SDLT on a house purchase in 2026: the standard bands, first-time buyer relief and the £500,000 cliff worked on one client's figures

Stamp Duty Land Tax on a home in England and Northern Ireland is worked in slices, not on the whole price. A client who hears "five per cent" and multiplies the price by 0.05 will overstate the bill, and a first-time buyer who nudges the price past £500,000 can find the relief gone altogether. This page works three invented purchases through the published bands so a fee earner can check a quote quickly. It does not replace the HMRC calculator, and it does not cover Scotland or Wales.

What GOV.UK says

From the GOV.UK residential rates page, read on 6 October 2026:

• Standard rates: nothing up to £125,000, 2% on the portion from £125,001 to £250,000, 5% from £250,001 to £925,000, 10% from £925,001 to £1.5 million and 12% above that.
• First-time buyers pay "no tax" up to £300,000 and 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000. The relief is not available if the price is over £500,000.
• Buying an additional residential property adds 5% on top of the rates, with an exception where the new home replaces a main residence that was sold within 36 months.
• A 2% surcharge applies to buyers who were not in the UK for at least 183 days in the preceding 12 months.

Purchase one: £450,000 at standard rates

Purchase two: the same £450,000, a first-time buyer

Nothing on the first £300,000, then 5% on £150,000, which is £7,500. The relief is worth £12,500 less £7,500, a saving of £5,000.

The cliff at £500,000

An extra £1 on the price adds £5,000 to the bill. This matters when a price is negotiated at £500,000 and a chattel or fixture sum is later moved around: the figures on the contract and the transfer need to agree before the return is filed, as the late SDLT return guide shows is the point where mistakes cost money.

Purchase three: a £300,000 additional home

Standard rates on £300,000: 2% x £125,000 = £2,500 and 5% x £50,000 = £2,500, so £5,000. The 5% surcharge applies to the whole price, 5% x £300,000 = £15,000. Total £20,000, four times the standard bill.

What we could not confirm

• The page showed no effective dates or last-updated date, so we cannot say when the current bands began or whether they are due to change. Check the HMRC calculator on the day of the quote.
• It did not set out the full conditions for first-time buyer relief, such as joint buyers where one has owned before. Take those from the relevant HMRC guidance.
• It did not give the full test for the 36-month replacement exception or how a surcharge refund works. We have not stated either.
• We did not check mixed-use, non-residential or leasehold rent rules.

Putting it in the file

1. Record the price, buyer status and whether the property is an additional dwelling on the file at instruction, in the client care letter checklist stage.
2. Quote SDLT as a separate line from the firm's fee and Land Registry fee; the Land Registry fees guide covers the completion statement.
3. Ask for the money for tax before completion, and diarise the return deadline in the residential purchase checklist.
4. Re-run the figure if the price changes at all, especially near £500,000.

Where Overlyft fits

Overlyft can set up an AI assistant to draft the SDLT line of a quote from the price and buyer answers, flag any price within £5,000 of the £500,000 line and add the return deadline to the diary. A fee earner checks every figure against the HMRC calculator and a supervising solicitor remains responsible for the file. This page is general information, not legal advice.