The rate table itself is on our applicable SDLT rates for first-time buyers companion page. The eligibility tests are on our first-time buyer relief benefits and eligibility requirements page. This page walks the calculation method step by step across the seven scenarios most buyers encounter: a pure-nil-band purchase under £300,000; a mid-band purchase between £300,000 and £500,000; the cliff-edge pair at £499,999 versus £500,001; a joint purchase by two qualifying first-time buyers; the joint-purchase-with-non-FTB-partner trap; the shared-ownership initial-share election; and the shared-ownership market-value election.

Scenario 1: sole first-time buyer at £250,000

Profile: a sole first-time buyer purchasing their main residence for £250,000, no additional dwellings, no surcharge interaction.

Calculation under the relief (FA 2003 Schedule 6ZA paragraph 4 Table A):

  • 0% on the first £300,000 (the full price falls within the nil band).
  • SDLT total: £0.

Calculation under the standard residential rate table for comparison (FA 2003 section 55 Table A, post-1-April-2025):

  • 0% on the first £125,000 = £0.
  • 2% on the £125,000 between £125,000 and £250,000 = £2,500.
  • Standard SDLT total: £2,500.

Relief saving: £2,500.

Scenario 2: sole first-time buyer at £400,000

Profile: a sole first-time buyer purchasing their main residence for £400,000, no surcharge interaction.

Calculation under the relief:

  • 0% on the first £300,000 = £0.
  • 5% on the £100,000 between £300,000 and £400,000 = £5,000.
  • SDLT total: £5,000.

Calculation under the standard residential rate table:

  • 0% on the first £125,000 = £0.
  • 2% on the £125,000 between £125,000 and £250,000 = £2,500.
  • 5% on the £150,000 between £250,000 and £400,000 = £7,500.
  • Standard SDLT total: £10,000.

Relief saving: £5,000.

Scenario 3: the £500,000 cliff edge (£499,999 versus £500,001)

Profile: a sole first-time buyer at the cliff boundary. The same buyer, the same profile, two purchase prices £2 apart.

Purchase at £499,999 with the relief:

  • 0% on the first £300,000 = £0.
  • 5% on the £199,999 between £300,000 and £499,999 = £9,999.95.
  • SDLT total: £9,999.95.

Purchase at £500,001 (relief unavailable under Schedule 6ZA paragraph 1(3) because the consideration exceeds £500,000):

  • 0% on the first £125,000 = £0.
  • 2% on the £125,000 between £125,000 and £250,000 = £2,500.
  • 5% on the £250,000 between £250,000 and £500,000 = £12,500.
  • 5% on the £1 above £500,000 = £0.05.
  • Standard SDLT total: £15,000.05.

The £2 increase in consideration produces a £5,000.10 jump in SDLT. The cliff is sharp. Buyers and sellers negotiating prices in the £490,000 to £510,000 range need to model the cliff at offer stage. A vendor pricing at £505,000 for a typical first-time buyer purchaser is asking the buyer to find an additional £5,005 of SDLT on top of the £5,000 price difference compared with a £499,999 deal, so the effective cost of moving up by £5,001 in price is £10,005. Experienced conveyancers and buyers' agents in the relevant price band are typically alive to the cliff; first-time buyers without specialist input often miss it.

Scenario 4: joint purchase by two qualifying first-time buyers at £450,000

Profile: two first-time buyers (a couple, both never having owned residential property anywhere in the world) joint-purchasing their first home for £450,000, no surcharge interaction.

Calculation under the relief:

  • 0% on the first £300,000 = £0.
  • 5% on the £150,000 between £300,000 and £450,000 = £7,500.
  • SDLT total: £7,500.

Calculation under the standard residential rate table:

  • 0% on the first £125,000 = £0.
  • 2% on the £125,000 between £125,000 and £250,000 = £2,500.
  • 5% on the £200,000 between £250,000 and £450,000 = £10,000.
  • Standard SDLT total: £12,500.

Relief saving: £5,000. The joint structure does not double the relief or change the band thresholds; the relief operates at transaction level. Two qualifying first-time buyers benefit from the relief on the same terms as one qualifying first-time buyer.

Scenario 5: joint purchase with a non-FTB partner who owns an existing buy-to-let property at £450,000

Profile: a first-time buyer joint-purchasing their first home with a partner who owns a buy-to-let property elsewhere. Same £450,000 purchase price as Scenario 4. The combined statutory effect is the relief-loss-plus-surcharge trap.

Schedule 6ZA paragraph 1(4) requires every joint buyer to be a first-time buyer; the partner's prior ownership disqualifies the relief on the whole transaction. Schedule 4ZA paragraph 2 aggregates joint purchasers for the surcharge; the partner's existing dwelling triggers the 5% additional dwellings surcharge on the whole transaction.

Calculation at standard residential rates plus 5% surcharge across all bands:

  • 0% + 5% surcharge = 5% on the first £125,000 = £6,250.
  • 2% + 5% surcharge = 7% on the £125,000 between £125,000 and £250,000 = £8,750.
  • 5% + 5% surcharge = 10% on the £200,000 between £250,000 and £450,000 = £20,000.
  • SDLT total: £35,000.

Compared with the £7,500 the same property would cost if both buyers were qualifying first-time buyers and no surcharge applied (Scenario 4), the joint structure with the BTL-owning partner costs £27,500 of additional SDLT. The trap is sustained: the qualifying first-time buyer also loses their FTB status after the joint purchase, so any subsequent solo purchase is unlikely to re-engage the relief either.

