership interest however small, an inherited share, a property held in a trust where the buyer is treated as the beneficial owner. Properties held by the buyer's spouse or civil partner are treated as if jointly held regardless of legal title, so a couple cannot half-circumvent the surcharge by buying in one name only. Properties held by minor children are also attributed to the parents. Commercial property 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 £27,500 versus £7,500 on the same price as a primary residence. The jump from 3% to 5% in October 2024 raised the surcharge on this typical buy-to-let 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).

Granny annexes and subsidiary dwellings. Where the property being purchased contains a separate subsidiary dwelling (a self-contained annexe with its own kitchen and bathroom), and the subsidiary dwelling is worth less than one-third of the total price, the annexe is ignored and the whole property counts as a single dwelling. This rule was tightened after a wave of "two-dwelling" claims in the late 2010s and is now narrowly drawn; HMRC publishes detailed guidance in the SDLT Manual at SDLTM29900 onwards.

5. The 2% non-resident surcharge

The surcharge. Introduced on 1 April 2021, the non-resident surcharge adds 2 percentage points to every band when the buyer fails the UK residence test on the date of completion. It applies in addition to (not instead of) any other surcharge, so a non-resident additional-property purchase pays standard bands plus 5% plus 2% across every slice.

The residence test. An individual is non-resident for SDLT purposes if they have spent fewer than 183 days in the UK in the 12 months ending on the day of completion. The SDLT residence test is bespoke; it does not piggyback on the Statutory Residence Test used for income tax, and the 183-day count uses any day where the buyer is present in the UK at midnight. Days in Crown Dependencies (Isle of Man, Channel Islands) do not count as UK days. Joint purchases require every buyer to be UK resident to escape the surcharge - one non-resident on the title triggers the surcharge on the whole transaction.

Companies, partnerships and trusts. Companies are non-resident for SDLT if not incorporated in the UK or, if UK-incorporated, controlled by non-resident participators. Partnerships are non-resident if any partner is non-resident. Discretionary trusts are non-resident if any trustee is non-resident. The rules are designed to prevent simple structuring around the individual test.

The 12-month refund window. A non-resident buyer who becomes UK resident in the 12 months after completion (by spending 183 days or more in the UK across any 365-day window straddling completion) can apply for a refund of the 2 percentage points of non-resident surcharge. The claim is made on form SDLT16 within 2 years of becoming UK resident. This is a useful relief for buyers relocating to the UK who complete the purchase before establishing residence.

6. The 17% corporate envelope rate

The flat rate. Section 55A Finance Act 2003 imposes a flat 17% SDLT rate on residential purchases of £500,000 or more when the buyer is a non-natural person. The flat rate replaces the standard schedule entirely - a £1m corporate residential purchase pays 17% on the whole price (£170,000), not the £41,250 that the sliced bands would produce. The trigger threshold is £500,000; below that the standard residential bands apply (with the additional-property surcharge if the company already owns residential property).

Who is a non-natural person. The flat rate catches companies, 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 is disapplied where the company is using the property in a genuine property-rental business, in property development, as employee accommodation, as a farmhouse let with farmland, or as a property open to the public for at least 28 days per year. The reliefs sit in sections 55B to 55K Finance Act 2003 and require an annual ATED (Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings) return even where the relief is fully claimed. ATED itself is a separate annual charge of £4,400 to £286,500 in 2026/27 depending on band, with the same reliefs framework. Holding UK residential property through a company without one of these reliefs is materially more expensive than direct individual ownership and is the reason "de-enveloping" has been a planning theme since the flat rate was introduced in 2012.

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 schedule. There are 6 bands across the residential and non-residential side, but for SDLT mixed-use purposes the relevant schedule has three bands plus a separate lease schedule. The freehold purchase schedule for mixed-use and non-residential is:

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 grants of new leases an additional charge applies to the net present value of the rent: 0% on the first £150,000 of NPV, 1% on £150,001 to £5m, 2% above £5m. That brings the total band count across freehold, premium and rent NPV to the 6-band picture often cited in SDLT compendiums.

No surcharge layer. The mixed-use and non-residential schedule does not attract the additional-property surcharge, the non-resident surcharge or the 17% corporate flat rate. This is the structural reason mixed-use claims are attractive to buyers of high-value country houses with attached land, mansions with a paddock, or any property with an arguable non-residential element. A £2m country house under the residential schedule pays £153,750 SDLT; the same price classified as mixed-use pays £89,500 - a £64,250 saving. The temptation to argue mixed-use is considerable.

