By city
Stamp duty (Land Transaction Tax) in Cardiff
Wales has no first-time buyer relief, but its nil band runs to £225,000 for everyone: in Cardiff that line runs through the middle of the market.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Homes in Cardiff are taxed under Land Transaction Tax, collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority, not under stamp duty. The average Cardiff home sold for £272,252 in July 2026, on the UK House Price Index, and LTT at the main rates is £2,835: nothing on the first £225,000 and 6% on the rest. Wales has no first-time buyer relief, but first-time buyers in Cardiff paid £234,155 on average, which is above the nil band, so their typical bill is £549; an English first-time buyer at the same price would pay £0. Home movers paid £333,253 and pay £6,495. A second home or rental pays the Welsh higher rates, a separate table starting at 5% on the first pound: £17,175 on the city average.
More options: commercial property, company relief
Land Transaction Tax · Wales
£2,835
1% of £272,252 · rule applied: Main residential rates
| Portion | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| £0 to £225,000 | 0% | £0 |
| £225,000 to £400,000 | 6% | £2,835 |
Return and payment due within 30 days of completion.
Same purchase elsewhere in the UK
The £225,000 line through Cardiff’s market
Below £225,000 a Cardiff purchase pays no LTT at all, whoever buys it, as long as the buyer will own only that home. Above it, 6% applies to each extra pound up to £400,000, a higher marginal rate than England’s 5% band. That is why the Welsh tax is lower on modest homes and catches up quickly on larger ones.
| Price | LTT, any one-home buyer | SDLT, first-time buyer | SDLT, mover |
|---|---|---|---|
| £200,000 | £0 | £0 | £1,500 |
| £225,000 | £0 | £0 | £2,000 |
| £234,155 | £549 | £0 | £2,183 |
| £250,000 | £1,500 | £0 | £2,500 |
| £272,252 | £2,835 | £0 | £3,612 |
| £300,000 | £4,500 | £0 | £5,000 |
| £333,253 | £6,495 | £1,662 | £6,662 |
Cardiff homes by type
| Home | Average price | First-time buyer | One home | Additional property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat or maisonette | £160,574 | £0 | £0 | £8,028 |
| Terraced house | £262,241 | £2,234 | £2,234 | £16,174 |
| Semi-detached house | £324,859 | £5,991 | £5,991 | £22,435 |
| Detached house | £519,113 | £19,433 | £19,433 | £44,839 |
| All sales | £272,252 | £2,835 | £2,835 | £17,175 |
The first-time buyer column equals the one-home column throughout, because Wales applies no relief. Detached houses average £519,113, reaching the 7.5% band above £400,000. Prices moved 2.7% over the year to July 2026.
The higher rates in Wales
Welsh higher rates are a table of their own, not a flat surcharge: 5% up to £180,000, then 8.5%, 10% and upwards. On the average Cardiff flat (£160,574) a landlord pays £8,028 where an owner-occupier pays £0. Companies pay the higher rates on every purchase from £40,000 (LTT higher rates).