Stamp Duty on Second Home and Second Property Tax in the UK

England and Northern Ireland

You pay Stamp Duty Land Tax when you purchase a property or land over a certain value in England and Northern Ireland. You have to pay this tax on most properties, including:

• A freehold property
• A leasehold property with a new or existing leasehold
• A property using a shared ownership scheme
• Land

If you buy a property which will function as your main and only residence, you’ll pay Stamp Duty at the standard rates.

If you buy a second home or a buy-to-let property, you’ll pay Stamp Duty at the standard rates plus a 5% surcharge on each band. The Stamp Duty Tax rates for second homes and buy-to-let properties are the same because they both qualify as second residences.

Scotland

In Scotland, you pay LBTT (Land and Building Transaction Tax) when you purchase a property. This works similarly to Stamp Duty but has different tax thresholds and rates.  

You pay an ADS (Additional Dwelling Supplement) on second homes or buy-to-lets in Scotland not second home Stamp Duty. The ADS is a flat 8% of the total property purchase price and is applied in addition to the standard LBTT rates.

Wales

In Wales, you pay the main rates of LTT (Land Transaction Tax) when you purchase a property. This also works similarly to Stamp Duty but has different tax thresholds and rates. 

You pay the higher rates of LTT on second homes and buy-to-lets in Wales. These are entirely separate rates and thresholds from the main rates of LTT.

Stamp Duty is worked out using the property purchase price and banded rates. Each band indicates the rate at which you’ll Stamp Duty on that portion of the property price. For example, a main residence purchased at £300,000 will incur Stamp Duty rates of 0% on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,000 and 5% on the last £50,000. In this example the total amount of Stamp Duty payable would be £5,000. 

Use our Second Home Stamp Duty Calculator to work out how much Stamp Duty you’ll pay on a second home. 

Second home Stamp Duty follows the same principle and bands as standard Stamp Duty but includes a 5% surcharge on top standard Stamp Duty Rates. For example a second home or buy-to-let purchased at £300,000 will incur Stamp Duty rates of 5% on the first £125,000, 7% on the next £125,000 and 10% on the final £50,000. In this example the total amount of Stamp Duty payable would be £20,000.

Here are the Stamp Duty Tax rates for buying a second home in England or Northern Ireland:

You’ll pay a 5% Stamp Duty surcharge on top of the standard Stamp Duty rate.

Property Value	Standard SDLT Rate from 1/4/25	SDLT Rate on Second Homes or Buy-to-Lets from 1/4/25
Up to £125,000	0%	5%
£125,001 – £250,000	2%	7%
£250,001 – £925,000	5%	10%
£925,001 – £1,500,000	10%	15%
From £1,500,001	12%	17%

Second home Stamp Duty example calculation

You’re buying a second home for £700,000. The maximum rate of Stamp Duty you’ll pay is 10% but this is only for the amount of your property value over £250,000, i.e. £450,000. You pay Additional Stamp Duty of 5% on the first £125,000, 7% on the next £125,000 and 10% on the remaining £450,000. 

You’ll pay:

• 5% on the first £125,000 of the £700,000 = £6,250
• 7% on the next £125,000 of the £700,000 (the band is £125,001 – £250,000) = £8,750
• 10% on the remaining £450,000 of the £700,000 (the band is £250,001 – £925,000) = £45,000
• Total Second Property SDLT = £60,000

You can calculate how much second property Stamp Duty you’ll pay by following the example. Or, we can work it out for you with our Stamp Duty Calculator.

Here are the LBTT and ADS rates for buying a second home in Scotland:

Property Value	Standard Residential Property LBTT Rates
Up to £145,000	0%
£145,001 – £250,000	2%
£250,001 – £325,000	5%
£325,001 – £750,000	10%
Over £750,000	12%

ADS (Additional Dwelling Supplement) is 8% of the total property purchase price.

Second home LBTT and ADS example calculation

For a second property purchased for £300,000, you would pay: 

• 0% LBTT on the first £145,000 = £0 
• 2% LBTT on the next £105,000 = £2,100 
• 5% LBTT on the next £50,000 = £2,500 
• Plus 8% of £300,000 = £24,000 
• Total (LBTT + ADS) = £28,600 

Here are the LTT rates for buying a second home or buy-to-let in Wales:

Property value	Main residential LTT rates	Property value	Higher rate LTT rates
Up to £225,000	0%	Up to £180,000	5%
£225,001 – £400,000	6%	£180,001 – £225,000	8.5%
£400,001 – £750,000	7.5%	£225,001 – £400,000	10%
£750,001 – £1,500,000	10%	£400,001 – £750,000	12.5%
Over £1,500,000	12%	£750,001 – £1,500,000	15%
		Over £1,500,000	17%

Second home Higher Rate LTT example calculation

For a second property purchased for £300,000 in Wales, you would pay: 

• Higher Rate LTT at 5% on the first £180,000 = £9,000 
• Higher Rate LTT at 8.5% on the next £70,000 = £5,950 
• Higher Rate LTT at 10% on the next £50,000 = £5,000 
• Total Higher Rate LTT payable = £19,950 

Non-UK residents will face an additional 2% surcharge on their Stamp Duty. This applies to all properties and land with a purchase price of more than £40,000. 

