# Payotte UK

> Independent guide to buying, renting and owning a home in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, from official sources (HMRC, Revenue Scotland, Welsh Revenue Authority, HM Land Registry, GOV.UK, gov.scot, gov.wales, nidirect), dated and cited. On a £300,000 home bought by a home mover, the purchase tax is £5,000 of Stamp Duty in England and Northern Ireland, £4,600 of LBTT in Scotland and £4,500 of Land Transaction Tax in Wales. Free, ad-free, commission-free. Data CC BY 4.0: cite Payotte with a link.

Payotte lists no UK firm yet: one firm per trade and area will be selected on public data, and each profile will publish the register where the READER checks it (FCA Register, SRA, CLC, Law Society, RICS, redress schemes). Payotte never says a professional is "verified".

## Calculator
- [Stamp Duty, LBTT and LTT calculator](https://payotte.com/uk/stamp-duty-calculator): on £300,000, home mover £5,000 (England & NI), £4,600 (Scotland), £4,500 (Wales); first-time buyer £0 / £4,000 / £4,500; additional property £20,000 / £28,600 / £19,950. Rates checked 2026-10-14.

## Rules compared across the four nations (tables, JSON CC BY 4.0)
- [Purchase tax on a home, by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/purchase-tax) (data: https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/purchase-tax.json)
- [First-time buyer relief, by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/first-time-buyer-relief) (data: https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/first-time-buyer-relief.json)
- [Conveyancing and the buying process, by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/conveyancing-system) (data: https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/conveyancing-system.json)
- [Home surveys, by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/home-surveys) (data: https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/home-surveys.json)
- [Tenancy deposit protection, by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/tenancy-deposits) (data: https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/tenancy-deposits.json)
- [The private tenancy regime, by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/tenancy-regime) (data: https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/tenancy-regime.json)
- [Council Tax and domestic rates, by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/local-property-tax) (data: https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/local-property-tax.json)
- [Energy Performance Certificates, by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/epc-rules) (data: https://payotte.com/uk/by-nation/epc-rules.json)

## Prices (UK House Price Index, July 2026)
- UK: £272,611; [England](https://payotte.com/uk/nations/england) £293,479; [Scotland](https://payotte.com/uk/nations/scotland) £196,349; [Wales](https://payotte.com/uk/nations/wales) £215,037; [Northern Ireland](https://payotte.com/uk/nations/northern-ireland) £202,487
- [East Midlands](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/east-midlands): £242,274
- [East of England](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/east-of-england): £337,518
- [London](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/london): £550,037
- [North East](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/north-east): £166,943
- [North West](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/north-west): £221,445
- [South East](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/south-east): £380,878
- [South West](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/south-west): £302,298
- [West Midlands](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/west-midlands): £250,880
- [Yorkshire and The Humber](https://payotte.com/uk/regions/yorkshire-and-the-humber): £209,116
- [Belfast](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/belfast): £184,768
- [Birmingham](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/birmingham): £234,257
- [Bradford](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/bradford): £182,766
- [Buckinghamshire](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/buckinghamshire): £479,736
- [Cardiff](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/cardiff): £272,252
- [Cheshire East](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/cheshire-east): £309,121
- [City of Edinburgh](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/city-of-edinburgh): £303,965
- [City of Glasgow](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/city-of-glasgow): £193,675
- [Cornwall](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/cornwall): £275,642
- [County Durham](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/county-durham): £140,447
- [Dorset](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/dorset): £325,154
- [Fife](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/fife): £179,134
- [Leeds](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/leeds): £247,695
- [North Lanarkshire](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/north-lanarkshire): £158,591
- [North Yorkshire](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/north-yorkshire): £270,463
- [Sheffield](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/sheffield): £219,713
- [Somerset](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/somerset): £282,062
- [South Lanarkshire](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/south-lanarkshire): £185,267
- [West Northamptonshire](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/west-northamptonshire): £291,929
- [Wiltshire](https://payotte.com/uk/areas/wiltshire): £328,746
Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2020. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

