Higher rates on additional properties
Buying a property that leaves you owning more than one dwelling triggers a surcharge. England and Northern Ireland add 5 percentage points to every band, Wales uses a separate higher-rate table, and Scotland charges a flat supplement instead.
Who pays
The surcharge is not limited to holiday homes. It applies to second homes, buy-to-let purchases, a property bought while a former home is retained, and joint purchases where any buyer already owns a dwelling. Companies buying residential property are in scope, as are most trusts. Ownership held by a spouse, civil partner or, in Scotland, a cohabitant is generally treated as yours, and property owned outside the UK counts. The test looks at what is owned at the end of the day of the transaction, and it is about dwellings rather than about whether the new purchase is intended to be let out.
How England, Northern Ireland and Wales charge it
Both regimes apply the surcharge through a separate banded table rather than as a bolt-on figure. In England and Northern Ireland the higher-rate table sits 5 percentage points above the standard table at every band, including the band that would otherwise be nil, so there is no tax-free slice on an additional-property purchase. Wales publishes its own higher-rate table with its own boundaries, the first of which sits at £180,000, and its rates are not derived from the main table by adding a fixed number of points. Both regimes bring the surcharge into play only once a minimum price is reached.
Replacing your main residence, and the refund route
Somebody moving home is not the target of these rules. Where the purchase replaces your only or main residence and the previous one is sold at the right time, the surcharge does not apply. Problems arise with timing: if the new home completes before the old one sells, the surcharge is payable up front even though the buyer ends up owning one dwelling. A refund can then be claimed once the previous main residence sells, provided that happens within the period the relevant authority allows. Claims go to HMRC or the Welsh Revenue Authority and carry their own strict deadlines.
Scotland is structurally different
Scotland does not use a higher-rate band table at all. Its Additional Dwelling Supplement is a flat charge on the whole purchase price, added on top of the LBTT calculated in the normal way. That difference in mechanics, rather than any difference in headline rates, is what makes Scottish additional-property purchases so much more expensive at higher prices. It also means the intuition built from the English tables does not carry across the border: there is no surcharge band to reason about, only a single proportion applied to everything.
Key points
- England and Northern Ireland add 5 points to every band; Wales uses its own higher-rate table.
- Replacing a main residence is exempt, and a refund is available if the old home sells within the allowed period.
- Scotland charges a flat supplement on the whole price instead of using a banded table.
Common questions
I am buying a new home before my old one sells. Do I pay the surcharge?
Usually yes, at the point of purchase, because you own two dwellings on the day. A refund can be claimed once the previous main residence sells within the allowed period.
Does a property I own abroad count?
Yes. Dwellings owned anywhere in the world are generally counted when deciding whether the purchase leaves you owning more than one.
Is there a tax-free band on an additional-property purchase?
No. Once the surcharge applies, the higher-rate table charges from the first pound. The nil-rate band belongs to the standard table only.
Work out your own figure
SDLT on a £300,000 property in England & Northern Ireland. That is an effective rate of 1.7%.
Written by StampBand Editorial, published by Inventum. Rates verified 9 August 2026 against HM Revenue & Customs, Revenue Scotland and the Welsh Revenue Authority.