Stamp duty is charged in slices, so only the part of the price above each threshold pays the higher rate. Reliefs and surcharges below break that smooth pattern and jump in steps.
The Ledger 5 of 6
Own
Property, equity, and what it costs to hold an asset.
3 sourced figuresnext checked 1 March 2027Writing held
For most UK households, property is the biggest line on the balance sheet, and also the easiest to mis-state. Equity matters more than headline value. The monthly payment is not the whole cost of ownership. Stamp duty jumps in bands, so a small change in price can move the tax bill by thousands.
What this is not
We do not predict house prices, and nothing here argues for or against buying.
What this subject contains
8 ways the rules work here
A higher starting threshold for a first purchase. Above a price ceiling the relief vanishes in full: one pound over costs the entire relief, one of the sharpest steps in the system.
A surcharge when a purchase leaves you owning more than one dwelling. It applies to the full price, not just the slice above a threshold, including when you have not yet sold a previous home.
An extra surcharge for buyers who do not meet a residence test. It stacks on the additional-property surcharge, which overseas buyers often overlook.
Income from letting furnished accommodation inside your own home up to a threshold, with no tax and no return required. The threshold halves where the income is shared with somebody else.
Mortgage interest on residential lettings is no longer deducted from rental income; you get a basic-rate tax reduction instead. Rental profit on paper is higher as a result, which can push you into other rules such as the income thresholds in Keep.
Selling your own home is free of capital gains tax where it has been your only main residence throughout. Several ordinary-sounding circumstances break that: letting part of it, using part exclusively for business, or grounds above a size limit.
Equity, not value
Convention, not a rule
Property is the largest component of household wealth in Britain and the one people state least precisely. The figure that belongs in a net worth calculation is the equity (value less the mortgage outstanding), and the cost of holding a property is not the same as the monthly payment.
These are the ones that belong to this subject. The whole map, across all six, is on every key way to build wealth.
The figures underneath
What this subject rests on
Stamp duty on a home you will own outright, England and Northern Ireland.
Nil to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5m, then 12%
GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01
Scotland and Wales charge their own taxes instead.
First-time buyer stamp duty relief.
Nothing up to £300,000, 5% from £300,001 to £500,000, and no relief at all above £500,000
GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01
A cliff: one pound over £500,000 and the whole relief goes.
The surcharge on an additional residential property.
5% on top of the standard rates
GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01
Written so far
Writing held
The 8 mechanisms above are stated and the 3 figures under them are in the ledger with sources and dates. Long-form articles are still in draft; nothing ships without a named reviewer, so we publish fewer than two dozen pieces a year.
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Plain writing about British money, and the UK Wealth Blueprint to start with.