You must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The current SDLT threshold is £125,000 for residential properties and £150,000 for non-residential land and properties.
You pay the tax when you:
- buy a freehold property
- buy a new or existing leasehold
- buy a property through a shared ownership scheme
- are transferred land or property in exchange for payment, eg you take on a mortgage or buy a share in a house
How much you pay
How much you pay depends on whether the land or property is:
- residential
- non-residential or mixed-use
Residential property rates
You pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on increasing portions of the property price above £125,000 when you buy residential property, eg a house or flat.
Residential freehold sales and transfers
You can also use this table to work out the SDLT for the purchase price of a lease (the ‘lease premium’).
| Property or lease premium or transfer value | SDLT rate |
| Up to £125,000 | Zero |
| The next £125,000 (the portion from £125,001 to £250,000) | 2% |
| The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000) | 5% |
| The next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million) | 10% |
| The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million) | 12% |
Higher rates for additional properties
You’ll usually have to pay 3% on top of the normal SDLT rates if buying a new residential property means you’ll own more than one.
Non-residential and mixed use land and property rates
You pay SDLT on increasing portions of the property price (or ‘consideration’) when you pay £150,000 or more for non-residential or mixed-use land or property.
Non-residential and mixed use freehold sales and transfers
You can also use this table to work out the SDLT rate for a lease premium.
| Property or lease premium or transfer value | SDLT rate |
| Up to £150,000 | Zero |
| The next £100,000 (the portion from £150,001 to £250,000) | 2% |
| The remaining amount (the portion above £250,000) | 5% |
Residential Stamp Duty Calculator
An interesting article is below with the views of Yorkshire Building Society which suggests that sellers instead of buyers should pay for stamp duty.
It will be interesting to see if this does come into force and what the effect will be. It may actually increase sale prices to take into account that the seller has to pay the Stamp Duty.
BBC News Link – House sellers ‘should pay stamp duty’