ANALYSISMortgages

What it really costs to buy your first home in 2026

UKCalc News Desk · Published 11 September 2026

The answer

On a £250,000 first home with a 10% deposit, UKCalc calculates you need £25,000 deposit plus £0 Stamp Duty Land Tax — first-time buyers pay none below £300,000 per GOV.UK — so about £25,000 of statutory cash, plus an illustrative £1,200–£3,000 of other costs.

What happened

This is a standing reference rather than a news event. It sets out what a first-time buyer needs in cash before completion under the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) rules currently published on GOV.UK by HM Revenue & Customs, retrieved on 11 September 2026, and what the mortgage costs afterwards. SDLT is the tax paid on property purchases in England and Northern Ireland; Scotland and Wales levy different taxes with different thresholds.

Source fact

Stamp Duty Land Tax on residential property in England and Northern Ireland is nil up to £125,000, 2% on the portion from £125,001 to £250,000, 5% from £250,001 to £925,000, 10% from £925,001 to £1.5 million and 12% above that.

GOV.UK (HM Revenue & Customs) — Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates

Source fact

Eligible first-time buyers pay no Stamp Duty Land Tax up to £300,000 and 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000. The relief is unavailable if the purchase price is more than £500,000.

GOV.UK (HM Revenue & Customs) — Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates

Source fact

The average UK house price was £272,000 in the 12 months to June 2026, up 2.0%, according to ONS figures published on 19 August 2026.

Office for National Statistics — Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2026, 19 August 2026

What it means

The initial cash requirement separates into three parts, and only two of them are fixed by law. DEPOSIT: scales with the price and with the loan-to-value you can obtain. PLUS SDLT: according to GOV.UK, nil for an eligible first-time buyer up to £300,000, then 5% on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000, and unavailable above £500,000. PLUS OTHER PURCHASE COSTS: conveyancing, searches, a survey, lender and broker fees and removals, which have no single statutory value and are reported here as a UKCalc illustrative range rather than folded into the total. The three together give the approximate cash needed before completion. One boundary is worth knowing in advance, and it applies to eligible first-time buyers specifically rather than to every purchaser: the relief is withdrawn entirely above the £500,000 qualifying limit rather than tapering, so an eligible first-time buyer paying £500,001 pays the standard rates on the whole purchase.

Who is affected

Key numbers

Every figure below is a UKCalc calculation from the stated inputs, not a figure published by any source.

UKCalc calculation

A £250,000 first home with a 10% deposit needs £25,000 and attracts no stamp duty at all.

UKCalc calculation — see Cash needed to buy a £250,000 first home with a 10% deposit for inputs and assumptions.

UKCalc calculation

At £400,000 the deposit is £40,000 and first-time buyer relief still applies, leaving £5,000 of stamp duty — £5,000 less than a mover would pay.

UKCalc calculation — see Cash needed to buy a £400,000 first home with a 10% deposit for inputs and assumptions.

UKCalc calculation

At £500,000 — the last price at which the relief applies — the stamp duty is £10,000 and the statutory cash required is £60,000.

UKCalc calculation — see Cash needed to buy a £500,000 first home with a 10% deposit for inputs and assumptions.

What UKCalc calculated

Cash needed to buy a £200,000 first home with a 10% deposit

£20,000 deposit + £0 SDLT = £20,000 statutory, plus £1,200–£3,000 illustrative costs

Method
Deposit is 10% of the price. Stamp Duty Land Tax is computed by the governed UKCalc engine from the thresholds in the statutory registry, applying first-time buyer relief where the price is within the statutory ceiling. The purchase-cost allowance is reported separately as a range and is never added to the statutory total.
Inputs
  • property price £200,000
  • loan-to-value 90%
  • SDLT residential rates and first-time buyer relief (governed registry)
  • scenario rate 4.5%
  • term 25 years
Assumptions
  • A 4.5% annual rate over 25 years on a capital-and-interest basis. This is a UKCalc modelling scenario, not a market quote, not an offer and not a forecast. Real pricing varies by lender, product, LTV band, term and individual circumstances.
  • England or Northern Ireland. Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) have different taxes and different thresholds, and are not covered by this calculation.
  • A first-time buyer as defined for SDLT relief, buying a single residential property to live in. The relief is unavailable above the statutory ceiling.
  • A UKCalc illustrative range, not a statutory figure and not a quote. Conveyancing and survey costs are set by the firms that provide them and vary by property, tenure and location.
  • The allowance covers conveyancing and searches, a survey, Land Registry fees. It excludes lender arrangement fees, broker fees, removals, any mortgage valuation the lender charges separately.
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Cash needed to buy a £250,000 first home with a 10% deposit