HMRC scrutiny. HMRC won several first-tier tribunal cases between 2019 and 2023 establishing that the non-residential element must be substantial and genuine - typically commercial activity generating revenue (a working farm, a let shop) rather than incidental grounds attached to a dwelling. A small paddock used for the family pony, an outbuilding used for storage, or a defunct cattle yard do not generally qualify. Mixed-use claims now face systematic enquiry and a wave of failed claims have left tax-geared penalties for buyers who claimed mixed-use treatment aggressively.

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. On a £2m portfolio of five £400,000 flats the MDR calculation gave SDLT of £35,000 (5 × £7,000 per flat) versus £153,750 under the full schedule - a £118,750 saving. MDR was the single most valuable SDLT relief on portfolio purchases.

The abolition. The Spring Budget 2024 announced MDR's abolition with effect from 1 June 2024, legislated in Finance (No. 2) Act 2024. The justification, set out in the HMRC evaluation report published alongside the Budget, was that MDR delivered poor value for money and was substantially abused. The largest single category of claims (annexe and subsidiary-dwelling claims by individual home buyers) had been growing rapidly and contributing little to the housing-supply outcomes the relief was originally designed to support. HMRC found that the relief had not measurably increased the supply of private rental housing, the policy outcome it was designed to deliver.

Transitional rules. Contracts that had been substantially exchanged before 6 March 2024 were preserved if they completed before 1 June 2024. Variations to such contracts after 6 March 2024 generally broke the transitional protection, so portfolio buyers in the late stages of negotiation were forced to complete on the original terms or lose the relief entirely. The transitional window was deliberately narrow to prevent contract-shuffling.

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% additional-property surcharge across every band (because the buyer ends up owning multiple residential properties), plus the 2% non-resident surcharge if applicable. The effective rate on a £2m portfolio purchase by a non-resident buy-to-let investor can now exceed 17% - a more than threefold increase on the MDR-era position. Portfolio buyers are increasingly considering corporate structures (where the 17% corporate flat rate may produce a similar headline number with different reliefs). Build-to-rent operators rely on the existing "six or more dwellings" rule (treating a transaction of six or more dwellings as non-residential and applying the mixed-use schedule) which survives the MDR abolition unchanged.

9. Charity, group, partnership and relocation reliefs

A short list of statutory SDLT reliefs survives the MDR abolition. None is automatic; each must be claimed on the SDLT return and supported by the relevant evidence. The main reliefs in 2026/27 are:

Charity relief (section 68 Finance Act 2003) - 100% relief where the buyer is a charity and the property is to be used for the charity's charitable purposes (or to be held as an investment and the income applied for charitable purposes). The relief is clawed back if the property is later sold or used otherwise within 3 years.
Group relief (Schedule 7 paragraph 1) - companies in a 75% group can transfer property between members without SDLT, supporting intra-group reorganisations. Anti-avoidance rules prevent abuse via degrouping within 3 years.
Partnership relief (Schedule 15) - transfers of property between partners and certain partnership reorganisations are wholly or partly relieved, by reference to the "sum of the lower proportions" formula. Most partnership transfers within a family LLP benefit.
Reconstruction and acquisition relief (Schedule 7 paragraphs 7 and 8) - covers transfers of land as part of a corporate reconstruction or share-for-undertaking acquisition, subject to anti-avoidance tests.
Employee relocation relief (section 60) - an employer acquiring an employee's previous home as part of a job-relocation package can claim relief on the purchase. The relief is narrowly drawn and does not extend to employer-funded relocation purchases by the employee.
Compulsory purchase relief, statutory body relief and crown relief - cover purchases by public authorities and certain transfers in eminent-domain proceedings.
Right-to-buy relief, registered social landlord relief - cover specific tenure transactions in 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. The 14-day window applies even if no SDLT is due - for example a £200,000 mover purchase pays no tax under the standard schedule but still needs to file an SDLT1 to obtain the SDLT5 certificate that HM Land Registry requires for registration of title. 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 conveyancer remains primarily responsible for filing accuracy; the buyer is on the hook for the tax. Where a buyer files personally (rare) the 14-day window is the same.

Late filing penalties. Late filing attracts an initial £100 fixed penalty if filed up to 3 months late, rising to £200 if more than 3 months late, plus tax-geared penalties under Schedule 24 Finance Act 2007 ranging from 0% to 100% of the tax due depending on whether the failure is careless, deliberate or deliberate and concealed. Interest accrues on unpaid SDLT from the day after the 14-day deadline at the HMRC late-payment rate (currently 7.75%, set by reference to the Bank of England base rate). HMRC also pursues incorrect returns through Schedule 10 Finance Act 2003 enquiry procedures, normally opened within 9 months of the return for routine enquiries or up to 4 years (or 6 years for carelessness or 20 years for deliberate behaviour) for discovery assessments.

