Stamp duty on a first home and stamp duty on a second home are two different taxes wearing one name. The first is charged at standard bands, often with relief for first-time buyers; the second is charged at higher bands, or with a supplement on the whole price, because the buyer already owns a dwelling. This guide explains the higher-rate systems for England and Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales — the three published schedules built into the Stamp Duty Calculator — works all three on the same £350,000 purchase so they can be compared honestly, covers buy-to-let purchases, the replacement-home refund rule and the Australian position, and states the limits of every figure. All rates are the published schedules checked in October 2026 that the hub’s band tables already carry; no rate in this guide is new, and every worked total can be re-performed from those tables.

What counts as an additional property

The higher rates turn on ownership, not on intention. In England and Northern Ireland, the higher rates for additional dwellings apply to a residential purchase of £40,000 or more where, at the end of the day of the transaction, the buyer owns more than one dwelling. In Scotland, the additional dwelling supplement applies on the same £40,000 threshold where the buyer already owns a dwelling. The £40,000 floor matters: a genuinely small purchase below it is not caught, however many properties the buyer owns. Above it, the question is simply whether another dwelling is owned — not whether the new property will be let, lived in by family, or left empty.

That ownership test is also why the labels second home and buy-to-let overlap without being identical. A holiday home you live in yourself is an additional property even though nothing is let. A let property is an additional property when you already own your own home, which most landlords do. A let property bought as your only dwelling sits in a grey area where the answer depends on your circumstances, and this guide does not pretend otherwise: if the let property would be your only dwelling, take conveyancing advice before assuming either rate, because the higher-rate rules contain transaction-type exceptions that a guide cannot apply to an individual case. The safe statement, and the one this guide makes, is that additional-property treatment is the default for second homes and for most buy-to-let purchases, not a certainty for every one.

First-time buyer relief never applies to an additional property, by definition: relief exists for buyers who have never owned a dwelling, and an additional-property buyer has. England’s first-time relief — no duty on the first £300,000 and 5% on the slice from £300,001 to £500,000 — and Scotland’s raised nil-rate band of £175,000 are therefore absent from every figure in this guide. Wales has no first-time buyer relief at all, so the comparison there is between its main bands and its higher bands only. Removing relief from the picture is part of why the gap between standard and additional totals is so large: the additional buyer loses both the lower bands and the relief.

England and Northern Ireland: higher bands, worked on £350,000

England and Northern Ireland charge stamp duty land tax in slices: each part of the price is taxed at the rate for its band, and the higher rates are a second, higher set of rates for the same bands. The standard bands are 0% up to £125,000, 2% from £125,001 to £250,000, 5% from £250,001 to £925,000, 10% to £1,500,000 and 12% above that. The higher bands are 5%, 7%, 10%, 15% and 17% for the same slices. Non-UK residents pay a further 2 points on every band, standard or higher, which this guide’s worked example excludes so the comparison stays clean — add 2% of the whole price if that surcharge applies to you.

On a £350,000 purchase at standard rates, the duty is 0% on the first £125,000, which is £0; 2% on the next £125,000, which is £2,500; and 5% on the remaining £100,000, which is £5,000 — a total of £7,500. At higher rates the same slices give 5% on the first £125,000, which is £6,250; 7% on the next £125,000, which is £8,750; and 10% on the remaining £100,000, which is £10,000 — a total of £25,000. The additional-property cost of this purchase is therefore £25,000 minus £7,500, which is £17,500, and the effective rate rises from 2.1% of the price to 7.1%. That £17,500 gap, not the £25,000 total, is the number that should drive the decision: it is the price of buying while still owning another dwelling, and it is the amount a replacement-home refund can later recover, as the refund section explains.

Table 1 — England and Northern Ireland on £350,000: standard rates against higher rates.

