buying
Stamp duty for first-time buyers: thresholds and examples
Stamp duty for first-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland: the £300,000 and £500,000 limits, plus a worked example at ten prices from £150,000.
- 4 min read
- Last reviewed 4 November 2026
- By Your Property Check team
Key answer
Part 1 of 7
General information, not advice
This guide covers Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax, with different bands. This is general information, not advice, so check GOV.UK or ask your conveyancer for your own case. See our terms. We read the GOV.UK rates page on 4 November 2026. The Autumn Budget may change thresholds, so recheck before you exchange.
Part 2 of 7
The first-time buyer thresholds
GOV.UK says you can claim first-time buyer relief if the property you buy is your first home, and you and anyone you are buying with are all first-time buyers. For a relief purchase it sets out these bands:
| Part of the price | SDLT rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £300,000 | 0% |
| £300,001 to £500,000 | 5% |
| Over £500,000 | No relief. Follow the rules for people who have bought a home before |
The price limit is a cliff edge. If the price is even slightly over £500,000, GOV.UK says you cannot claim the relief, and you pay the standard rates on the whole price.
Part 3 of 7
The standard rates for comparison
GOV.UK sets out the standard residential bands like this: 0% up to £125,000, 2% from £125,001 to £250,000, 5% from £250,001 to £925,000, 10% from £925,001 to £1.5 million, and 12% above that. You usually pay 5% on top if the purchase means you will own more than one residential property.
Part 4 of 7
A worked example at ten prices
We computed this table with our own SDLT code (band version 2025-04) and checked it by hand. At £350,000, for example, a first-time buyer pays 5% of the £50,000 above £300,000, which is £2,500. A standard buyer pays 2% of £125,000 plus 5% of £100,000, which is £7,500.
| Price | First-time buyer SDLT | Standard buyer SDLT | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| £150,000 | £0 | £500 | £500 |
| £200,000 | £0 | £1,500 | £1,500 |
| £250,000 | £0 | £2,500 | £2,500 |
| £300,000 | £0 | £5,000 | £5,000 |
| £350,000 | £2,500 | £7,500 | £5,000 |
| £400,000 | £5,000 | £10,000 | £5,000 |
| £450,000 | £7,500 | £12,500 | £5,000 |
| £500,000 | £10,000 | £15,000 | £5,000 |
| £550,000 | £17,500 | £17,500 | £0 |
| £600,000 | £20,000 | £20,000 | £0 |
The £500,000 row matches the GOV.UK example, where a first-time buyer pays nothing on the first £300,000 and 5% on the remaining £200,000, a total of £10,000. The largest saving in the table is £5,000, and it holds across the whole range from £300,000 to £500,000 because the relief removes the same slice of tax. Above £500,000 the saving falls away completely.
Part 5 of 7
When the relief does not apply
- The price is over £500,000.
- You are buying with someone who is not a first-time buyer. GOV.UK says anyone buying with you must also be a first-time buyer, so one buyer who has owned before rules the relief out.
- You already own another property, in which case the higher rates for additional dwellings may apply.
- You are buying in Scotland or Wales, which have their own taxes and bands. Our stamp duty calculator covers all three nations.
Part 6 of 7
Why the thresholds matter when you choose a home
Because the relief stops completely at £500,000, the price band around that figure deserves care. A buyer at £500,000 pays £10,000. A buyer at £500,001 loses the relief and pays the standard rate on the whole price, which is £15,000. In other words one extra pound of price adds £5,000 of tax. Only the final agreed price counts, not the asking price or the valuation. If you are negotiating close to the limit, ask your conveyancer to confirm the exact figure before you exchange, and remember that any extras included in the sale price, such as fixtures, are best discussed with them too.
At the lower end, the relief is worth the whole of the standard tax. Up to £300,000 a first-time buyer pays nothing, so a purchase at £250,000 saves the full £2,500 that a standard buyer would pay.
Part 7 of 7
How to use these numbers
- Find the price you are likely to pay, not the asking price.
- Read across the table, or put the price into the calculator, which also includes the extra 5% for additional homes.
- Add SDLT to your costs. GOV.UK says to send the return and pay the tax within 14 days of completion.
- Keep the gap to £500,000 in mind. A negotiation that moves the price across the limit changes the tax by far more than the price difference.
Our glossary entry on SDLT explains the terms, and the stamp duty calculator lets you test other prices.
Our take
Mind the £500,000 cliff edge
Our view: the cliff edge is the thing to plan around. A first-time buyer at £500,000 pays £10,000, but at £500,001 loses the relief and pays £15,000, so one extra pound adds £5,000 of tax. The relief also fails if anyone buying with you has owned before. Negotiate with that threshold in mind.
What Your Property Check adds: the free stamp duty calculator covers SDLT, LBTT and LTT, including first-time buyer and additional-property rates, so you can test other prices. Before you offer, OfferCheck gives a plain-English risk report on the address.
Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
How much stamp duty do first-time buyers pay?
What is the first-time buyer price limit?
What if the price is over the limit?
Do you get relief if a second buyer is not a first-time buyer?
Do these thresholds apply in Scotland and Wales?
Where this comes from
Sources
Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.