Where first-time buyers still pay no stamp duty: England's unitary authorities in 2026
Since 1 April 2025, a first-time buyer in England pays no Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on a home costing up to £300,000, as long as it is their only residence and no buyer on the purchase has owned property before (HMRC, 2026). Above £300,000 the relief tapers, and once the price passes £500,000 it is withdrawn entirely.
Whether that £300,000 line clears the typical home depends heavily on where you buy. Across England's 63 unitary authorities — the single-tier councils that run everything from Cornwall to Kingston upon Hull — the median home sold for somewhere between £137,500 and £555,000 in 2025. In 38 of them the typical sale sits under the £300,000 nil-rate, so an eligible first-time buyer at the local median pays nothing. In two, the median is above £500,000, where the relief no longer applies at all.
This guide maps the whole set, using 222,529 residential sales recorded by HM Land Registry in 2025 (single-dwelling, full-market transactions, fetched 10 July 2026).
How first-time buyer relief works: three zones
First-time buyer relief (introduced under the Finance Act 2003 and rebased on 1 April 2025) creates three distinct bands (HMRC, 2026). Our first-time buyer relief explainer covers who qualifies; the short version:
| Purchase price | What an eligible first-time buyer pays |
|---|---|
| Up to £300,000 | £0 — no SDLT at all |
| £300,001 – £500,000 | 0% on the first £300,000, then 5% on the slice above (a partial, tapering benefit) |
| Above £500,000 | No relief — the standard home-mover rates apply to the whole price |
The relief is capped at the value of the £300,000 nil-rate band. That has an important consequence: for any price between £300,000 and £500,000, the benefit is worth a flat £5,000, because both a first-time buyer and a home mover pay 5% on the slice above £300,000 — the first-time buyer simply keeps the £5,000 they would otherwise owe on the first £300,000. We unpack that arithmetic in the first-time buyer relief taper explained guide.
Grouping the 63 unitary authorities by their 2025 median sale price shows how unevenly the £300,000 and £500,000 thresholds land:
| Relief zone | Unitary authorities | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Median ≤ £300,000 (first-time buyer pays £0) | 38 | 60% |
| Median £300,001–£500,000 (tapered relief) | 23 | 37% |
| Median above £500,000 (relief withdrawn) | 2 | 3% |
Where the typical home clears the nil-rate
In 38 unitary authorities the 2025 median home sold for £300,000 or less — so at the local median, an eligible first-time buyer pays no stamp duty. These are concentrated in the North East, the North West, Yorkshire and the industrial Midlands. The 15 most affordable:
| Unitary authority | Median 2025 sale | First-time buyer SDLT |
|---|---|---|
| Blackpool | £137,500 | £0 |
| Kingston upon Hull | £141,000 | £0 |
| County Durham | £145,000 | £0 |
| Middlesbrough | £155,250 | £0 |
| Hartlepool | £155,500 | £0 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £160,000 | £0 |
| North East Lincolnshire | £164,475 | £0 |
| Redcar and Cleveland | £165,000 | £0 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | £168,675 | £0 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | £175,000 | £0 |
| Cumberland | £175,000 | £0 |
| North Lincolnshire | £175,250 | £0 |
| Darlington | £177,663 | £0 |
| Halton | £195,750 | £0 |
| Nottingham | £200,000 | £0 |
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, 2025 single-dwelling full-market sales. Larger unitaries in this group include Cornwall (£285,000), Somerset (£285,000), Plymouth (£226,000), Derby (£220,000), Leicester (£242,250), Cheshire West and Chester (£260,000) and North Yorkshire (£270,000) — each with a typical home under the £300,000 line. It mirrors the picture across the metropolitan boroughs, where 33 of 36 medians also fall under the nil-rate.
The taper band: 23 authorities between £300,000 and £500,000
Twenty-three unitary authorities have a 2025 median between £300,001 and £500,000. Here relief still applies but only partially — 5% is charged on the slice above £300,000. A selection, cheapest first:
| Unitary authority | Median 2025 sale | First-time buyer SDLT at the median |
|---|---|---|
| York | £304,000 | £200 |
| Medway | £310,750 | £537.50 |
| North Somerset | £315,000 | £750 |
| Wiltshire | £320,000 | £1,000 |
| South Gloucestershire | £337,000 | £1,850 |
| Bristol | £350,000 | £2,500 |
| Reading | £350,000 | £2,500 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | £400,000 | £5,000 |
| West Berkshire | £400,000 | £5,000 |
| Brighton and Hove | £414,675 | £5,733.75 |
| Buckinghamshire | £460,000 | £8,000 |
| Wokingham | £490,000 | £9,500 |
These authorities cluster in the South West, the Thames Valley and the commuter South East. For area context on the priciest of them, see our Bath house price guide and Bristol house price guide.
