Stamp Duty on a £260,000 House

Stamp duty on a £260,000 property in England or Northern Ireland is £3,000 if it will be your only residential property. That is an effective rate of 1.2%.

Only property (standard rates)

£3,000

Effective rate 1.2%

First-time buyer

£0

Effective rate 0%

Second home or buy-to-let (+5%)

£16,000

Effective rate 6.2%

Non-UK resident (+2%)

£8,200

Effective rate 3.2%

Band breakdown at £260,000

SDLT is charged in slices. Each rate applies only to the portion of the price that falls inside that band, which is why the effective rate is lower than the top rate you reach.

Standard rates — single residential property
Band	Amount in band	Rate	Tax
Up to £125,000	£125,000	0%	£0
£125,001 – £250,000	£125,000	2%	£2,500
£250,001 – £925,000	£10,000	5%	£500
Total			£3,000

First-time buyer relief at £260,000

If you and everyone you are buying with have never owned a residential property, you pay £0 instead of £3,000 — a saving of £3,000.

First-time buyer rates
Band	Amount in band	Rate	Tax
Up to £300,000 (first-time buyer)	£260,000	0%	£0
Total			£0

Second home or buy-to-let at £260,000

If this purchase means you will own more than one residential property, 5 percentage points are added to every band — including the nil-rate band, so the surcharge is charged from the first pound. The bill rises from £3,000 to £16,000, an increase of £13,000.

Additional property rates
Band	Amount in band	Rate	Tax
Up to £125,000 (+5% surcharge)	£125,000	5%	£6,250
£125,001 – £250,000 (+5% surcharge)	£125,000	7.0%	£8,750
£250,001 – £925,000 (+5% surcharge)	£10,000	10%	£1,000
Total			£16,000

£260,000 in England, Scotland and Wales

The three tax regimes set their own thresholds, so an identical purchase price produces three different bills. Figures below are for a single residential property with no reliefs or surcharges.

Where you are buying	Tax	Bill at £260,000	Effective rate
England & Northern Ireland	SDLT	£3,000	1.2%
Scotland	LBTT	£2,600	1%
Wales	LTT	£2,100	0.8%

What £260,000 means for your stamp duty bill

£260,000 puts you into the 5% band, which applies to the slice above £250,000. Your total of £3,000 works out at an effective rate of 1.2% — well below 5%, because the first £250,000 is taxed at 0% and 2% respectively.

First-time buyer relief is worth the most in this bracket. If you qualify, you would pay £0 instead of £3,000, a saving of £3,000. That relief vanishes completely above £500,000, so it is worth checking your eligibility carefully before you agree a price near that ceiling.

For context, £260,000 is about 10% below the UK average house price of roughly £290,000. Your marginal rate at this price is 5%, meaning that is the rate charged on the next pound you add to the purchase price.

How the bill changes around £260,000

Useful when you are still negotiating. Your marginal rate at £260,000 is 5%, so every extra £10,000 on the agreed price adds £500 in tax.

Purchase price	Standard SDLT	Difference
£235,000	£2,200	−£800
£250,000	£2,500	−£500
£260,000 (your price)	£3,000	—
£270,000	£3,500	+£500
£285,000	£4,250	+£1,250

Frequently asked questions

How much stamp duty do I pay on a £260,000 house?

Stamp duty on a £260,000 property in England or Northern Ireland is £3,000 if it will be your only residential property. That is an effective rate of 1.2% of the purchase price.

How much stamp duty does a first-time buyer pay on £260,000?

A first-time buyer pays no stamp duty on a £260,000 property. First-time buyer relief gives a nil-rate band of £300,000, which covers this price in full.

How much stamp duty on a £260,000 second home or buy-to-let?

A £260,000 additional property attracts £16,000 in stamp duty. That is the standard £3,000 plus the 5 percentage point additional property surcharge, which applies to every band including the nil-rate band. If you are replacing your main residence and sell your previous home within 36 months, you can claim the surcharge back.

What does a non-UK resident pay on a £260,000 property?

A non-UK resident buying a £260,000 property as their only residential property pays £8,200, which includes the 2% non-resident surcharge on top of standard rates. You count as non-resident if you were in the UK for fewer than 183 days in the 12 months before completion.

Is stamp duty on £260,000 different in Scotland and Wales?

Yes. On a £260,000 purchase you would pay £3,000 in SDLT in England or Northern Ireland, £2,600 in LBTT in Scotland, and £2,100 in LTT in Wales. Each nation sets its own bands and thresholds, so the same price produces three different bills.

Related guides

Plain-English explainers with worked examples. All figures are checked against current HMRC and devolved authority guidance.

How stamp duty is calculatedBand-by-band breakdown with worked examples for England and Northern Ireland.First-time buyer £500k cliff edgeWhy relief disappears completely above £500,000.Buy-to-let stamp duty explainedHow the 5% additional property surcharge works on every band.36-month refund ruleClaim back the surcharge when you sell your previous main home.

Browse all property tax guides →

Need a different price? Use the full stamp duty calculator to enter any figure, or browse stamp duty by purchase price.

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Rates verified June 2026 against HMRC guidance on gov.uk. Figures are for guidance only — confirm with your solicitor before completion.