11. The 3-year refund window

The refund. Where a buyer pays the 5% additional-property surcharge because they own another residential property at completion (typically the home they are about to sell), they can reclaim the surcharge if they sell their previous main residence within 3 years of the new purchase. The refund is the full 5 percentage points of additional-property surcharge across every band; the standard schedule remains payable.

The 3-year window. The refund window was tightened from "as soon as possible" to a fixed 3-year deadline by Finance Act 2018. Claims are made on form SDLT16 within 3 years of the new completion date, or within 12 months of selling the old home, whichever is later. The window has very limited extension grounds - exceptional circumstances beyond the buyer's control that prevented the sale of the previous home (a pandemic-era lockdown, for example) were accepted in published HMRC guidance after specific concessions in 2020, but the standing rule is a hard 3-year deadline.

Process and timing. The SDLT16 application can be made online through the buyer's Government Gateway account or by post. HMRC's published service standard is 15 working days but in practice processing typically takes 4 to 8 weeks. Refunds are paid to the buyer's nominated bank account in a single transfer; partial refunds are not made (the surcharge either applies or it does not). Where the surcharge was paid by a conveyancer from completion monies the refund goes to the buyer directly, not the conveyancer.

Non-resident refund. A separate refund route exists for the 2 percentage points of non-resident surcharge: a buyer who was non-resident at completion but who becomes UK resident within 12 months after completion can reclaim the non-resident element. The claim is made on the same SDLT16 form within 2 years of becoming UK resident. The additional-property and non-resident refunds can stack where both apply.

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 £12,500.05 - more than triple the bill at £500,000.

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 primary residence (no surcharge) would face £7,500 of SDLT - the 5% surcharge adds £22,500 on this transaction. Under the previous 3% surcharge regime (pre-31 October 2024) the same purchase would have paid £19,500 - the October 2024 increase added £8,000 to this example.

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

A non-UK-resident buyer (spent fewer than 183 days in the UK in the previous 12 months) 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 £1.2m purchase as a primary residence by a UK resident would face £61,250 of SDLT. The combined surcharges therefore more than double the bill, illustrating why non-resident buy-to-let investors increasingly weigh up holding through a UK company (where the 17% flat rate gives £204,000 on the same price - higher headline but different reliefs and ongoing ATED considerations).

13. Frequently asked questions

What are the UK stamp duty (SDLT) bands for 2026/27?

For 2026/27 the standard residential bands (England and Northern Ireland) are: 0% on the slice up to £125,000, 2% on £125,001 to £250,000, 5% on £250,001 to £925,000, 10% on £925,001 to £1,500,000, and 12% on every pound above £1,500,000. The bands work as slice rates (like income tax), not slab rates - only the portion of the price within each band pays that band's rate.

What is first-time buyer stamp duty relief in 2026/27?

First-time buyer (FTB) relief lets eligible buyers pay 0% on the first £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 bands. To qualify the buyer must never have owned a freehold or leasehold residential property anywhere in the world, the property must be the buyer's only or main residence, and the property must be in England or Northern Ireland. All buyers on the title must meet the test; one previous owner on the title disqualifies the whole transaction.

What is the 5% additional-property 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 raised from 3% to 5% with effect from 31 October 2024 (Autumn Budget 2024) and that rate carries into 2026/27. The surcharge applies to buy-to-let purchases, second homes, holiday lets, and any purchase by an individual who already owns a residential property anywhere in the world worth £40,000 or more. Buyers who replace their main residence within 3 years can claim a refund (see below).

What is the 2% non-resident SDLT surcharge?

The non-resident surcharge is an extra 2 percentage points stacked on every band when the buyer has spent fewer than 183 days in the UK in the 12 months ending on the day of completion. It was introduced on 1 April 2021 and continues unchanged in 2026/27. The surcharge applies to individuals, corporates, partnerships and trusts that fail the residence test. A non-resident buying a second home can therefore face standard bands plus 5% additional-property plus 2% non-resident - a 7-point uplift across the entire price. Refunds are available if the buyer becomes UK resident within 12 months of completion.

What is the 17% corporate flat rate for SDLT?

Section 55A Finance Act 2003 imposes a flat 17% SDLT rate on residential purchases of £500,000 or more made by non-natural persons - principally companies, partnerships with corporate members, and collective investment schemes. The rate replaces the sliced bands entirely: a £1m corporate residential purchase pays 17% on the whole price, not just the slice over £500k. The intent is to discourage UK residential property being held through corporate envelopes (typically to dodge income tax on benefits-in-kind or to hide beneficial ownership). Reliefs apply for genuine property-rental businesses, property developers and certain farmhouses; without a relief the corporate envelope rate makes residential ownership via a company materially more expensive than direct ownership.