Even if only 1 of the people purchasing the property is an overseas resident, you will have to pay this additional 2% surcharge. This means that the Stamp Duty on a second home for a non-UK resident will be a total of 7% more than the standard rate, while the Stamp Duty on their only residence would be 2% above the standard.

If you already own a home, any additional residential property you buy for personal use is considered a second home and you’ll have to pay the 5% Stamp Duty surcharge. Similarly, any additional residential property you buy with the intention of letting out is a buy-to-let and you’ll have to pay the 5% surcharge.

This is the case even if:

• You own a holiday home abroad and you’re now buying your first property in the UK
• Your other property is a shared ownership
• Your other property is a freehold or leasehold

Basically, as long as you own a home, any new residential property will be treated as a second property and incur Additional Stamp Duty. What’s more, it’s irrelevant whether you actually bought your previous property, inherited it or were added to the title deeds later on; you still technically own a home and therefore any new property will not be your first.

Stamp Duty is higher on second homes because the Government applies an additional surcharge to help manage demand in the housing market and prioritise people buying a main residence.  

Second homes and buy-to-let purchases can reduce the availability of properties for local buyers and contribute to rising house prices, so the surcharge is designed to discourage investors from competing directly with home movers and first-time buyers. It also generates additional revenue that can support housing and public services, while encouraging more balanced and sustainable property ownership across the UK.

If you have a solicitor, agent or conveyancer helping you with the purchase of your property, they’ll often handle the paperwork for your Stamp Duty payment. The solicitor will usually submit the tax return as soon as your purchase is completed. They’ll then add the amount of Stamp Duty to their fees, so you can pay it through them.

If this service is not offered, you can also file a tax return for the Stamp Duty on a second home. You’ll then have to pay the tax directly to HMRC, following their instructions.

You cannot avoid Stamp Duty other than through certain exemption criteria – e.g. the first-time buyer Stamp Duty exemption.

If anyone on the title deeds owns another property, the total amount of Stamp Duty payable will be more expensive as the 5% surcharge for Stamp Duty on second homes will be included. If you want to avoid this, you can limit who is on the title deeds to the property. You can do this by opting for joint borrower sole proprietor setups, where you can both be on the mortgage but only one of you (most likely the first-time buyer) is on the title deeds.

If you’re married or in a civil partnership, you’ll be treated as one person when it comes to calculating Stamp Duty. This means that, if one of you owns another home, you’ll have to pay Additional Stamp Duty regardless of who is on the title deeds.

If you already own a property (that you intend to keep) and are purchasing another property, you’ll have to pay second home Stamp Duty Tax on the new purchase. This is the case whether the new property will function as a second home or main residence, as technically you will still own more than one property. 

If you intend on using the new property as your main residence and selling the original property at a later day, you may be able to claim back the Stamp Duty surcharge you paid on the new property.

You can claim back the Stamp Duty surcharge you paid on a second home if you intend to use it as your main residence and you sell your previous home within 3 years of purchasing the new one. 

Claiming back Stamp Duty on second home explained 

If you purchased a new main residence without selling your previous one, you would have effectively purchased a second home. Therefore, you would have likely paid second home Stamp Duty – i.e. Stamp Duty at the basic rate plus the 5% surcharge.

If you then sold your old property within 3 years of purchasing your new one, you may be entitled to a refund on the surcharge. This can be useful for people who sometimes struggle to sell their previous residence or those who need to relocate quickly.

Stamp Duty is the only second home tax you’ll pay at the time of purchase. However, you’ll have to pay Council Tax for the period you own the property.

Any other second property taxes you pay will depend on what you use the property for and if you sell that property.

If you rent out a second property as a buy-to-let, you may have to pay Income Tax on your rental income. Learn more about this in our guide: Tax on Rental Income.

If you sell your second property, you may have to pay Capital Gains Tax. Find out more in our guide: Capital Gains Tax on UK Property.