£25,000 deposit + £0 SDLT = £25,000 statutory, plus £1,200–£3,000 illustrative costs

Method
Deposit is 10% of the price. Stamp Duty Land Tax is computed by the governed UKCalc engine from the thresholds in the statutory registry, applying first-time buyer relief where the price is within the statutory ceiling. The purchase-cost allowance is reported separately as a range and is never added to the statutory total.
Inputs
  • property price £250,000
  • loan-to-value 90%
  • SDLT residential rates and first-time buyer relief (governed registry)
  • scenario rate 4.5%
  • term 25 years
Assumptions
  • A 4.5% annual rate over 25 years on a capital-and-interest basis. This is a UKCalc modelling scenario, not a market quote, not an offer and not a forecast. Real pricing varies by lender, product, LTV band, term and individual circumstances.
  • England or Northern Ireland. Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) have different taxes and different thresholds, and are not covered by this calculation.
  • A first-time buyer as defined for SDLT relief, buying a single residential property to live in. The relief is unavailable above the statutory ceiling.
  • A UKCalc illustrative range, not a statutory figure and not a quote. Conveyancing and survey costs are set by the firms that provide them and vary by property, tenure and location.
  • The allowance covers conveyancing and searches, a survey, Land Registry fees. It excludes lender arrangement fees, broker fees, removals, any mortgage valuation the lender charges separately.
Check it
Run this yourself

Cash needed to buy a £300,000 first home with a 10% deposit

£30,000 deposit + £0 SDLT = £30,000 statutory, plus £1,200–£3,000 illustrative costs

Method
Deposit is 10% of the price. Stamp Duty Land Tax is computed by the governed UKCalc engine from the thresholds in the statutory registry, applying first-time buyer relief where the price is within the statutory ceiling. The purchase-cost allowance is reported separately as a range and is never added to the statutory total.
Inputs
  • property price £300,000
  • loan-to-value 90%
  • SDLT residential rates and first-time buyer relief (governed registry)
  • scenario rate 4.5%
  • term 25 years
Assumptions
  • A 4.5% annual rate over 25 years on a capital-and-interest basis. This is a UKCalc modelling scenario, not a market quote, not an offer and not a forecast. Real pricing varies by lender, product, LTV band, term and individual circumstances.
  • England or Northern Ireland. Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) have different taxes and different thresholds, and are not covered by this calculation.
  • A first-time buyer as defined for SDLT relief, buying a single residential property to live in. The relief is unavailable above the statutory ceiling.
  • A UKCalc illustrative range, not a statutory figure and not a quote. Conveyancing and survey costs are set by the firms that provide them and vary by property, tenure and location.
  • The allowance covers conveyancing and searches, a survey, Land Registry fees. It excludes lender arrangement fees, broker fees, removals, any mortgage valuation the lender charges separately.
Check it
Run this yourself

Cash needed to buy a £400,000 first home with a 10% deposit

£40,000 deposit + £5,000 SDLT = £45,000 statutory, plus £1,200–£3,000 illustrative costs

Method
Deposit is 10% of the price. Stamp Duty Land Tax is computed by the governed UKCalc engine from the thresholds in the statutory registry, applying first-time buyer relief where the price is within the statutory ceiling. The purchase-cost allowance is reported separately as a range and is never added to the statutory total.
Inputs
  • property price £400,000
  • loan-to-value 90%
  • SDLT residential rates and first-time buyer relief (governed registry)
  • scenario rate 4.5%
  • term 25 years
Assumptions
  • A 4.5% annual rate over 25 years on a capital-and-interest basis. This is a UKCalc modelling scenario, not a market quote, not an offer and not a forecast. Real pricing varies by lender, product, LTV band, term and individual circumstances.
  • England or Northern Ireland. Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) have different taxes and different thresholds, and are not covered by this calculation.
  • A first-time buyer as defined for SDLT relief, buying a single residential property to live in. The relief is unavailable above the statutory ceiling.
  • A UKCalc illustrative range, not a statutory figure and not a quote. Conveyancing and survey costs are set by the firms that provide them and vary by property, tenure and location.
  • The allowance covers conveyancing and searches, a survey, Land Registry fees. It excludes lender arrangement fees, broker fees, removals, any mortgage valuation the lender charges separately.
Check it
Run this yourself

