How much deposit do you need, how much stamp duty or equivalent property purchase tax will you pay, and which fees sit outside the mortgage? Start with three cash pots: the deposit; the applicable tax—SDLT, LBTT or LTT; and transaction or arrival costs. This guide calculates all three for England and Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, beginning with an editable £350,000 home-mover purchase, a 10% deposit and £7,000 of other costs.
What the cash total contains
| Cash component | What it does | What determines it |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | Reduces the mortgage and becomes equity | Price × chosen percentage |
| Purchase tax | SDLT, LBTT or LTT; not equity | Nation, price and buyer status |
| Legal work and searches | Conveyancing, searches and entered disbursements | Your quote and property |
| Survey and mortgage fees | Property inspection and selected mortgage product | Survey level and lender |
| Moving and immediate work | Arrival budget rather than tax | Your move and property condition |
One purchase, three property taxes
SDLT applies in England and Northern Ireland, LBTT in Scotland and LTT in Wales. Each is progressive, but the bands and additional-property rules differ. SDLT offers qualifying first-time-buyer relief and may add a 2% non-resident surcharge; Scottish first-time-buyer relief raises the LBTT nil-rate band, while Wales has no separate first-time-buyer schedule.
A home mover normally uses the main rates. Additional-property purchases may instead trigger higher SDLT rates, Scotland’s 8% ADS or the Welsh higher LTT schedule. Companies, trusts, linked or mixed-use transactions, leases and reliefs can require a different calculation.
Build your purchase in the text
The underlined values are editable. A change is carried through the answer, both cost sheets, the comparison and the funding summary.
Deposit, mortgage and purchase tax
The 10% deposit supplies £35,000 of equity. The remaining £315,000 is the implied mortgage requirement, while standard SDLT contributes £7,500 of non-equity cost.
Professional, mortgage and moving costs
These are editable planning allowances, not statutory prices. Use quotes for the actual property and check what a legal or mortgage fee already includes to avoid double counting.
The direct answer
£35,000 deposit + £7,500 SDLT + £7,000 other entered costs. That is 14.14% of the purchase price; the deposit becomes equity, while £14,500 covers tax and the entered transaction and arrival costs.
The same purchase across the UK
The selected price, deposit, buyer status and entered costs stay identical below. Only the nation and its property tax change; the SDLT residence selection applies only to England and Northern Ireland.
| Purchase location | Purchase tax | Total cash |
|---|---|---|
| England or Northern Ireland · SDLT | £7,500 | £49,500 |
| Scotland · LBTT | £8,350 | £50,350 |
| Wales · LTT | £7,500 | £49,500 |
How buyer status changes this same purchase
The selected nation, price, deposit and other entered costs stay identical below. Only buyer status changes, making the relevant SDLT treatment visible.
| Buyer status | SDLT | Total cash |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifying first-time buyer | £2,500 | £44,500 |
| Home mover | £7,500 | £49,500 |
| Additional property | £25,000 | £67,000 |
What is still outside this number
A prudent cash target may be higher than the result. The model does not add a lender-required reserve, an emergency fund, sale costs for an existing home, overlapping rent and mortgage payments, buildings insurance, leasehold service charges, mortgage interest, recurring maintenance or later renovation. It also assumes every mortgage fee entered is paid in cash rather than added to the loan.
How the numbers are calculated
The deposit is purchase price multiplied by the selected percentage; the implied mortgage is the balance. The model applies progressive residential SDLT bands in England and Northern Ireland, LBTT bands plus any ADS in Scotland, or the main or higher LTT schedule in Wales. Buyer reliefs and surcharges are applied only where the selected system provides them. Other costs are the five editable cash allowances. Total cash is deposit + property tax + those allowances. Values are estimates rounded for display; eligibility and lender decisions require transaction-specific checks.
- GOV.UK — residential SDLT rates, higher rates and territorial scope
- GOV.UK — First-Time Buyers’ Relief conditions
- GOV.UK — non-resident SDLT surcharge
- Scottish Government — 2026–27 LBTT bands, first-time-buyer relief and 8% ADS
- Welsh Government — main and higher residential LTT rates and bands
- Welsh Government — LTT scope and absence of first-time-buyer relief
- MoneyHelper — deposits and common buying, mortgage, survey and moving costs