Scotland: the 8% supplement on the whole price

Scotland’s land and buildings transaction tax works differently, and the difference is structural. Its standard bands are 0% up to £145,000, 2% from £145,001 to £250,000, 5% from £250,001 to £325,000, 10% from £325,001 to £750,000 and 12% above that, and first-time buyers get a raised nil-rate band of £175,000, worth up to £600. The additional dwelling supplement does not replace those bands with higher ones: it adds 8% of the whole purchase price on top of the standard duty, for purchases of £40,000 or more where the buyer already owns a dwelling. Because the supplement is charged on the whole price rather than slice by slice, it grows with the purchase in a way that banded surcharges do not, and on expensive purchases it dominates the bill.

On a £350,000 purchase at standard rates, the duty is 0% on the first £145,000, which is £0; 2% on the next £105,000, which is £2,100; 5% on the next £75,000, which is £3,750; and 10% on the remaining £25,000, which is £2,500 — a total of £8,350. The supplement is 8% of £350,000, which is £28,000, giving an additional-property total of £36,350. The supplement alone is more than three times the standard duty, and the additional cost over standard rates, £28,000, is the largest of the three nations on this price — not because Scotland’s bands are highest, but because a whole-price percentage scales faster than banded rates. That is the structural point to carry away: when comparing nations, compare the mechanism, not just the headline percentage.

Table 2 — Scotland on £350,000: standard duty plus the 8% supplement.

Wales: higher bands, not a surcharge

Wales charges land transaction tax at main rates for a home you live in and at a separate, higher set of bands for additional properties — and the higher bands are their own band structure, not a surcharge added afterwards. That distinction matters for the arithmetic: in Wales you re-slice the whole price at the higher bands, exactly as in England, rather than computing standard duty and adding a percentage, as in Scotland. The main bands are 0% up to £225,000, 6% from £225,001 to £400,000, 7.5% to £750,000, 10% to £1,500,000 and 12% above that. The higher bands are 5% up to £180,000, 8.5% from £180,001 to £250,000, 10% from £250,001 to £400,000, 12.5% to £750,000, 15% to £1,500,000 and 17% above that. Wales has no first-time buyer relief, so no relief is lost in the comparison.

On a £350,000 purchase at main rates, the duty is 0% on the first £225,000, which is £0; 6% on the next £25,000, which is £1,500; and 6% on the remaining £100,000, which is £6,000 — a total of £7,500, coincidentally the same as England’s standard total on this price, though by different bands. At higher bands the same price gives 5% on the first £180,000, which is £9,000; 8.5% on the next £45,000, which is £3,825; 8.5% on the next £25,000, which is £2,125; and 10% on the remaining £100,000, which is £10,000 — a total of £24,950. The additional cost is £17,450, close to England’s £17,500 by coincidence rather than design: the two systems reach similar totals on this price through different band shapes, and on other prices they diverge, which is why the calculator’s region selector, not a rule of thumb, should be used for any real purchase.

Table 3 — Wales on £350,000: main bands against higher bands.

Buy-to-let: why landlords usually pay the higher rates

A buy-to-let purchase is taxed as an additional property whenever the buyer already owns a dwelling, which covers the ordinary landlord who owns the home they live in and buys a property to let. The calculator’s buyer-type options exist for exactly this distinction: selecting an additional-property buyer type applies the higher bands or the supplement, and the results show both the duty and the total transaction cost including registration, so the landlord’s real entry cost is visible rather than just the tax. What the higher rates do not do is distinguish between landlords by portfolio size or by rent: a first let property and a twentieth attract the same band structure, and the tax does not scale with rental income. Rental income is taxed separately, under income tax, and no part of this guide’s figures includes it.

Two practical consequences follow. First, the deposit arithmetic changes: the additional duty is payable on top of the price, alongside the deposit, so a landlord who budgets only for the deposit and the standard duty will be short by the additional amount — £17,500 on the England example above — at completion. Second, the comparison that matters for a let purchase is after-tax yield, not gross yield: a property yielding 5% gross on a £350,000 price returns £17,500 a year before costs, which is exactly the England additional-duty amount, so the first year’s gross rent is consumed by the entry tax alone. That is not an argument for or against buying to let; it is the arithmetic that any honest yield calculation must include, and it is why the higher rates, more than any other single factor, changed the economics of small-scale letting when they were introduced.

