Remortgage across England, NI, Scotland and Wales

Remortgaging replaces the loan secured on a home you already own, either with a new deal from the same lender (a product transfer) or with a new lender. The steps — fee maths, application, valuation, offer, legal work and completion — and the FCA rules on how lenders treat you are the same across the UK.

Property transaction taxes are not. England and Northern Ireland use Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT, run by HMRC), Scotland uses Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT, Revenue Scotland) and Wales uses Land Transaction Tax (LTT, the Welsh Revenue Authority). Our stamp duty calculator covers England and Northern Ireland residential SDLT only. A straightforward remortgage usually triggers none of the three taxes.

Why a straightforward remortgage usually has no stamp duty

These taxes apply to land transactions: buying a freehold or leasehold, or being transferred an interest in land in exchange for something of value. A mortgage is a security interest, not a purchase. The Welsh Revenue Authority lists a security interest as an exempt interest and names a mortgage as the commonest example. So when the same owners stay on the title and only the lender changes — old charge redeemed, new charge registered — no SDLT, LBTT or LTT normally arises from the remortgage itself.

The costs that do show up are the fee stack: product fee, valuation, conveyancing, broker fee, any exit fee and any early repayment charge still running. A product transfer with your existing lender usually skips new conveyancing too, and is not a property purchase for tax.

When tax can come into it: transfers of equity

Remortgages and ownership changes often happen in the same completion. HMRC's guidance on transferring ownership says SDLT may be due when all or part of an interest in land is transferred to you and you give anything of monetary value in exchange, and that taking on a share of the mortgage counts. Revenue Scotland's LBTT guidance treats assumed secured debt the same way, as does the Welsh Revenue Authority for LTT. Typical cases:

• adding or removing a co-owner while refinancing
• buying out a partner's share, or staircasing in shared ownership
• buying a different or additional property, which is a purchase rather than a remortgage

EXAMPLE: a partner joins the title on the £185,000 house

On the shared EXAMPLE house, suppose a partner is added to the title at the remortgage and takes on half of the £185,000 mortgage, paying no cash. Following HMRC's method, the chargeable consideration is the share of debt taken on: £185,000 × 50% = £92,500. In England or Northern Ireland that sits inside the 0% band up to £125,000, so the stamp duty calculator returns £0. It would also sit inside Scotland's £145,000 and Wales's £225,000 nil bands. HMRC's own worked example of a £90,000 consideration still says to tell HMRC on an SDLT return, and other rules (such as the higher rates where the partner already owns a home) can change the answer, so the conveyancer's figure is the one that counts.

The mortgage side of the same EXAMPLE is unchanged by tax: the £1,499 fees, £250 cashback and a £3,700 ERC if leaving early still go in the true cost calculator, on a separate line from any tax.

Main residential bands in each nation (checked 2 November 2026)

These bands apply when you buy, for a buyer who will own one home. They show how different the three regimes are, and why one nation's figure should never be used for another.

Sources, each checked 2 November 2026: HMRC SDLT residential rates, Revenue Scotland LBTT residential rates, Revenue Scotland ADS and Welsh Revenue Authority LTT rates and bands. England & NI also has a 2% surcharge for non-UK residents, which our calculator does not model. Bands change at Budgets, so check the official page before any purchase.

Remortgage conveyancing in Scotland and Wales

Scotland. A Scottish mortgage is a standard security. On a remortgage, the new lender's standard security has to be registered in the Land Register of Scotland, run by Registers of Scotland (RoS), and the old lender's security is cleared by registering a signed discharge; RoS charges £80 to register a discharge. Since 1 April 2016 a new standard security can no longer be recorded in the older Register of Sasines, so if your home is still on that register, the remortgage brings the title onto the Land Register (RoS waives the fee for registering the underlying title when it is sent with the security). Scottish conveyancing uses Scots law and a Scottish solicitor, so the deeds and registration steps differ from England.

Wales. Remortgage conveyancing in Wales works as in England: the charge is registered with HM Land Registry, which covers England and Wales. The difference is tax on purchases and other chargeable transactions: Land Transaction Tax (LTT), collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority, replaces SDLT in Wales.

Sources: GOV.WALES: LTT land transactions (security interests and debt as consideration), Revenue Scotland LBTT2003: debt as consideration and HMRC: SDLT when transferring ownership, checked 2 November 2026. Registers of Scotland: standard securities and the Sasine register and discharging a standard security, last checked 17 October 2026.

Checklist

1. Is ownership staying the same? If so, tax is usually not a remortgage cost; the ERC, fees and rate are.
2. If anyone joins or leaves the title, ask the conveyancer early whether a return is due and under which regime.
3. List the fee stack from the remortgage fees guide and your illustration before comparing headline rates.
4. Use our stamp duty calculator for England and NI only; use the official LBTT or LTT calculators for Scotland or Wales.

Illustrative only: not personalised financial, tax or legal advice, and not an FCA-regulated recommendation. Check figures with your conveyancer, HMRC, Revenue Scotland or the Welsh Revenue Authority, and read your Key Facts Illustration.