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United Kingdom · GBP

Real estatein the United Kingdom

The UK is not one transaction. England and Northern Ireland use solicitors, SDLT slice bands and an exchange of contracts; Scotland uses LBTT, an 8% additional-dwelling supplement and missives that bind earlier. sivrce uses /gb — the ISO code — so /uk never collides with the Ukrainian locale on sivrce.ge. Six metros open, four English and two Scottish.

ManchesterBirminghamEdinburghGlasgowLeeds
Land Registry path
Leasehold term checked
3D map
+2%non-resident SDLT surcharge in England
+5%additional-dwelling surcharge on the whole price
Exchangethe moment an offer becomes a contract
Leaseholdmost flats — term, ground rent, service charge
What a purchase really costs

£500,000 home in London

Stamp duty (slice bands) — SDLT
£15,000
Non-resident surcharge (+2%)
£10,000
Legal, searches & Land Registry (≈0.4%)
£2,000
Survey (≈0.2%)
£1,000
Cash needed at completion
£528,000

≈ +5.6% over the price. Scotland is a different tax and a different contract: LBTT with 8% ADS, and missives that bind earlier than an English exchange. In England and Wales an offer binds nobody until exchange — gazumping is legal, which is why the survey and the searches come before the celebration. A second or additional dwelling adds 5% SDLT on the whole price.

Rentals run on rules

The let side, in three lines

  • A tenant deposit must sit in a government-approved protection scheme within 30 days — unprotected deposits cost the landlord up to three times the sum.
  • The Renters’ Rights Act ends assured shorthold fixed terms and section 21 no-fault eviction; possession now runs through stated statutory grounds.
  • An EPC of E or better is required to let, and a leasehold flat carries ground rent, service charge and a term that shortens every year.

Yield on a leasehold flat is service charge minus optimism. Read the last three years of accounts and the cladding/EWS1 file.

Cities

Six metros, two tax systems

England and Northern Ireland pay SDLT; Scotland pays LBTT on its own bands and binds at missives, not exchange. Edinburgh and London are not the same transaction with different weather.

Leasehold flats are a different product from freehold houses: ground rent, service charge and a term that shortens every year. Since 2017 the cladding and EWS1 files have repriced whole buildings — the building safety pack is not optional reading.

In England an offer binds nobody until exchange, so gazumping is legal and the survey comes before the celebration. Non-resident buyers pay a 2% SDLT surcharge on top of the standard bands; an additional dwelling adds a further 5% on the whole price. Scotland has no non-resident surcharge but its ADS is 8%.

The Renters' Rights Act ends assured shorthold fixed terms and section 21 no-fault eviction in England — possession now runs through stated statutory grounds. Underwrite that, not a 2019 landlord blog.

FAQ

Why /gb not /uk?
ISO-3166-1 alpha-2 for the United Kingdom is GB. /uk is a Ukrainian locale on sivrce.ge, so the country path cannot be /uk. Type /uk on sivrce.com and it 308s to /gb.
How much extra does an overseas buyer pay?
In England and Northern Ireland, a 2% non-resident SDLT surcharge on the whole price, plus the 5% additional-dwelling surcharge if this will not be your only home. Scotland charges no non-resident surcharge but applies 8% ADS on an additional dwelling.
Is Scotland really a different system?
Yes. Different tax (LBTT), different conveyancing (missives), different letting regime (short-term let licensing since 2023). Edinburgh is not London with a different accent.

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