One boundary case deserves explicit mention because it is the most common source of confusion. A property bought to let that would be the buyer’s only dwelling — a first property, bought as an investment rather than a home — is not automatically an additional property, since the ownership test turns on dwellings already owned. Whether the higher rates apply then depends on the transaction’s full circumstances, including any interest in other dwellings and the timing of related transactions. This guide states the default, that most buy-to-let purchases attract the higher rates, and leaves the boundary case to conveyancing advice, because a guide that answered it definitively would be giving legal advice on an unseen set of facts.

Selling your old home: the replacement-home refund

The higher rates contain a fairness mechanism for the buyer who is moving, not accumulating: if you buy a new main home before selling your old one, you pay the higher rates on the purchase, but you can claim back the additional amount — the difference between the higher-rate duty and the standard-rate duty — if you sell the old main home within the allowed window afterwards. In England and Northern Ireland that window is three years from the purchase, with the claim made to HM Revenue and Customs; Scotland operates a corresponding repayment of the additional dwelling supplement on a replacement main residence. The refund returns the additional element only, not the whole duty: on the England £350,000 example, a successful claim returns £17,500 and leaves the £7,500 standard duty paid. It does not return registration fees or other transaction costs.

The practical consequence is about cash flow, not about the final bill. A buyer who must complete the purchase before the sale needs the higher-rate total in cash at completion — £25,000 on the England example — and recovers £17,500 later, which may be months or years later depending on the sale. Bridging that gap is a financing question, and it is the reason the calculator shows the total transaction cost rather than just the duty: the money that must be present at completion is the higher total, whatever the eventual refund. Buyers who cannot bridge the gap sometimes choose to sell first, accepting temporary accommodation, precisely to avoid paying the higher rates at all. That choice trades convenience against £17,500 of tied-up cash, and it is a personal decision the arithmetic can inform but not make.

Wales operates its own repayment arrangements for replacement main residences under its higher-rate bands, and the same cash-flow logic applies: the higher total is payable first and the additional element is recoverable afterwards, subject to that jurisdiction’s conditions and deadlines. Conditions, deadlines and claim mechanics differ between nations and change over time, so this guide states the mechanism and its cash-flow consequence without quoting a deadline as permanent. For any live transaction, confirm the current window and the claim route with your conveyancer before completion, not after it — a missed deadline converts a refundable £17,500 into a permanent cost.

Australia: no separate second-home scale

Australia has no UK-style additional-property scale. Its states and territories charge transfer duty on their own published scales — New South Wales on a base-plus-rate scale re-indexed every 1 July, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory each on theirs — and the hub’s band tables carry all eight. What changes for a second or investment property in Australia is generally the loss of first-home concessions, not the addition of a surcharge scale: first-home buyers in New South Wales, for example, pay no duty on homes up to $800,000 under that state’s assistance scheme, with a sliding concession to $1,000,000, while a buyer who has owned before pays the general scale on the same price. The difference is real money, but it is a difference of concession, not of rate structure, and it should not be described as a UK-style surcharge.

Two Australian additions do resemble surcharges and should not be confused with a second-home scale. Foreign purchasers pay surcharge purchaser duty in several states — 9% on top in New South Wales and 8% in Victoria, as the hub’s tables state — but that surcharge turns on residency, not on how many properties are owned, and it applies to a first Australian purchase as readily as to a fifth. Land tax, which is an annual holding tax rather than a transaction duty, also treats investment properties differently from principal homes in most states, but it is outside this guide’s subject and outside the calculator’s scope. A buyer comparing the UK and Australia should therefore compare a UK additional-property total against an Australian general-scale total without a first-home concession, and should keep foreign-purchaser surcharges and annual land tax as separate lines, not fold them into the duty figure.

