Second Home Stamp Duty Calculator 2026: What the 5% Surcharge Really Costs

How the 5% second-home surcharge works

If a purchase in England or Northern Ireland means you'll own more than one dwelling and the price is £40,000 or more, SDLT is charged at the higher rates: 5 percentage points on top of every standard band, including the first £125,000 that a home-mover pays nothing on. The surcharge rose from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024 and applies whether the property is a holiday home, a buy-to-let or simply a second base.

Worked example: the full arithmetic

A £300,000 second home: 5% on the first £125,000 (£6,250) + 7% on the next £125,000 (£8,750) + 10% on the final £50,000 (£5,000) = £20,000. The same house bought as a replacement main home: £0 + £2,500 + £2,500 = £5,000. The surcharge alone is £15,000: the extra this purchase costs you over a home-mover.

When you DON'T pay the surcharge

• Replacing your main residence, gov.uk's exemption: you'll use the new property as your main home and you've sold or given away your last main home before you buy. Standard rates apply.
• Purchases under £40,000: below the minimum consideration, the higher rates don't apply at all.

The 3-year refund rule

Bought before your old main home sold, and paid the higher rates? Sell the previous main residence within 3 years of the new purchase and you can reclaim the surcharge from HMRC. The claim must go in within 12 months of that sale. (gov.uk, verified July 2026.)

Buying at a distance? That's exactly when to check the house

Second-home buyers are often buying somewhere they've viewed once or twice, far from home. The checks locals do by instinct (does that road flood, is the area on old mine workings, what does the street actually sell for) are exactly what a remote buyer misses. Run the house check on the postcode, and see the flood, ground stability and coal mining checks individually. The Complete report (£24.99) compiles 15+ checks on the exact address from official sources, a small line item next to the tax bill this page just calculated.

What this calculator cannot tell you

It computes SDLT at the published rates. It is not tax advice, not a valuation and not a survey. Complex cases (trusts, mixed-use property, purchases by companies over £500,000, overseas buyers) have extra rules: confirm with a conveyancer or HMRC. Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) are separate taxes and out of scope. Rates are pinned to a dated gov.uk source shown beneath your result.