United Kingdom

Stamp Duty Land Tax is the purchase tax in England and Northern Ireland. GOV.UK directs a buyer in Scotland to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, and a buyer in Wales to Land Transaction Tax where completion was on or after 1 April 2018. A worked example from one of those taxes cannot be reused in another.

Private renting is also split. In England the House of Commons Library records that the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, with the private-tenancy changes commencing on 1 May 2026. The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 is the Scottish Parliament’s statute. In Wales, the Welsh Government states that on 1 December 2022 the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 replaced tenancy agreements with occupation contracts. Northern Ireland is a fourth statute.

Leasehold, in the English sense of a flat held for a term of years with a service charge, is an England and Wales document. Registers of Scotland records that the Long Leases (Scotland) Act 2012 converted certain ultra-long leases into ownership on 28 November 2015. The qualifying tests are on that note. A visa is a separate permission: the right to buy and the right to live in the building are not decided by the same authority.

The Greater London Authority Act 1999 is why the Mayor and the boroughs are different authorities. Transport and the London Plan sit with the Mayor. Housing enforcement, most planning applications and licensing sit with the borough named on the decision. The City of London is its own local authority, separate from the City of Westminster.

The London Plan 2021 is the Mayor’s spatial development strategy. It is a direction for land across the capital. It is not a rent, and it does not replace the borough’s decision on an application. Employment is split in the same way: the City, the Northern Isle of Dogs, the West End, King’s Cross, Heathrow and the hospitals are different workplaces. The London brief sets those apart, including prime central stock, new apartments, leasehold and resale.

Building safety and the English private tenancy apply here as they do in other English cities, with the documents named on that brief. A London price cannot be dropped into a UK average, because Scotland and Wales charge different transaction taxes and use different tenancy law.

Greater Manchester is ten councils, an operating tram and a franchised bus network whose last phase joined on 5 January 2025. Housing licences stay with the council on the street. Universities, the airport and MediaCity pull different tenants. The Manchester brief holds the stock, the tenancy rules and the infrastructure that is running.

The city-region is six councils, with Merseyrail as the urban railway that crosses them. The port, the universities and the hospitals are the employment. UNESCO deleted the waterfront from the World Heritage List on 21 July 2021. The Liverpool brief separates that waterfront from the terrace stock and the term-time streets.

Leeds is the commercial centre of a five-council combined authority. The station is open, with services to London King’s Cross. The combined authority says trams are not currently used in West Yorkshire. The Leeds brief holds the house stock, the new apartments and the English tenancy rules.

Newcastle sits in a seven-council authority formed on 7 May 2024, with an operating Metro. Tyneside flats are a local tenure that looks like a single house. The Newcastle brief sets that form next to the universities and the English private tenancy.

The West Midlands Combined Authority is not Birmingham City Council. Seven councils have full voting rights, and housing decisions stay with the council on the street. HS2 Ltd is publishing construction updates for Curzon Street. The Birmingham brief treats that station as a project, and reads tenure and renting under English rules.

Greater London has a specific rule. Section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015 limits the use of a home as temporary sleeping accommodation, without a planning permission, to ninety nights in a calendar year, and only where the provider is liable for council tax. That cap is London’s. It is not a national allowance.

Scotland has required a short-term let licence since 1 October 2022. The Scottish Government page names the control areas, including Edinburgh. Wales is neither of those regimes. The Welsh Government’s visitor-accommodation page records Royal Assent on 27 April 2026 for a licensing framework whose legal default is March 2030. Until that scheme is operating, Wales is a planning and tax question.

The furnished holiday lettings tax regime ended for income tax and capital gains tax from 6 April 2025, and for corporation tax from 1 April 2025. Occupancy, costs, lending and the exit are on the short-stay brief. This section only separates the permissions. A peak week is not a year.