Stamp Duty for First-Time Buyers in 2026: England, Scotland and Wales

Buying your first home? Depending on where you buy, you may pay much less property tax than other buyers, or, in Wales, exactly the same. Here’s how first-time buyer relief works in each nation in 2026.

Who counts as a first-time buyer?

For relief, every buyer must:

• never have owned a freehold or leasehold interest in a home anywhere in the world, including inherited property, and
• intend to live in the property as their main residence.

If you buy with a partner who has owned before, neither of you gets the relief. Previous shared ownership can affect eligibility too.

England and Northern Ireland (SDLT)

First-time buyers pay:

• 0% on the first £300,000
• 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000
• no relief at all if the price is over £500,000. Standard rates then apply to the whole price.

Scotland (LBTT)

Scottish first-time buyer relief raises the nil-rate band from £145,000 to £175,000, saving up to £600. Above that the normal LBTT bands apply, and there’s no price cap.

Wales (LTT)

Wales has no first-time buyer relief. Instead, the nil-rate band for all buyers is a higher £225,000, so many first-time buyers still pay nothing.

What you’d pay

Price	England/NI first-time	England/NI mover	Scotland first-time	Wales
£200,000	£0	£1,500	£500	£0
£250,000	£0	£2,500	£1,500	£1,500
£300,000	£0	£5,000	£4,000	£4,500
£400,000	£5,000	£10,000	£12,750	£10,500
£500,000	£10,000	£15,000	£22,750	£18,000
£550,000	£17,500	£17,500	£27,750	£21,750

The £500,000 cliff in England

Because relief stops completely above £500,000, the jump is brutal. At £500,000 a first-time buyer pays £10,000. At £500,001 they pay £15,000. If you’re near the limit:

• negotiate the price to £500,000 or below;
• pay separately for genuinely separate items such as furniture or white goods, at a fair value. Overvaluing them to dodge tax is illegal.

Shared ownership

With shared ownership you can choose to pay SDLT on the full market value upfront (a “market value election”), which lets you claim first-time buyer relief based on that value. Or you can pay only on the share you buy and on later staircasing. The right choice depends on your plans, so ask your conveyancer.

When and how you pay

Your solicitor or conveyancer files the return and pays the tax from funds you provide: within 14 days of completion in England and NI, and 30 days in Scotland and Wales. Build it into your budget from the start, together with legal fees, a survey and moving costs.

Work out your figure

Choose your nation and First-time buyer in the stamp duty calculator to see the tax band by band and your total upfront cash. Then check what you can borrow with the affordability calculator.