SDLT calculator for investors

It splits the price into the SDLT bands and applies the rate for each slice, adding the 5% higher-rates surcharge for an additional property or a company purchase, and 2% more for a non-resident buyer. The table shows each slice, its rate and the tax on it, with the total rounded down to the pound. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you enter is stored.

For an additional property or a company purchase in England or Northern Ireland: 5% on the first £125,000, 7% from £125,001 to £250,000, 10% from £250,001 to £925,000, 15% from £925,001 to £1.5 million, and 17% above that. That's the standard rates from 1 April 2025 plus the 5% surcharge, which has applied since 31 October 2024. Non-resident buyers pay 2% more on every slice.

For a UK resident individual buying an additional property, it's £25,000: 5% on the first £125,000 (£6,250), 7% on the next £125,000 (£8,750) and 10% on the last £100,000 (£10,000). That's about 7.1% of the price. A non-resident buyer would pay 2% more on the whole price, adding £7,000. At standard rates, without the surcharge, the same purchase would cost £7,500.

If the company will let the property as part of a rental business and qualifies for relief from the 17% rate, it pays the higher rates: £6,250 on the first £125,000, £8,750 on the next £125,000 and £35,000 on the remaining £350,000, so £50,000. Without that relief, 17% applies to the whole price, giving £102,000. Switch the rental business answer in the calculator to compare the two.

No. A company buying residential property pays the higher rates, including the 5% surcharge, even on its very first purchase. So there's usually no SDLT saving from buying through a company, and on a dwelling over £500,000 a company can face the 17% flat rate unless a relief, such as the one for property rental businesses, applies. Any case for a company rests on income tax, not SDLT.

The relief can be withdrawn. Relief from the 17% rate for a property rental business comes with a three-year control period. If, within three years of the purchase, the property stops being used for a qualifying purpose, for example because someone connected with the company lives in it, the company may have to pay the difference between the higher rates and the 17% rate. The calculator assumes the conditions keep being met.

If you say the buyer isn't UK resident, the calculator adds 2% to every band, on top of the 5% higher-rates surcharge where that applies. For SDLT, an individual is generally non-resident if they weren't present in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before the purchase. The test is specific to SDLT and isn't the same as the residence test for income tax.

If a single transaction includes six or more dwellings, the buyer can choose non-residential rates instead: nothing on the first £150,000, 2% from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above. The calculator works out both and shows the lower figure, which is usually the non-residential one once the 5% surcharge is in play. Multiple dwellings relief, which used to average the tax across dwellings, ended for transactions from 1 June 2024.

Yes. Where properties are bought together from the same seller, or as part of one deal, the purchases are usually linked and SDLT is worked out on the total price. Since multiple dwellings relief was abolished, there's no averaging across the properties, so a bundle of modest houses can reach the higher bands. Enter the combined price, then choose 'six or more' if there are at least six dwellings.

Yes. It's for a purchase that replaces your only or main residence, where the surcharge doesn't usually apply even if you own buy-to-lets, so the calculator uses standard rates: 0% to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5 million and 12% above. The conditions for that exception are strict, particularly if you buy before selling your old home, so check them before relying on standard rates.

Yes, for completeness. First-time buyer relief gives 0% up to £300,000 and 5% from £300,001 to £500,000, and isn't available at all where the price is over £500,000, when standard rates apply instead. It's only for someone buying their first home to live in, so it doesn't help investors. Landlords sometimes use it to check the cost when a child is buying their first home.

It's the total SDLT as a percentage of the purchase price, worked out at residential rates. Because SDLT is charged in slices, the effective rate is always below the top rate that applies to your purchase. It's a handy way to compare deals: for an additional property it rises from 5% on a small purchase towards 17% on very expensive ones. It doesn't include legal fees or other buying costs.

The SDLT return must be filed and the tax paid within 14 days of completion. Your solicitor or conveyancer normally files the return and pays from funds you provide, so the SDLT figure needs to be in your budget from the start. If the return is wrong, for example because a surcharge or relief was applied incorrectly, the buyer is responsible for the shortfall, plus any interest and penalties.

Only partly. It's built for residential purchases, using non-residential rates only where six or more dwellings are bought in one transaction. Commercial and genuinely mixed-use property, such as a shop with a flat above, is charged at non-residential rates of 0%, 2% and 5%, without the 5% surcharge. Whether a property is genuinely mixed-use depends on the facts. Leases, Welsh land transaction tax and Scottish LBTT aren't covered.

Before exchange, ideally. SDLT on bulk purchases, company purchases over £500,000, mixed-use property, buying from a connected person, and transfers between family members or into a company can all turn on detail. Getting the analysis right before you commit can avoid overpaying or a later HMRC enquiry. We work alongside your conveyancer and mortgage broker, on a fixed fee agreed upfront, and we respond the same working day.