First-time buyer stamp duty calculator
See what first-time buyer relief is worth on your purchase, in the one nation with a cliff edge, the one with a raised threshold, and the one with no relief at all.
Rates taken from the official source and last checked on 1 August 2026.
Three regimes, three different kinds of help
First-time buyer relief depends on where the property is, and the three systems are built differently. In England and Northern Ireland you pay nothing up to £300,000 and a reduced rate up to £500,000. Scotland raises the tax-free band to £175,000 instead, a smaller saving with no upper limit. Wales gives first-time buyers nothing at all, though its ordinary tax-free band is the highest of the three.
The £500,000 cliff edge
The English relief has a hard edge that catches people every year. Buy at exactly £500,000 and you pay £10,000. Buy at a pound over and the relief vanishes on the whole purchase, so the bill jumps to £15,000 and a bit more. Around that price, a small movement in what you offer changes the tax by thousands.
Scotland has no cliff: its raised nil-rate band applies at any price. The saving just matters less on expensive homes.
Who counts as a first-time buyer
Everyone buying, together. If two of you are purchasing and one has owned property before, anywhere in the world, inherited counts too, the relief is off for the whole transaction in England and Northern Ireland. The test is having never held an interest in a dwelling, and it has no time limit: owning a flat for six months a decade ago still disqualifies.
The property must also be your home. Buy-to-let does not qualify for the relief even on a first purchase.
Beyond this page
The main stamp duty calculator handles every combination of nation and situation, and the mortgage repayment calculator works out the monthly cost of what you are about to borrow.
Common questions
How much is stamp duty for first-time buyers?
In England and Northern Ireland: nothing up to £300,000, then 5% on the slice between there and £500,000. Above £500,000 the relief disappears entirely and standard rates apply to the whole price. Scotland charges nothing up to £175,000. Wales has no first-time buyer relief.
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty at all?
Below £300,000 in England and Northern Ireland, no. Above it, yes, at a reduced rate up to £500,000. In Scotland most first homes fall under the raised £175,000 threshold and pay nothing. In Wales first-time buyers pay the same as everyone, though nothing is due below the ordinary £225,000 threshold.
We are buying together and only one of us is a first-time buyer. Do we get the relief?
No, in England and Northern Ireland every purchaser must qualify. One previous owner on the deeds, including through inheritance or an overseas property, removes the relief for the whole purchase.
Does the relief apply to buy-to-let?
No. The relief requires you to intend to live in the property as your only or main residence. A first purchase made as an investment pays standard rates, and if you already own another property the surcharge applies on top.