What are the mixed-use SDLT rates?

When a transaction includes both residential and non-residential elements - the classic example is a shop with a flat above, a farm with a farmhouse, or a development site with an existing house - SDLT falls onto the non-residential (mixed-use) bands. There are 6 bands: 0% to £150,000, 2% on £150,001 to £250,000, and 5% on every pound above £250,000. There is no surcharge layer (no additional-property, no non-resident, no corporate flat rate) on mixed-use bands, so historically buyers have argued aggressively that purchases were mixed-use to escape the residential surcharges. HMRC now scrutinises mixed-use claims closely, and the non-residential element must be genuine and substantial - a small paddock attached to a country house does not normally cross the line.

Has Multiple Dwellings Relief been abolished?

Yes. Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) was abolished for transactions with an effective date on or after 1 June 2024 (Spring Budget 2024, legislated in Finance (No. 2) Act 2024). MDR previously let a buyer purchasing two or more dwellings in one transaction average the price across the dwellings, applying the bands to the average and multiplying by the number of dwellings - a relief that could halve the SDLT bill on portfolio purchases. From 1 June 2024 every purchase is charged on the full price under whichever rule set applies (residential bands or mixed-use). HMRC's review found MDR was widely abused (annexe and subsidiary-dwelling claims accounted for most of the cost) and yielded poor value for money. Transitional rules preserved MDR for contracts substantially exchanged before 6 March 2024 if completion happens before 1 June 2024.

What SDLT reliefs are still available in 2026/27?

A short list of statutory reliefs survives the MDR abolition. Charity relief gives 100% relief where the buyer is a charity acquiring the property for charitable purposes. Group relief lets companies in a 75% group move property between members without SDLT. Partnership relief covers transfers between partners and certain partnership reorganisations. Employee-relocation relief lets an employer reimburse an employee for SDLT on a relocation purchase without a benefit-in-kind income tax charge in some cases. There is also a property developer's relief (acquisitions of part-exchange properties from individuals upgrading to a new build) and a registered social landlord relief. Each relief requires explicit claim on the SDLT return; none is automatic.

What is the SDLT filing deadline?

The buyer must file an SDLT return (form SDLT1) and pay the tax within 14 days of the effective date - typically the date of completion, though substantial performance (taking possession or paying most of the price) can trigger an earlier effective date. The 14-day window applies even if no SDLT is due (for example, a £200,000 mover purchase pays no tax under the standard bands but still needs an SDLT5 certificate to register at HM Land Registry). In practice the buyer's conveyancer files and pays on completion day from completion monies. The older 30-day SDLT filing window was shortened to 14 days for transactions on or after 1 March 2019.

What are the SDLT penalties for late filing?

A late SDLT return attracts an initial £100 fixed penalty if filed up to 3 months late, rising to £200 if more than 3 months late, plus tax-geared penalties of 10% to 100% of the SDLT due depending on whether the failure is careless, deliberate, or deliberate and concealed. Interest also accrues on unpaid SDLT from the day after the 14-day deadline at the HMRC late-payment rate. The penalty regime sits in Schedule 10 Finance Act 2003 and Schedule 24 Finance Act 2007. HMRC pursues SDLT compliance through the Stamp Office and routinely opens enquiries within the 12-month window for SDLT returns where a relief or mixed-use claim has been made.

How does the SDLT refund rule for replacing a main residence work?

When a buyer pays the additional-property surcharge because they own another residential property (typically the home they are about to sell), they can reclaim the surcharge if they sell their previous main residence within 3 years of the new purchase. The refund window was tightened from "as soon as possible" to a fixed 3-year deadline by Finance Act 2018. Claims are made on form SDLT16 within 3 years of the new completion date, or within 12 months of selling the old home, whichever is later. The refund is the full 5 percentage points of additional-property surcharge; the standard bands remain payable. Refund applications routinely take 4 to 8 weeks for HMRC to process.

Does SDLT apply in Scotland and Wales?

No. SDLT only applies in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland has Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), administered by Revenue Scotland, with its own bands and a 6% Additional Dwelling Supplement. Wales has Land Transaction Tax (LTT), administered by the Welsh Revenue Authority, with its own bands and a 4% higher residential rate. The figures in this guide are SDLT only; any reader buying in Scotland or Wales should consult the relevant devolved revenue authority's published bands and reliefs. The bright-line rule is geographic: if the property sits in England or Northern Ireland the buyer files SDLT to HMRC; if it sits in Scotland or Wales the buyer files LBTT or LTT to the devolved authority.

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 retrieved 2026-05-27 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.