Buy-to-Let Stamp Duty Calculator 2026 — 5% Surcharge Included

Buy-to-let purchases in England & NI pay 5 percentage points on top of every stamp duty band — 5% starts on the very first pound. A £250,000 buy-to-let costs £15,000 in SDLT, and that number belongs in your yield maths, not as a completion-day surprise. Enter the price (and optionally the expected rent) below — ungated, with the band-by-band working shown. Rates verified against HMRC (gov.uk).

Buying as:

Instant calculation, ungated. England & Northern Ireland only — Scotland uses LBTT, Wales uses LTT.

Rates verified 2026-06-10 against gov.uk (HMRC), in force since 1 April 2025.

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Buy-to-let stamp duty rates 2026

Any purchase that leaves you owning more than one dwelling — which is what a buy-to-let almost always is — pays the higher rates: 5 percentage points on top of every standard band, from the very first pound, for purchases of £40,000 or more. The surcharge rose from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024.

Portion of priceStandard rateBuy-to-let rate
Up to £125,0000%5%
£125,001 – £250,0002%7%
£250,001 – £925,0005%10%
£925,001 – £1.5m10%15%
Above £1.5m12%17%

Worked example — £250,000 buy-to-let

5% on the first £125,000 (£6,250) + 7% on the next £125,000 (£8,750) = £15,000. The same house as a main home would be £2,500. The surcharge is £12,500 of the bill — which is why it belongs in the deal maths from day one.

SDLT in your deal maths

Enter your expected monthly rent in the calculator and it shows the SDLT as months of gross rent — £15,000 at £1,100/month is 13.6 months of rent before your first pound of return, before voids, management, maintenance or tax. Pair it with the rental yield calculator: a yield that looks healthy on the asking price can look very different once acquisition costs are in.

Limited company / SPV purchases

Buying through a company doesn't avoid the surcharge — companies pay the higher rates on any residential purchase, even their first. Purchases over £500,000 by a company can trigger a flat 15% rate unless a relief applies (such as for a property rental business). Whether a ltd-co structure wins overall is a mortgage-rate and tax question, not a stamp-duty one: confirm with your adviser.

Can you claim it back?

Honestly: usually no. The well-known 3-year refund applies when you paid the surcharge on a new main residence and later sold your old main home. A pure buy-to-let bought alongside a home you keep doesn't qualify. Budget the surcharge as a permanent cost — it does reduce your capital gains bill on sale, as part of acquisition cost.

Which report for an investor?

The Investor Pro report (£109.90, one-off) is the Complete report's 15+ official-source checks on the exact address, plus 3 extra property reports bundled — useful when you're comparing candidates — and a 30-minute consultation with our team. Just want the essentials on one address? The Complete report is £24.99. No subscription either way.

What this calculator cannot tell you

It computes SDLT at the published rates — not tax advice, not a valuation, not a survey, and it doesn't model the company flat-15% edge cases. England & Northern Ireland only: Scotland (LBTT plus its Additional Dwelling Supplement) and Wales (LTT) have their own rates. The rates here are pinned to a dated gov.uk source shown beneath your result.

Frequently asked questions

Buy-to-let purchases pay the higher rates: 5% up to £125,000, 7% to £250,000, 10% to £925,000, 15% to £1.5m and 17% above. The surcharge has been 5 percentage points since 31 October 2024 (it was 3% before). A £250,000 buy-to-let costs £15,000 — versus £2,500 as a main home.
Generally no. The refund route exists only where you paid the surcharge on a new MAIN residence and then sold your previous main home within 3 years. Buying a rental property while keeping your own home doesn't qualify — the surcharge is simply part of the acquisition cost. Correcting a genuine overpayment is a separate HMRC process.
There's no surcharge if you own no other dwelling after the purchase — but first-time buyer RELIEF doesn't apply either, because relief requires you to live in the property yourself. So a first purchase that's a pure buy-to-let pays standard rates: no 5% surcharge, but no first-time buyer discount.
Yes — companies pay the higher rates on any residential purchase, even their first. Purchases over £500,000 by a company can trigger a flat 15% rate unless a relief applies (for example, for a genuine property rental business). Company purchases have their own rules — confirm the position with your adviser before exchanging.
You can't deduct SDLT from your rental income — but it forms part of your acquisition cost, which reduces your capital gains tax when you eventually sell. Not tax advice: confirm the treatment with an accountant.
Your SDLT return and payment are due within 14 days of completion. In practice your conveyancer files the return and takes the money as part of your completion funds — but it's cash you need on top of the deposit, not something added to the mortgage automatically.

Related tools

Stamp Duty CalculatorSecond Home Stamp Duty CalculatorFirst-Time Buyer Stamp Duty CalculatorRental Yield CalculatorBuying Costs Calculator

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