Land and new builds close the Australian picture in the same way they close the UK one. A land purchase is taxed on its consideration under the applicable scale, with first-home concessions for vacant land set lower than for homes — in New South Wales, no duty on vacant land up to $350,000 for first-home buyers, with a concession phasing out at $450,000 — and a new build is taxed like any other residential purchase in its band structure, with no separate new-build rate in the published schedules the hub carries. First-home relief, where it applies, applies to qualifying new builds as readily as to established homes; it does not apply because a home is new. The distinction matters for budgeting: a new build’s duty should be estimated from the general scale for its price and buyer type, not from any assumed new-build discount.

Limits: what these figures do not cover

Every figure in this guide is an estimate from published band schedules, and four limits apply to all of them. First, the schedules are those checked in October 2026; rates, thresholds and reliefs change, and a purchase completing after a change is taxed under the new schedule, not the one quoted here. Second, eligibility for reliefs and for refunds turns on individual circumstances — previous ownership, residency, the timing of sales, the apportionment of mixed-use prices — that a guide cannot determine, so a figure that assumes standard or additional treatment may not be the figure that applies to you. Third, registration fees, conveyancing costs, mortgage costs and, for landlords, income tax on rent are all excluded from the duty totals, though the calculator shows registration and other fees as separate lines in its total transaction cost. Fourth, nothing in this guide is legal or financial advice: for a live purchase, confirm the applicable bands, your buyer type and any refund claim with your conveyancer or tax adviser before exchanging contracts. The calculator estimates; the conveyancer determines.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a second home for stamp duty?

A second home is any additional dwelling bought while the buyer already owns another dwelling. In England and Northern Ireland the higher rates apply to purchases of 40,000 pounds or more where the buyer owns more than one dwelling at the end of the transaction day, and Scotland applies its supplement on the same 40,000-pound threshold. The test is ownership, not whether the property is lived in or let.

Do buy-to-let purchases pay higher stamp duty?

Usually, yes, because most landlords already own the home they live in, which makes the let property an additional dwelling. The higher bands or supplement then apply to the purchase price. A let property bought as the buyer’s only dwelling is a boundary case that depends on the full circumstances, so it should be confirmed with a conveyancer rather than assumed either way.

How much is stamp duty on a 350,000-pound second home?

At higher rates it is 25,000 pounds in England and Northern Ireland, 36,350 pounds in Scotland including the 8% supplement, and 24,950 pounds in Wales at its higher bands. The standard-rate totals on the same price are 7,500 pounds in England, 8,350 pounds in Scotland and 7,500 pounds in Wales, so the additional cost is 17,500 pounds, 28,000 pounds and 17,450 pounds respectively.

What is Scotland’s additional dwelling supplement?

It is an extra 8% of the whole purchase price, added on top of the standard land and buildings transaction tax, for purchases of 40,000 pounds or more where the buyer already owns a dwelling. Because it is charged on the whole price rather than band by band, it grows faster with price than banded surcharges: on a 350,000-pound purchase it is 28,000 pounds on top of 8,350 pounds of standard duty.

How do Wales’ higher rates differ from a surcharge?

Wales does not add a percentage to the standard duty. It re-slices the whole price at a separate, higher set of bands, so the higher total is computed from scratch at those bands. On a 350,000-pound purchase the higher bands give 24,950 pounds against 7,500 pounds at main rates. Scotland, by contrast, computes standard duty and then adds its 8% supplement to it.

Can you reclaim higher-rate stamp duty if you sell your old home?

Yes, for a replacement main home: if you buy before selling your old main home, you pay the higher rates at completion and can claim back the additional element — the difference between the higher and standard duty — if you sell the old home within the allowed window afterwards. In England that window is three years. The refund returns only the additional amount, not the standard duty or other transaction costs, and deadlines and claim routes differ by nation.