## Guides
### Buying
- [Buying a home in England: the steps, offer to registration](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/buying-a-home-in-england): Buying a home in England follows a fixed sequence: you arrange finance, make an offer, instruct a solicitor, order searches and a survey, exchange contracts and complete, and the Stamp Duty Land Tax return is then due within 14 days.
- [Buying a home in Scotland: Home Report, offers and missives](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/buying-a-home-in-scotland): Buying in Scotland works differently from England, with the Home Report due within nine days of your request.
- [Buying a home in Northern Ireland: process and registers](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/buying-a-home-in-northern-ireland): Buying in Northern Ireland follows the same broad order as in England: offer, solicitor, survey, mortgage, exchange of contracts, completion, usually in around two to three months with a deposit of at least five per cent at exchange (nidirect). nidirect says the whole process usually takes around two to three months and that you will usually pay the seller a deposit of at least five per cent of the price at exchange.
- [Stamp Duty Land Tax: rates, who pays and the 14 days](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/stamp-duty-land-tax): Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is the tax on buying a home in England and Northern Ireland, with a 0% rate on the first £125,000 for a single-home buyer.
- [LBTT in Scotland: rates, first-time buyers, ADS, 30 days](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/lbtt-scotland): Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is the tax on buying a home in Scotland, with a 0% rate up to £145,000.
- [Land Transaction Tax in Wales: rates, higher rates, 30 days](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/land-transaction-tax-wales): In Wales the tax on buying a home is Land Transaction Tax (LTT), with a 0% rate up to £225,000, collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority, not Stamp Duty Land Tax.
- [First-time buyer relief: England, Scotland and Wales](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/first-time-buyer-relief): The UK has no single first-time buyer relief: it depends on the nation where the home is.
- [Buying a second home: SDLT, ADS and LTT higher rates](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/higher-rates-additional-property): Buying a home when you already own another one costs more tax in all three tax systems of the UK.
- [Non-UK resident SDLT surcharge: the 2% and how to reclaim it](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/non-uk-resident-surcharge): If you buy a home in England or Northern Ireland and you were not in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before the purchase, you are treated as non-UK resident and pay a 2 percentage point surcharge on top of every other Stamp Duty Land Tax rate.
- [Conveyancing explained: who does it and what it covers](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/conveyancing-explained): Conveyancing is the legal work of moving a home from seller to buyer: checking the title, dealing with the other side, handling the money and registering the change; in England and Wales licensed conveyancers have been able to act instead of a solicitor since 1987.
- [Property searches when buying a home in the UK](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/property-searches): Property searches are enquiries your conveyancer makes to public bodies and registers before you commit to buying; in England and Wales, a Land Registry title register costs £7 (GOV.UK).
- [Home survey levels 1, 2 and 3: which one to choose](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/home-survey-levels): In Scotland, the Home Report's Single Survey rates defects in three categories, while the RICS Home Survey comes in three levels.
- [The Home Report in Scotland: contents and your rights](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/home-report-scotland): In Scotland, a seller or selling agent must give you the Home Report within nine days of your asking for it (mygov.scot).
- [Leasehold and freehold: what you own, and 2024 reforms](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/leasehold-and-freehold): In England and Wales, only some provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 were in force on 14 October 2026. Freehold means you own the property outright, without a time limit.
- [Exchange and completion: when you are bound to buy](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/exchange-and-completion): In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, you are legally bound to buy only at exchange of contracts, when the buyer pays a deposit and both sides are committed.
- [The title register: what it shows and how to get it](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/land-registry-title-register): In England and Wales, the title register at HM Land Registry records who owns a property, any mortgage or restriction, and rights such as rights of way.

### Financing
- [UK mortgage affordability rules: FCA checks, 4.5x limit](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/mortgage-affordability-rules): Across the whole United Kingdom, a lender that offers you a regulated mortgage must be able to show that you can afford it.
- [UK mortgage deposit and loan-to-value (LTV) explained](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/deposit-and-loan-to-value): Your deposit is the part of the price you pay yourself. The rest is the mortgage. Loan-to-value (LTV) expresses that mortgage as a percentage of the property's value: it is the loan divided by the value, times 100.
- [Mortgage in principle in the UK: what to know first](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/mortgage-in-principle): In the United Kingdom, FCA rules require a lender assessing a full mortgage application to assume an interest-rate rise of at least 1% and to obtain evidence of your income.
- [Lifetime ISA for a first home: rules, 25% charge, cap](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/lifetime-isa-first-home): In the UK, a Lifetime ISA lets you save up to £4,000 a year towards a first home, and the government adds a 25% bonus, up to £1,000 a year.
- [Shared ownership in the UK: shares, rent and who can apply](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/shared-ownership): With shared ownership you buy a share of a home and pay rent to a landlord on the rest. In England, GOV.UK says you buy 10% to 75% of the full market value, with the usual range 25% to 75%.