Scenario 6: shared-ownership initial-share purchase, £250,000 share of a £500,000 market-value property

Profile: a sole first-time buyer acquiring a 50% initial share of a shared-ownership property with a full open-market value of £500,000. Annual rent on the unsold 50% is £6,000 (illustrative; actual rent depends on the housing-association valuation and the affordability rent percentage). The buyer elects the initial-share-only basis under Schedule 6ZA paragraphs 6A to 6D.

SDLT on the share consideration (£250,000):

  • 0% on the first £300,000 of the share = £0 (the share falls entirely within the nil band).
  • Share SDLT total: £0.

SDLT on the net present value of the rental element on the unsold 50% (computed under FA 2003 Schedule 5, the NPV-of-rent mechanics for residential leases; typically modest for a shared-ownership lease at the £6,000-per-year level over the standard lease term). For most shared-ownership initial-share fact patterns at this price point, the rental NPV either falls within the nil band or produces a small SDLT figure (often under £500).

Upfront SDLT total: at or close to £0. Future SDLT arises if the buyer staircases above 80% ownership (staircasing between 0% and 80% is SDLT-free under the standard shared-ownership rules). The initial-share basis defers SDLT and may eliminate it entirely if the buyer never staircases above 80%.

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Scenario 7: shared-ownership market-value election, £500,000 full market value

Profile: same buyer and same shared-ownership purchase as Scenario 6, but the buyer elects the market-value election under Schedule 6ZA paragraphs 6A to 6D. SDLT is computed on the full £500,000 open market value at FTB relief rates.

SDLT under the market-value election:

  • 0% on the first £300,000 = £0.
  • 5% on the £200,000 between £300,000 and £500,000 = £10,000.
  • SDLT total: £10,000.

The market-value election locks in £10,000 of SDLT now. No further SDLT arises on subsequent staircasing. The election is irrevocable for the transaction.

The choice between Scenario 6 (initial-share basis) and Scenario 7 (market-value election) is fact-specific. The initial-share basis saves upfront SDLT but defers a potentially-larger SDLT bill into the future if the buyer staircases above 80%. The market-value election locks in the £10,000 cost now and provides certainty. Indicative decision points:

  • Buyer plans to staircase rapidly to 100%: market-value election is typically preferable (£10,000 now versus potentially more in fragmented future returns).
  • Buyer plans to remain at a low share for a long period: initial-share basis is typically preferable (defers and may eliminate the upfront cost).
  • Open market value exceeds £500,000: initial-share basis is the only route that preserves the relief (the market-value election would lose the relief entirely under the Schedule 6ZA paragraph 1(3) cap).
  • Buyer's cash flow at completion is tight: initial-share basis preserves cash now.

The cash saving across the price range: summary table

Across the £0 to £600,000 range for a sole first-time buyer with no surcharge interaction, the relief produces the following SDLT figures and savings:

  • £150,000: relief £0; standard £500; saving £500.
  • £200,000: relief £0; standard £1,500; saving £1,500.
  • £250,000: relief £0; standard £2,500; saving £2,500.
  • £300,000: relief £0; standard £5,000; saving £5,000.
  • £350,000: relief £2,500; standard £7,500; saving £5,000.
  • £400,000: relief £5,000; standard £10,000; saving £5,000.
  • £450,000: relief £7,500; standard £12,500; saving £5,000.
  • £500,000: relief £10,000; standard £15,000; saving £5,000.
  • £500,001: no relief; standard £15,000.05; saving £0.
  • £550,000: no relief; standard £17,500; saving £0.
  • £600,000: no relief; standard £20,000; saving £0.

The saving peaks at £5,000 and stays at £5,000 across the £300,000 to £500,000 range. Below £300,000 the saving is lower because the standard rate table only reaches into the 5% band at £250,000. Above £500,000 the saving drops to £0 (cliff).

The 1 April 2025 reversion: thresholds in force

For any transaction with an effective date on or after 1 April 2025, use the permanent thresholds: £300,000 nil band, £500,000 maximum chargeable consideration cap. The temporary thresholds of £425,000 and £625,000 that had been in force from 23 September 2022 sunset on 31 March 2025 and reverted to the permanent figures from 1 April 2025. A large amount of competitor calculator content online still uses the temporary figures, which produce incorrect results for any purchase in 2025/26 or later.

The effective date for the threshold determination is per FA 2003 section 119: the earlier of completion and substantial performance. For a typical residential purchase, the effective date is completion. For an off-plan or instalment purchase, substantial performance may bring the effective date forward; check with the conveyancer if the contractual structure is non-standard.

Where this page sits in the cluster

This is the calculation-walkthrough page in the FTB cluster. For the rate table and the 1 April 2025 reversion narrative in narrative form, see our applicable SDLT rates for first-time buyers page. For the eligibility tests (the Schedule 6ZA paragraph 6 worldwide ownership test, the joint-purchaser rule, the intention-to-occupy test, the single-dwelling test, the shared-ownership election architecture, and the F(No.2)A 2024 section 8 bare-trust amendment), see our first-time buyer relief benefits and eligibility requirements page. For the practical financial-planning angle on the relief in the context of deposit affordability, see our first-time buyer relief and the deposit question page. For the Scottish equivalent under LBTT(S)A 2013 Schedule 4A, see our Scottish LBTT first-time buyer relief page. For the Welsh position, see our Welsh LTT first-time buyer relief page. For the joint-purchase surcharge interaction in more depth, see our second-home SDLT additional dwellings surcharge and joint-owner spouse aggregation page.