First-Time Buyer Stamp Duty 2026/27 — SDLT Relief & Examples

First-time buyer (FTB) relief is a Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) discount for people buying their first home in England or Northern Ireland. In 2026/27 it means 0% SDLT on the first £300,000 of a qualifying purchase and 5% on the slice from £300,001 to £500,000. The property must cost £500,000 or less; above that price no FTB relief is available and standard rates apply to the whole purchase. Run your purchase price through the Stamp Duty Calculator→ for an estimate.

The relief is not automatic. Every buyer named on the purchase must be a first-time buyer, the property must be your main residence, and the price cannot exceed £500,000. Get any condition wrong and you can lose relief worth thousands of pounds. Check how your deposit and the relief work together with the Help to Buy ISA Calculator→ before you exchange contracts.

SDLT Rates for First-Time Buyers in 2026/27

FTB relief uses its own rate bands, which differ from the standard SDLT rates that everyone else pays.

The most valuable part of the relief is the expanded zero band: a non-FTB buyer pays 2% between £125,001 and £250,000 and 5% above £250,000, while an eligible FTB pays no SDLT up to £300,000. Above £500,000 the relief vanishes entirely, so standard rates apply to the whole price. That limit is why price and eligibility checks matter for buyers near the cap.

Who Qualifies for FTB Relief

Every buyer on the transaction must satisfy all of the following conditions:

• Never owned a property anywhere in the world — owning (or having owned) a home abroad, or inheriting a property even briefly, disqualifies you.
• All joint buyers are first-time buyers — buying with someone who already owns a property removes the relief for everyone.
• The property will be your main residence — buy-to-let, second homes and holiday lets do not qualify.
• The price is £500,000 or less — the cap applies to the total purchase price, not your share.
• The property is in England or Northern Ireland — Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) run separate systems.

If you jointly buy with a partner who owns a property, you also face the higher-rates surcharge of 5% on the entire purchase price on top of standard SDLT. HMRC does not need a special claim form — your conveyancer applies the relief on the SDLT return you file within 14 days of completion.

The Higher-Rates Surcharge Trap

The 5% higher-rates surcharge applies when a buyer already owns a dwelling, so a genuine first-time buyer can be dragged into it purely by the people they buy with. Take a £300,000 flat bought by an FTB and a partner who owns their own home:

The same logic applies if you keep a stake in a property you own abroad, or if a parent is added to the title to help with the mortgage and already owns a home. Whether the higher rates apply depends on the ownership and replacement-main-residence rules at the effective date, so check the relief and surcharge tests together with the conveyancer before completion.

Scotland and Wales — Different Schemes

FTB relief exists only in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland uses Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), and Wales uses Land Transaction Tax (LTT); neither uses the England and Northern Ireland SDLT thresholds in this guide. A buyer in Edinburgh or Cardiff must check the devolved regime for the country where the property sits before budgeting.

Real Calculation Examples

Example 1: A £300,000 flat. An eligible FTB is still within the £300,000 relief nil-rate band. A standard buyer pays 2% on £125,000 and 5% on £50,000.

Example 2: A £450,000 house. The FTB pays 5% only on the £150,000 above the £300,000 threshold.

Example 3: The limit at £500,000. At exactly £500,000 the FTB pays 5% on the top £200,000. At £501,000 the relief is gone and standard rates apply to the whole price.

If you are close to the limit, confirm the SDLT treatment before exchanging contracts; a price above £500,000 removes the FTB relief rather than merely taxing the excess at standard rates.

When SDLT Is Paid and Refunds

SDLT is a self-assessed tax: your conveyancer files the return and pays any tax due within 14 days of completion, so you rarely touch the money yourself. The relief is claimed on that same return, not on a separate form. If the relief was missed — for example, a conveyancer used the wrong relief code — you can apply to HMRC for a refund. Keep the SDLT5 certificate and purchase records; the exact claim route and deadline should be checked against the current HMRC guidance for the transaction.

Check the whole transaction, not only the buyer’s deposit

The FTB test applies to the purchasers and the property, not to the size of the deposit. A buyer can have a large deposit and still lose the relief because a joint purchaser previously owned a dwelling, inherited a property or is buying the new home through an arrangement that does not meet the main-residence condition. Conversely, a small deposit does not prevent the relief if every condition is satisfied and the mortgage provider accepts the application.

Review the title, mortgage and beneficial ownership together. Adding a parent or another supporter to the title can change the purchaser group and may change the SDLT analysis. A person who is not intended to live in the home can still be relevant if they become a purchaser. Ask the conveyancer to confirm who is legally acquiring the property and whether the ownership structure affects first-time-buyer relief or higher rates.

The price cap is a cliff edge. At £500,000, a qualifying buyer can use the FTB rates; at £500,001, the relief is unavailable and the standard rates apply to the whole consideration. Do not assume that paying a little more creates only a small extra tax bill. Include fixtures, incentives, linked transactions and any non-cash consideration in the purchase-price review where the SDLT rules require them to be considered.

Completion date matters because the applicable rates and conditions are tested under the rules in force for the transaction. An offer, mortgage approval or exchange date is not necessarily the date that fixes the SDLT return. If completion moves into another tax-policy period, ask the conveyancer to recheck the calculation. Keep the written calculation, SDLT return, SDLT5 certificate and proof of any refund with the purchase records.

Additional property and non-resident questions

First-time-buyer relief and the higher-rates surcharge are separate tests. A buyer may meet the first-time-buyer definition but still need to consider another property interest, a company purchase, a non-resident surcharge or the replacement-main-residence rules. Do not use the £500,000 cap as proof that the final bill is £0 or £10,000 until the ownership and residence facts have been reviewed.

Scotland and Wales use different transaction taxes, and an overseas buyer may have additional questions even when the property is in England or Northern Ireland. The right source depends on the property location and the completion facts. A calculator can model a stated price, but it cannot validate title history, residence, linked transactions or the conveyancer’s filing position.

Step-by-Step: Buying Your First Home

Frequently Asked Questions

Estimate your bill with the Stamp Duty Calculator→, then read the full Stamp Duty Land Tax 2026/27 guide for the standard bands, and the Help to Buy ISA 2026/27 guide if you are still building your deposit. Buying your first home is one of the biggest tax events of your life — a few minutes of checking the numbers can keep thousands of pounds in your pocket.

Official sources

• GOV.UK: Stamp Duty Land Tax relief for land or property transactions
• GOV.UK: Stamp Duty Land Tax residential property rates
• GOV.UK: Stamp Duty Land Tax
• GOV.UK: Stamp Duty Land Tax reliefs and exemptions

This guide is general educational information for England and Northern Ireland in the UK 2026/27 tax year. It is not conveyancing, tax or legal advice and does not confirm a purchaser’s SDLT position.