England & NI
What changed in stamp duty on 1 April 2025
A temporary cut came to an end, and two surcharges had already gone up five months earlier.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
On 1 April 2025 the temporary Stamp Duty Land Tax thresholds introduced on 23 September 2022 ended in England and Northern Ireland. The nil band fell from £250,000 to £125,000, with a new 2% band between £125,001 and £250,000. For anyone paying standard rates on a price above £250,000, the change adds exactly £2,500: a £400,000 home went from £7,500 to £10,000. First-time buyers lost more. Their nil band fell from £425,000 to £300,000 and the price ceiling from £625,000 to £500,000, so the increase reaches £11,250 at some prices. Two earlier changes took effect on 31 October 2024: the higher rates surcharge for additional dwellings rose from 3% to 5% on every band, and the company rate from 15% to 17%. The Budget of 26 November 2025 left the April 2025 scale in place for 2026.
Your SDLT before and after 1 April 2025
Extra tax since the change
£2,500
| SDLT since 1 April 2025 | £10,000 |
| SDLT from 31 October 2024 to 31 March 2025 | £7,500 |
England and Northern Ireland; Scotland and Wales did not change their main rates on 1 April 2025.
Two dates, three changes
The SDLT changes that shaped today’s bills arrived in two steps. On 31 October 2024 the surcharge for additional dwellings went from 3% to 5% on every band and the flat rate for companies buying expensive homes from 15% to 17%. Then on 1 April 2025, the temporary thresholds set on 23 September 2022 expired as legislated, which lowered the nil band for everyone and shrank first-time buyer relief.
None of this was reversed later. The overview of tax legislation and rates published with the Budget of 26 November 2025 restates the April 2025 bands, and they are the ones applied throughout 2026.
Home movers and single-home buyers
For a buyer paying standard rates, the change sits entirely in the bottom of the scale. The old nil band ran to £250,000; now only the first £125,000 is free and the next slice, up to £250,000, is taxed at 2%. Above £250,000 the two scales are identical, so the extra cost stops growing.
| Portion of the price | Until 31 March 2025 | From 1 April 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% | 0% |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | 0% | 2% |
| £250,001 to £925,000 | 5% | 5% |
| £925,001 to £1,500,000 | 10% | 10% |
| Above £1,500,000 | 12% | 12% |
| Price | Before 1 April 2025 | Since 1 April 2025 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| £150,000 | £0 | £500 | £500 |
| £200,000 | £0 | £1,500 | £1,500 |
| £250,000 | £0 | £2,500 | £2,500 |
| £300,000 | £2,500 | £5,000 | £2,500 |
| £500,000 | £12,500 | £15,000 | £2,500 |
| £900,000 | £32,500 | £35,000 | £2,500 |
| £1,500,000 | £91,250 | £93,750 | £2,500 |
Read down the last column and the shape of the change appears: nothing at £125,000 or below, a rising cost up to £250,000, then a flat £2,500 for every price above. A family trading up from a £500,000 house to a £900,000 one pays the same increase as a couple buying a £260,000 flat. In proportion to the price, the reform weighed most on homes between £125,000 and £250,000, many of which paid nothing before.
First-time buyers
Relief for first-time buyers kept its two-band structure but on a smaller footprint. The nil band went from £425,000 to £300,000, the 5% band now stops at £500,000 instead of £625,000, and the cliff where relief disappears moved down with it.
| Price | Before 1 April 2025 | Since 1 April 2025 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| £250,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| £300,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| £350,000 | £0 | £2,500 | £2,500 |
| £425,000 | £0 | £6,250 | £6,250 |
| £500,000 | £3,750 | £10,000 | £6,250 |
| £550,000 | £6,250 | £17,500 | £11,250 |
| £625,000 | £10,000 | £21,250 | £11,250 |
Three zones stand out. Up to £300,000 nothing changed: the bill is still nil. Between £300,000 and £425,000, buyers who used to pay nothing now pay 5% on the slice above the new nil band. Between £500,000 and £625,000, buyers fell out of the relief entirely and now pay standard rates on the whole price, which is where the largest increases sit. The first-time buyer guide covers the conditions, which did not change.
Second homes and buy-to-let
Landlords and second-home buyers were hit twice. The surcharge rise of 31 October 2024 added 2% on every band; the April 2025 nil band then added the same flat increase that movers pay, because the surcharge sits on top of the standard scale. The table follows three purchases through the three periods.
| Price | Before 31 Oct 2024 | 31 Oct 2024 to 31 Mar 2025 | Since 1 Apr 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £200,000 | £6,000 | £10,000 | £11,500 |
| £300,000 | £11,500 | £17,500 | £20,000 |
| £450,000 | £23,500 | £32,500 | £35,000 |
| £700,000 | £43,500 | £57,500 | £60,000 |
At £300,000, the bill rose from £11,500 to £20,000 in five months. The refund for buyers who complete before selling their old main home works as it did before, now on the larger surcharge (surcharge refund calculator).
Companies
The flat rate on dwellings bought by companies for more than £500,000 without a relief rose by two points on 31 October 2024. Because it applies to the whole price, the increase grows in direct proportion to it.
| Price | At 15% | At 17% |
|---|---|---|
| £600,000 | £90,000 | £102,000 |
| £1,000,000 | £150,000 | £170,000 |
| £2,000,000 | £300,000 | £340,000 |
A company that qualifies for a relief, such as a rental business letting to unconnected tenants, never pays the flat rate and was affected through the higher rates instead: the same two steps as a private landlord, first the larger surcharge in October 2024, then the lower nil band in April 2025. At £600,000 with a relief, the company now pays £50,000. The company purchase guide sets out the reliefs.
A chain that slipped past 31 March
Consider a couple in Nottingham selling their flat and buying a £285,000 semi, the only home they will own. Their completion was pencilled in for 28 March 2025 and slipped to 2 April after a delay further up the chain. Under the old scale the bill would have been £1,750; on 2 April it was £4,250. The contract, the price and the exchange date did not matter. The tax followed the completion date, which is the effective date of an ordinary purchase.
| Band | Amount in band | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 to £125,000 | £125,000 | 0% | £0 |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | £125,000 | 2% | £2,500 |
| £250,001 to £925,000 | £35,000 | 5% | £1,750 |
| Total | £285,000 | 1.5% | £4,250 |
The breakdown shows where the extra money comes from: the slice between £125,000 and £250,000, which used to be free and now costs £2,500. Everything above that slice is taxed exactly as before.
Buyers who saw no change
Not every purchase became dearer. A home at £125,000 or less still pays nothing at standard rates. A first-time buyer at £300,000 or less still pays nothing. Purchases in Scotland and Wales were never covered by the change, since Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Land Transaction Tax have their own scales. And commercial or mixed-use buyers, on the non-residential scale, saw no change on either date.
Checking an older quote
Figures prepared before April 2025 deserve a second look. Mortgage illustrations, estate agent cost sheets and moving budgets drawn up in 2024 used the old nil band, and a quote for an additional property prepared before 31 October 2024 used the 3% surcharge. For a purchase completing in 2026, recalculate with the current bands, and ask your conveyancer to confirm the figure before exchange, when the price can still be discussed.
What stayed the same
The 2% non-resident surcharge, in force since 1 April 2021, did not move. Neither did the £40,000 floor below which the higher rates never apply, the non-residential scale, nor the 14-day deadline for the return and payment. The upper bands of the standard scale, at 10% and 12%, have the same thresholds as before. HMRC keeps the rates for the period ending 31 March 2025 online for transactions that completed under them; a return being amended for a purchase in that period still uses the old scale.