Where relief runs out entirely
Only two unitary authorities have a 2025 median above the £500,000 relief ceiling:
| Unitary authority | Median 2025 sale | First-time buyer SDLT | Home-mover SDLT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor and Maidenhead | £545,000 | £17,250 | £17,250 |
| Isles of Scilly | £555,000 | £17,750 | £17,750 |
At these prices a first-time buyer pays exactly the same as a home mover — the relief is gone. (The Isles of Scilly figure rests on just 14 recorded sales in 2025, so it should be read as indicative rather than robust.) Even so, it takes only two authorities out of 63 for relief to disappear at the median, compared with 22 of 33 London boroughs — the contrast we cover in the cheapest London boroughs for first-time buyers guide.
Cheap to buy is not the same as cheap to run
Stamp duty is a one-off cost. Council tax is annual — and it does not track purchase price. Band D charges for 2026-27 across these same authorities range from £1,952.62 to £2,765.02, and some of the cheapest places to buy carry the heaviest bills:
| Unitary authority | Median 2025 sale | Council tax Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| Windsor and Maidenhead | £545,000 | £1,952.62 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £160,000 | £2,183.12 |
| County Durham | £145,000 | £2,622.15 |
| Nottingham | £200,000 | £2,755.39 |
| Dorset | £345,000 | £2,765.02 |
Windsor and Maidenhead is the standout: the most expensive unitary to buy in (£545,000) yet the cheapest Band D of all 63 (£1,952.62, well below the £2,410.97 average across England's 296 billing authorities). Nottingham and County Durham run the opposite way — among the cheapest places to buy, but two of the dearest for council tax. Band D is a benchmark rather than most households' actual bill, but the pattern holds across bands. Our cheapest and most expensive council tax areas guide explains why the spread is so wide.
How the unitaries compare with London and the metro boroughs
Set against the other two tiers we have mapped, unitary authorities are the mixed middle:
- London boroughs: 22 of 33 medians above £500,000 — relief lost for most first-time buyers.
- Metropolitan boroughs (Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire and the rest): 33 of 36 medians at or under £300,000 — the typical first-time buyer pays £0.
- Unitary authorities: 38 at £0, 23 tapered, 2 with relief withdrawn — the widest single-tier spread.
Worked examples
The SDLT charge at a range of prices, for an eligible first-time buyer versus a home mover buying an only home (calculated on the Homecost stamp duty tool, England rates, 10 July 2026):
| Purchase price | First-time buyer | Home mover |
|---|---|---|
| £137,500 (Blackpool median) | £0 | £250 |
| £200,000 (Nottingham median) | £0 | £1,500 |
| £285,000 (Cornwall median) | £0 | £4,250 |
| £300,000 (nil-rate ceiling) | £0 | £5,000 |
| £350,000 (Bristol median) | £2,500 | £7,500 |
| £400,000 (Bath median) | £5,000 | £10,000 |
| £490,000 (Wokingham median) | £9,500 | £14,500 |
| £545,000 (Windsor and Maidenhead median) | £17,250 | £17,250 |
Two things stand out. Below £300,000 a first-time buyer pays nothing while a mover already faces a bill. And at £545,000 the two columns are identical: once the price clears £500,000, relief is switched off and a first-time buyer pays the full standard rate. Eligibility for relief also depends on the property being an only or main residence and on no buyer having previously owned a home — a conveyancer confirms this on completion.
Check the true cost where you are buying
These are authority-wide medians; your own street will differ. Type any postcode into Homecost to see recorded sale prices, the council tax band, energy costs and an estimated stamp duty figure for that exact location — or model a specific price and buyer situation on the stamp duty calculator. You can also browse every area guide in Regional Prices.
Based on 222,529 HM Land Registry transactions and 2026-27 council tax data for England's 296 billing authorities. See more of our data-led property guides.
This is general information, not advice. Stamp duty and council tax outcomes depend on your specific circumstances. Speak to a qualified adviser before acting.