Stamp Duty in Wales (LTT)

Wales doesn't charge stamp duty either. It charges Land Transaction Tax, and it taxes second homes under their own separate rate table rather than adding a surcharge to the main rates.

The higher rates for additional properties rose by one percentage point across every band on 11 December 2024.

Higher rate on the first £180,000

5%

Higher rates last raised (all bands +1 point)

11 December 2024

First-time buyer relief

None

Example: £300,000 second home

£19,950 total LTT

LTT rates in Wales

Land Transaction Tax (LTT) is Wales's version of stamp duty, run by the Welsh Revenue Authority rather than HMRC. Like the other nations, it's charged in marginal bands¹.

On a £300,000 house bought as a main residence, you'd pay 0% on the first £225,000, then 6% on the remaining £75,000, for a total of £4,500. These standard bands haven't changed. What has changed is how much extra you pay if the property is a second home.

No first-time buyer relief in Wales

Unlike England and Scotland, Wales has no specific first-time buyer relief. Every buyer, whether it's their first home or their fifth, uses the same LTT bands above. The £225,000 nil-rate band ends up doing the job a first-time buyer relief would do elsewhere, since it's the only relief anyone gets. Our first-time buyer stamp duty guide covers what's available in England and Northern Ireland instead.

Higher rates for additional properties

This is where Wales works differently from England and Scotland. Rather than adding a flat surcharge on top of the standard bands, Wales taxes second homes and buy-to-let properties under a completely separate set of higher residential rates. It has worked this way since LTT replaced stamp duty in Wales on 1 April 2018, so this is not a recent restructure².

What did change on 11 December 2024 is the level of those rates: every higher-rate band rose by one percentage point, taking 4% to 5%, 7.5% to 8.5%, 9% to 10%, 11.5% to 12.5%, 14% to 15% and 16% to 17%. If you completed before that date, or exchanged contracts before 10 December 2024 and completed later, the older set of rates may still apply to your purchase.

Because these are separate marginal bands rather than a surcharge layered on the standard rates, you can't just add a percentage to the standard-rate figure to work out what you owe. You apply the higher-rate bands from scratch across the whole price, the same way you'd work through any banded tax.

Reclaiming the higher rate when replacing your main home

If you buy your new main residence before selling your old one, you pay the higher rates upfront, the same as everywhere else in the UK. You can claim a refund of the difference between the higher and main rates if you sell your previous main residence within 3 years of the new purchase⁴. The refund claim itself must go in within 12 months of selling the old property, or 12 months of filing the LTT return, whichever is later, mirroring the timing rules used in England. A longer period than 3 years can apply in exceptional circumstances, such as a legal restriction that genuinely prevented you selling, but that's a narrow exception rather than something to plan around.

Worked example: you buy a new £350,000 main residence while still owning your previous home, so you're charged the higher rates: 5% on £180,000 (£9,000), 8.5% on £70,000 (£5,950), 10% on £100,000 (£10,000), for a total of £24,950. You sell your old home 14 months later, well inside the 3-year window. You can then reclaim the difference between that £24,950 and the £7,500 you'd have paid at the main rate (0% on £225,000, 6% on £125,000), a refund of £17,450.

LTT examples at different price points

£150,000 second home (within the first band only):

• 5% on £150,000
• Total: £7,500

That's worth pausing on: the same £150,000 property bought as a main residence would owe £0, since it falls entirely under the £225,000 main-rate nil band. The higher-rate bands start taxing from £0, so there's no equivalent nil-rate protection for second homes.

£300,000 second home:

• 5% on the first £180,000 = £9,000
• 8.5% on the next £70,000 (£180,001 to £250,000) = £5,950
• 10% on the remaining £50,000 (£250,001 to £300,000) = £5,000
• Total: £19,950

Compared to the £4,500 a standard buyer pays at the same price, buying as a second home adds roughly £15,450 in this example.

£500,000 second home:

• 5% on the first £180,000 = £9,000
• 8.5% on the next £70,000 = £5,950
• 10% on the next £150,000 (£250,001 to £400,000) = £15,000
• 12.5% on the remaining £100,000 (£400,001 to £500,000) = £12,500
• Total: £42,450

When is LTT due?

You must file your LTT return and pay the tax within 30 days of the effective date, almost always the completion date³. That matches Scotland's LBTT deadline and is more than double England's 14-day SDLT window. Your solicitor normally files and pays on your behalf as part of the conveyancing process, the same as in the other two nations, calculating the LTT due and submitting the return to the Welsh Revenue Authority.

Wales compared to England and Scotland

It's never accurate to describe Wales's second-home charge as a fixed percentage added to the main rate, the way England's and Scotland's work. England charges a flat 5% surcharge on top of standard rates (see our second homes guide), and Scotland charges a flat 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement (see our Scotland stamp duty guide). Wales is the only nation of the three where the higher rate is its own independent band structure, climbing from 5% to 17% as the price rises, rather than a flat addition to the main rate. Use the stamp duty calculator to compare exact figures for your own purchase.

One practical consequence of Wales's approach: at the bottom of the market, Wales can end up more expensive for a second home than England or Scotland, because its higher-rate bands start taxing from £0 with no nil-rate protection at all, while England and Scotland's flat surcharges are added on top of bands that still include a genuine 0% starting point. Higher up the price scale the comparison flips, since Wales's rates only reach their 17% ceiling on the portion of price above £1.5 million, a level neither England's flat 5% nor Scotland's flat 8% ever reach in percentage terms. There's no single "cheapest nation" for second homes; it depends entirely on the price band your purchase falls into.

Frequently asked questions

Are Wales's higher rates for second homes a flat surcharge?

No. Wales has used a wholly separate set of banded higher rates for additional properties since LTT began in April 2018, rather than a flat surcharge added to the main rates. Those bands currently run from 5% up to 17%, after every band rose by one percentage point on 11 December 2024.

Is there first-time buyer relief in Wales?

No. Wales doesn't offer a specific first-time buyer relief for Land Transaction Tax. Every buyer pays the same main rates regardless of buying history, unlike England and Scotland.

What's the highest LTT rate for a second home in Wales?

17%, applied to the portion of the price above £1,500,000. Most second homes fall well under that band, so the effective rate on a typical purchase is much lower than 17%.

Can I get the higher rate refunded if I sell my old home?

Yes, if you sell your previous main residence within 3 years of buying the new one, you can reclaim the difference between the higher rate and the main rate. The claim itself must be made within 12 months of the sale, or 12 months of filing the LTT return, whichever is later.

Last reviewed: 2026-07-31. Rates verified against gov.uk, Revenue Scotland and gov.wales.