First-time buyer stamp duty calculator
First-time buyers pay less stamp duty, but the rules differ across the UK and the England relief cuts off sharply at £500,000. This shows your bill and exactly what the relief saves you against an ordinary mover.
How your bill breaks down
| Slice | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| £0 to £300,000 | 0.0% | £0 |
| £300,000 to £350,000 | 5.0% | £2,500 |
| Total | £2,500 |
How first-time buyer relief works
The relief changes the stamp duty bands rather than handing you a fixed discount. In England a first-time buyer pays no SDLT on the first £300,000 and 5% on anything from £300,000 up to £500,000. So a £450,000 purchase is taxed only on the £150,000 above the nil band. The relief is worth more the closer the price sits to £500,000, then it vanishes: buy for £500,001 and you pay full standard SDLT on the entire price, not just the pound over the limit.
Scotland and Wales run their own systems. Scotland lifts the LBTT nil band from £145,000 to £175,000 for first-time buyers, a saving of up to £600. Wales gives no first-time buyer relief, so the Land Transaction Tax is the same whether or not you have owned before.
Worked example
Take a £350,000 first home in England. The first £300,000 is free, and the remaining £50,000 is taxed at 5%, giving £2,500. An ordinary home mover buying the identical property would pay £7,500, so the relief is worth £5,000 here. Push the price above £500,000 and that saving drops to zero, because the relief no longer applies.
Common questions
How much stamp duty does a first-time buyer pay?
In England a first-time buyer pays nothing up to £300,000, then 5% on the slice from £300,000 to £500,000. On a £350,000 home the bill is about £2,500, which is £5,000 less than a home mover pays. Switch nation above for Scotland or Wales.
What counts as a first-time buyer?
You must never have owned a residential property anywhere in the world, on your own or jointly. If you are buying with someone else, both of you have to be first-time buyers for the relief to apply. Inheriting a share of a property in the past can also disqualify you.
What happens if the house costs more than £500,000?
In England the relief disappears completely above £500,000. You do not get the nil band on the first £300,000, you pay standard SDLT on the whole price as an ordinary buyer would. There is no tapering, it is a hard cliff at £500,000.
Is there first-time buyer relief in Scotland and Wales?
Scotland gives relief by lifting the LBTT nil band to £175,000, which saves a first-time buyer up to £600. Wales gives no first-time buyer relief at all, so a first-time buyer pays the same Land Transaction Tax as anyone else.
Do I claim the relief myself?
Your solicitor or conveyancer normally claims it on the stamp duty return at completion, so you should not need to do anything. It is still worth checking the return shows the first-time buyer relief before it is submitted, because correcting it later is harder.