### Selling
- [Costs of selling a home in the UK: agent, legal, EPC, tax](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/selling-a-home-costs): Selling a home in the United Kingdom has no single official price list, but in England, Wales and Northern Ireland you need an EPC, valid for 10 years, before you market the property.
- [Capital Gains Tax on a home: relief and 60-day report](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/capital-gains-tax-on-a-home): Selling your own home usually means no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) in the United Kingdom, thanks to Private Residence Relief, which applies automatically if you meet its conditions.
- [Energy performance certificate (EPC) rules by UK nation](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/energy-performance-certificate): In England and Northern Ireland, an energy performance certificate (EPC) rates a building from A (best) to G (worst) and is valid for 10 years. In England, you must order one before you market a property to sell or rent.

### Renting
- [Renting in England: the rules since 1 May 2026](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/renting-in-england): In England, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 took effect on 1 May 2026.
- [Tenancy deposit protection in the UK, nation by nation](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/tenancy-deposit-protection): In every UK nation a landlord who takes a tenancy deposit must put it in a government-approved scheme, but the deadline and the penalties differ.
- [Private residential tenancy in Scotland: your rights](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/private-residential-tenancy-scotland): In Scotland, most private lets are a private residential tenancy (PRT), and a landlord can end one only on one of 18 eviction grounds.
- [Renting in Wales: occupation contracts explained](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/renting-homes-wales): In Wales, since 1 December 2022, nearly everyone who rents a home holds an occupation contract under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. In the private sector this is usually a standard contract.
- [Renting in Northern Ireland: notice, rent and deposits](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/renting-in-northern-ireland): In Northern Ireland the private rented sector is governed by its own legislation, including the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, not by English law. A deposit cannot exceed one month's rent and must be protected within 28 days.
- [Right to rent checks in England: what landlords must do](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/right-to-rent-checks): In England, a landlord or letting agent who does not check that every adult who will live in a rented home has the right to rent before the tenancy starts risks a civil penalty of £5,000 to £20,000 per person.

### Owning
- [Council tax bands in England, Scotland and Wales](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/council-tax-bands): Council tax in England, Scotland and Wales is set by your home's valuation band, the charge your local council sets for that band, and any discount.
- [Domestic rates in Northern Ireland: how your bill works](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/domestic-rates-northern-ireland): Northern Ireland has no council tax: homes pay domestic rates on capital value as at 1 January 2005, with any value above £400,000 ignored. Homes pay domestic rates, collected by Land & Property Services (LPS).
- [Service charges and ground rent on a leasehold home](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/service-charges-and-ground-rent): If you buy a leasehold home in England or Wales, you may pay a service charge for the building's upkeep and a ground rent, which on leases granted on or after 30 June 2022 is usually a peppercorn (zero).
- [Inheritance tax on a home: the £500,000 threshold](https://payotte.com/uk/guides/inheritance-tax-on-a-home): Inheritance Tax (IHT), a UK tax run by HMRC, is charged at 40% on the part of an estate above the £325,000 nil-rate band.

## The five trades
- [Conveyancers in the UK: solicitors and CLC lawyers](https://payotte.com/uk/professions/conveyancer): In the UK, the legal work of buying or selling a home (conveyancing) is done by a solicitor in all four nations, and the sources we read on 14 October 2026 show no official scale of fees.
- [Estate agents in the UK: redress scheme and checks](https://payotte.com/uk/professions/estate-agent): In the UK, "estate agent" is not a licensed profession: in the sources we read, no licensing regime for selling agents appears.
- [Mortgage advisers in the UK: FCA register and fees](https://payotte.com/uk/professions/mortgage-adviser): In the UK, mortgage firms are supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which states (as read on 14 October 2026) that firms offering residential mortgages must be authorised.
- [Surveyors in the UK: RICS, survey levels, Home Report](https://payotte.com/uk/professions/surveyor): In England and Wales, a survey is not a legal requirement before you buy, and the RICS Home Survey Standard has three levels. A survey is an inspection of the condition of a home, for the buyer.
- [Valuers in the UK: RICS Registered Valuer scheme](https://payotte.com/uk/professions/valuer): A valuation gives an opinion of what a property is worth, and in the UK, as at 14 October 2026, the title "valuer" is not, in the sources we read, reserved by law.

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