What Is Stamp Duty For a Second Home in 2026?

You pay the additional property surcharge if, at the moment of completion, you (or anyone buying jointly with you) already own at least one other residential property anywhere in the world. The other property does not need to be in the UK. The other property does not need to be income generating. A holiday flat in Spain inherited ten years ago counts. A property bought to help a family member counts. A small share of a property left to you by a relative counts (above the £40,000 minor share threshold).

For an additional residential property purchase in England or Northern Ireland in 2026:

• ●Up to £125,000: 5 percent
• ●£125,001 to £250,000: 7 percent
• ●£250,001 to £925,000: 10 percent
• ●£925,001 to £1,500,000: 15 percent
• ●Above £1,500,000: 17 percent

Compare with standard residential rates (0, 2, 5, 10, 12 percent across the same bands), the surcharge adds five percentage points to every level.

A second home purchased for £400,000 in 2026:

• ●£0 to £125,000: 5% = £6,250
• ●£125,001 to £250,000: 7% = £8,750
• ●£250,001 to £400,000: 10% = £15,000
• ●Total: £30,000

The same property purchased as a main residence would attract £10,000 in SDLT. The surcharge adds £20,000 to the bill.

Non UK residents pay a further two percent on top of the additional property surcharge if applicable. So a non UK resident buying a £400,000 second home would pay £30,000 plus 2% of £400,000 = £8,000, for a total of £38,000.

If you are buying a new main residence but have not yet sold your existing main residence, you have to pay the surcharge on the new purchase. This is not optional. However, you can claim the surcharge back if you sell your previous main residence within three years of completing on the new one.

The refund rules:

• ●You must have lived in the previous property as your main residence at some point within the three years before the new purchase completed
• ●You must sell the previous property within three years of the new purchase completion
• ●You must claim within twelve months of selling the previous property, or twelve months of filing the original SDLT return, whichever is later

Refunds are claimed through HMRC's online form. Most refunds are processed within four to eight weeks once submitted. Your conveyancer can file the claim or you can do it directly.

You complete on a new £500,000 home before selling your existing £300,000 home. You pay £37,500 in SDLT (standard £15,000 plus £25,000 surcharge). Six months later you sell the existing home. You file a refund claim and receive £25,000 back from HMRC. Net cost: £15,000.

Even though the surcharge is refundable in this scenario, you have to find the cash up front. On a £500,000 purchase that is £25,000 of cash sitting with HMRC for six to twelve months. Many buyers in this situation use bridging finance, which adds interest cost. The alternative is to sell first and rent for the interim, which avoids the surcharge entirely.

This is a question of fact, not of registration. The factors HMRC considers include:

• ●Where you spent the majority of your time
• ●Where your family lived
• ●Where your post was delivered
• ●Where you were registered to vote
• ●Where your children went to school
• ●Where you registered with a doctor

No single factor is decisive. If your circumstances are unclear (for example, you split time between two homes), get tax advice before relying on the refund.

Properties with both residential and commercial use (such as a flat above a shop) attract mixed use SDLT rates. These rates are lower than residential rates in the upper bands and the surcharge does not apply. The mixed use test is whether the property includes both residential and non residential elements at the date of completion. The test is strict; recent case law has narrowed what counts.

A few situations avoid the surcharge:

• ●Replacement of main residence on the same day as the sale of the previous main residence (sequence matters: sale must complete before purchase)
• ●Properties valued under £40,000 (no SDLT at all)
• ●Caravan, mobile home, or houseboat purchases (different SDLT regime)
• ●Inherited shares of under £40,000 (do not count as ownership for the surcharge)

Wales uses Land Transaction Tax with a different second home surcharge (currently 6 percent on every band, raised from 4 percent in December 2024). Scotland uses Land and Buildings Transaction Tax with an Additional Dwelling Supplement (currently 8 percent on every band, raised in December 2024).

Our quote calculator handles the surcharge automatically the moment you tell us you already own property, with the refund route flagged if you are moving home rather than buying purely additional property. The figure shown on your quote is what you actually pay at completion, including all surcharges.