Cash needed to buy a £500,000 first home with a 10% deposit

£50,000 deposit + £10,000 SDLT = £60,000 statutory, plus £1,200–£3,000 illustrative costs

Method
Deposit is 10% of the price. Stamp Duty Land Tax is computed by the governed UKCalc engine from the thresholds in the statutory registry, applying first-time buyer relief where the price is within the statutory ceiling. The purchase-cost allowance is reported separately as a range and is never added to the statutory total.
Inputs
  • property price £500,000
  • loan-to-value 90%
  • SDLT residential rates and first-time buyer relief (governed registry)
  • scenario rate 4.5%
  • term 25 years
Assumptions
  • A 4.5% annual rate over 25 years on a capital-and-interest basis. This is a UKCalc modelling scenario, not a market quote, not an offer and not a forecast. Real pricing varies by lender, product, LTV band, term and individual circumstances.
  • England or Northern Ireland. Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) have different taxes and different thresholds, and are not covered by this calculation.
  • A first-time buyer as defined for SDLT relief, buying a single residential property to live in. The relief is unavailable above the statutory ceiling.
  • A UKCalc illustrative range, not a statutory figure and not a quote. Conveyancing and survey costs are set by the firms that provide them and vary by property, tenure and location.
  • The allowance covers conveyancing and searches, a survey, Land Registry fees. It excludes lender arrangement fees, broker fees, removals, any mortgage valuation the lender charges separately.
Check it
Run this yourself

Assumptions and scope

Change any of these and the result changes. They are stated so the figure can be checked rather than taken on trust. How UKCalc produces its figures: methodology.

UKCalc's interpretation

The section below is UKCalc's analysis. It is separated from the facts above deliberately: it is arguable, and the facts are not.

UKCalc interpretation

This affects eligible FIRST-TIME BUYERS specifically, and is not a general stamp duty cliff that every purchaser faces at £500,000. First-time buyer relief is withdrawn entirely above the £500,000 qualifying limit rather than tapering, so on the governed UKCalc calculation an eligible first-time buyer moving from £500,000 to £500,001 sees Stamp Duty Land Tax rise from £10,000 to £15,000.05 — an increase of about £5,000 for a £1 increase in price. A buyer who is not a first-time buyer pays the standard rates at both prices and sees no such step.

UKCalc's reading of the evidence above, not a statement by any source.

UKCalc interpretation

Below £300,000 the deposit is almost the whole of the statutory cash requirement for a first-time buyer, because the relief removes the tax. Above it, stamp duty becomes a second saving target that rises faster than the deposit does.

UKCalc's reading of the evidence above, not a statement by any source.

UKCalc interpretation

At the average UK house price, a 10% deposit is close to the deposit in the £250,000 row, so the figures here are within range of a typical purchase rather than describing an unusual one.

UKCalc's reading of the evidence above, not a statement by any source.

What happens next

Stamp Duty Land Tax thresholds and the first-time buyer relief qualifying limit are set at fiscal events. Any change announced at a future Budget would be reflected in the governed registry and these figures recomputed from it.

Questions this answers

Sources

Statutory figures belong to the body that publishes them. UKCalc compiles and verifies them, and any calculation built on top is UKCalc's own — see the governed rates reference.

UKCalc Stamp Duty Land Tax calculatorWork out the tax on your own price, including first-time buyer relief.UKCalc mortgage repayment calculatorChange the deposit, rate and term and see the repayment move.UKCalc mortgage affordability calculatorCheck what a lender might advance before fixing on a price.UKCalc savings calculatorWork out how long the deposit takes to reach at your saving rate.
For journalists and editorial partners. The UKCalc News Desk can supply the underlying figures, model a different scenario, or explain the mechanics on the record. How to work with us.

Reported by the UKCalc News Desk. Statutory inputs are taken from UKCalc’s verified rates reference for the 2026/27 tax year; the calculations and interpretation are UKCalc’s own. Published by Animateed Limited. About · Editorial policy · Methodology · News Desk