Non-UK residents pay 2 percentage points on top of every other residential stamp duty rate, in force since 1 April 2021. That is the answer to the question as asked.
The rule that gives it back is the part that rarely travels with the answer.
If, after buying, you are present in the UK for at least 183 days during any continuous 365-day period, the surcharge can be reclaimed. The window for that 365-day period begins 364 days before the purchase and ends 365 days after it, so days already spent in the country before completion can count towards it. The claim is made by amending the stamp duty return, within two years of the transaction.
What the 2 percentage points are worth
Applied to our own median flat price in each borough, from HM Land Registry Price Paid, category A, the twelve months to 31 March 2026, the non-resident layer alone comes to 4,740 pounds in Barking and Dagenham, 9,300 in Tower Hamlets, 15,300 in Westminster and 18,800 in Kensington and Chelsea.
It is also the only reclaimable layer. The 5 percentage point additional-property surcharge does not come back on a day count, and in every borough it is two and a half times larger than the non-resident layer.
Why it goes unclaimed
Because it requires a decision to be made before completion rather than discovered after it. A buyer has to form a view on how many days they will spend in the UK over a period that starts before they have bought anything. That is a question about the next two years of a life, arriving at the point in a transaction where everyone is focused on the next two weeks.
The two-year claim deadline then does the rest of the work, quietly.
The market this sits in
Buyers who price the entry cost in advance are not a shrinking group. Landlords accounted for 13.3% of all home purchases in Great Britain between January and April 2026, the highest share since the start of 2016, on Hamptons figures. That earlier peak was the year the additional-property surcharge was introduced. The tax changed who bought, then the composition returned.
At the same time the flow of former rentals onto the sales market fell: 9.2% of homes listed for sale in Great Britain had been advertised to rent within the previous five years in the latest month, against 11.3% a year earlier.
What this is not
This is a description of how a rule works, taken from the published guidance, and it is not tax advice. Whether any individual meets the day count, and whether other reliefs or charges apply to their transaction, is a question for their own adviser with their own facts in front of them.
Every other line on the completion statement is a cost. This one is a deposit on a decision you have not made yet.
Frequently asked questions
Do non-UK residents pay stamp duty?
Yes. Non-UK residents pay 2 percentage points on top of every other residential stamp duty rate, in force since 1 April 2021.
Can the non-resident stamp duty surcharge be refunded?
Yes. If, after buying, you are present in the UK for at least 183 days during any continuous 365-day period, the surcharge can be reclaimed. The claim is made by amending the stamp duty return, within two years of the transaction.
How many days do you need to spend in the UK to reclaim the surcharge?
183 days during any continuous 365-day period. The window for that period begins 364 days before the purchase and ends 365 days after it, so days already spent in the country before completion can count towards it.
How much is the 2% non-resident stamp duty surcharge worth?
Applied to the median flat price in each London borough from HM Land Registry Price Paid data, the non-resident layer alone comes to 4,740 pounds in Barking and Dagenham, 9,300 in Tower Hamlets, 15,300 in Westminster and 18,800 in Kensington and Chelsea.
Is the 5% additional property surcharge refundable too?
No. The 5 percentage point additional-property surcharge does not come back on a day count, and in every borough it is two and a half times larger than the non-resident layer.
Sources
- GOV.UK — Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax for non-UK residents
- GOV.UK — Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates
- Hamptons — Landlord sales slow following the Renters' Rights Act
- Hamptons — Investor purchases rise as landlords buy from other landlords
- HM Land Registry — Price Paid Data (Open Government Licence v3.0)