Nation

Buying a home in Scotland: prices and purchase tax

A home in Scotland cost £198,397 on average in August 2026 (+2.9% over twelve months); at that price, a home mover pays £1,068 of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Data as of August 2026: average prices of the UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services and ONS), all property types. 102,934 sales over the latest twelve months with complete volumes.

Scotland: the market in figures

Scotland has the lowest average among the nations at £198,397, which is 27.3% below the UK figure of £273,037. It moved 2.9% over the year, ahead of England's 0.4% but behind Northern Ireland's 9.2%.

The starting figure in 2016 was £135,571, and the climb to today is 46.3%, or £62,826. The jump belongs to 2021, with 14.6%, and 2022, with 7.4%; 2020 had added only 0.3%. Only 2023 slipped, by 0.4%. Growth resumed at 2% for 2024, then 3.5% and 2.9%. The latest figure tops the series, and 2016 is the floor.

Flats cost £138,886 and detached homes £365,984, so the step up from one to the other is £227,098, or 163.5%. Terraced homes cost £184,396 and semi-detached £226,592. A first-time purchase averages £162,166, which sits 18.3% beneath the all-buyer figure.

Of the 15 covered areas, City of Edinburgh costs the most, £301,313, with East Dunbartonshire (£273,891) and West Lothian (£225,439) behind it. City of Aberdeen costs the least, £133,782, and lost 5.2%; East Ayrshire (£138,206) and North Lanarkshire (£161,163) come next. Highland rose fastest, by 7.4%, then South Ayrshire at 5.8%. City of Glasgow logged 11,163 sales and City of Edinburgh 10,865, inside a national total of 102,934.

The Scottish average carries Land and Buildings Transaction Tax of £1,068 for a home mover, which is 0.5% of the price. First-time buyers owe £468, and an additional property £16,940. England's rates applied to the same price would give £1,468, Wales's £0. Council tax is banded A to H by the local assessor.

Payotte, from the UK HPI and the calculator.

Calculate for Scotland

If you sell

Capital Gains Tax on the sale

Your main home, lived in for all the time you owned it: no tax (Private Residence Relief). A second home or a buy-to-let: Capital Gains Tax, same rates in all four nations.

Sale price in £

Purchase price in £

Costs you can deduct in £, optional

Your Income Tax rate

Taxable income in £, for the basic rate

It was my main home all the time I owned it

Gain£62,826

Taxable after the £3,000 allowance£59,826

Rate24%

Capital Gains Tax£14,358

Report and pay within 60 days of completion. Assumes no other gains this tax year and the whole £3,000 allowance unused (2026 to 2027). The 18% and 24% rates are set by UK law (TCGA 1992, sections 1H and 1I) and apply in Scotland too; the £37,700 band is the one HMRC publishes: if you pay Scottish Income Tax, check your band with HMRC.

Default example: bought at the average price in Scotland in August 2016 (£135,571), sold at the August 2026 average (£198,397), UK House Price Index. Rates for 2026 to 2027: 24% for higher and additional rate taxpayers; for basic rate taxpayers, 18% on the part of the gain that fits in the £37,700 basic Income Tax band once added to taxable income (income minus Personal Allowance), 24% above (HMRC). Gain = sale price − purchase price − costs of buying, selling and improving; Payotte does not estimate those costs (no official scale). GOV.UK: Capital Gains Tax rates · Tax when you sell your home.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average house price in Scotland?

The average price of a home in Scotland was £198,397 in August 2026, +2.9% over twelve months (UK House Price Index).

Have house prices gone up in Scotland?

The average price in Scotland went from £135,571 in August 2016 to £198,397 in August 2026, a change of +46.3%; +2.9% over the last twelve months (UK House Price Index).

How much Land and Buildings Transaction Tax on an average-priced home in Scotland?

On £198,397, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) comes to £1,068 for a home mover, £468 for a first-time buyer and £16,940 for an additional property, at the rates in force in Scotland.

How much tax when you sell a home in Scotland?

None on your main home if it was your only home, lived in for all the time you owned it, not let out and not used exclusively for business (Private Residence Relief). A second home or a buy-to-let pays Capital Gains Tax above the £3,000 allowance (2026 to 2027; rates in the calculator above). Bought at the average price in Scotland in August 2016 (£135,571) and sold at the August 2026 average (£198,397), the gain of £62,826 costs a higher rate taxpayer £14,358, before deducting the costs of buying, selling and improving. The tax is reported and paid within 60 days of completion (HMRC).

Prices by property type, August 2026

Type	Average price	UK
Detached	£365,984	£443,846
Semi-detached	£226,592	£278,675
Terraced	£184,396	£232,505
Flat or maisonette	£138,886	£194,148
All types	£198,397	£273,037
First-time buyers	£162,166	—

The UK HPI is a mix-adjusted average (a hedonic model), not the price of the homes sold in the month. Northern Ireland figures are quarterly.

The trend, August of each year

Year	Average price	Change on the year before
2016	£135,571	—
2017	£141,685	+4.5%
2018	£146,404	+3.3%
2019	£148,383	+1.4%
2020	£148,875	+0.3%
2021	£170,669	+14.6%
2022	£183,378	+7.4%
2023	£182,593	-0.4%
2024	£186,285	+2%
2025	£192,794	+3.5%
2026	£198,397	+2.9%

Areas covered in Scotland

Sources

Prices and sales: UK House Price Index, file UK-HPI-full-file-2026-08.csv. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2020. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Purchase tax: rates and sources of the calculator (Revenue Scotland).
Tax when you sell: Capital Gains Tax rates, Tax when you sell your home and Report and pay your Capital Gains Tax (GOV.UK, HMRC).