Buying property in Hong Kong: stamp duty, mortgages and the end of the cooling measures

For more than a decade, a foreign buyer in Hong Kong paid extra stamp duties that could add a sizeable chunk to the price. That's gone. A British buyer now pays exactly what a Hong Konger pays, which changes the buy-or-rent sums for anyone staying a while.

The short version

• Since 28 February 2024, residential purchases pay ad valorem stamp duty at the same rates whether or not you're a Hong Kong permanent resident [1].
• A flat costing up to HK$4 million pays a flat HK$100 in duty (about £9.50). Rates then rise in bands to 4.25%, and from 26 February 2026 to 6.5% on homes over HK$100 million [1][2].
• Banks can lend up to 70% of the value of a home, and the debt-servicing limit is 50% of income, under Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) rules from October 2024 [3].
• Prices have been rising again: the government's price index was about 9% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier [4].
• Owning in Hong Kong can trigger the 5% higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax if you later buy in England or Northern Ireland, and the 2% non-resident surcharge if you buy there while living abroad [5].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = HKD 10.5659).

What happened to the cooling measures

Hong Kong spent the years from 2010 to 2023 piling extra duties on property to cool a red-hot market. The three that hit Brits were the Special Stamp Duty (on quick resales), the Buyer's Stamp Duty (on anyone who wasn't a permanent resident) and the New Residential Stamp Duty (on buyers who already owned a home). Stacked together, they made buying a flat as a newcomer eye-wateringly expensive.

The government halved the extra duties in October 2023 and then scrapped them altogether. The official rate table shows what replaced them: for residential agreements signed from 28 February 2024, the rates under Part 1 of Scale 1 became the same as the ordinary Scale 2 rates, and the old 15% (later 7.5%) flat rate disappeared [1]. In practice that means one set of rates for everyone.

The 2026–27 Budget then added a new top band. From 26 February 2026, homes worth more than HK$100 million pay 6.5% instead of 4.25% [1][2]. Unless you're shopping on The Peak with a very large bonus, that won't trouble you.

Stamp duty: what you'll pay

These are the residential rates for agreements signed from 26 February 2026 [1]. Each band has a short "marginal relief" zone above it so the duty doesn't jump suddenly; the table shows the main rates.

Some worked examples on those rates:

• HK$6 million (about £567,900): 2.25%, so HK$135,000 (about £12,800).
• HK$8 million (about £757,200): 3%, so HK$240,000 (about £22,700).
• HK$12 million (about £1.14 million): 3.75%, so HK$450,000 (about £42,600).
• HK$25 million (about £2.37 million): 4.25%, so HK$1,062,500 (about £100,600).

Stamp duty is calculated on the price or the value, whichever is higher, and is charged on the sale and purchase agreement; the later assignment then pays just HK$100 [1]. That makes it broadly comparable with SDLT back home: the UK charges 5% on the slice from £250,001 to £925,000 for a main home [5]. For a mid-range flat, Hong Kong now works out a little cheaper.

What a flat costs to buy

The Rating and Valuation Department (RVD) publishes average prices per square metre of saleable area. Its provisional figures for September 2026 put a medium flat (40 to 69.9 m²) at about HK$157,500 per m² on Hong Kong Island, HK$136,500 in Kowloon and HK$109,900 in the New Territories [4]. On a 50 m² flat that's roughly:

These are our multiplications of RVD averages, so individual buildings vary a lot. For comparison, the ONS estimated the average UK house price at £273,000 in August 2026 [6]. Prices are now recovering: the RVD's all-flats price index was 320.8 in September 2026, against 293.4 a year earlier [4].

Mortgages: how much a bank will lend

Hong Kong banks follow the HKMA's prudential rules on mortgages. In February 2024 the HKMA raised the loan-to-value limits and suspended the old stress test that assumed a 2 percentage point rise in rates [7]. In October 2024 it went further [3]:

• Self-use homes: up to 70% loan-to-value, whatever the price.
• Non-self-use homes (buy-to-let): also up to 70%.
• Debt-servicing ratio: your mortgage payments can't exceed 50% of your monthly income.

Banks apply their own checks on top. Expect to show your visa or identity card, employment letter, payslips and bank statements, and expect a lower loan if your main income comes from outside Hong Kong; ask each bank how it treats that. Most Hong Kong mortgages are priced off HIBOR (the interbank rate) or the bank's prime rate, so your payments move with interest rates, much like a tracker back home.

A 30% deposit is a lot of cash. On a HK$8 million flat it's HK$2.4 million (about £227,100), plus stamp duty and legal fees.

Buying step by step

1. Get a mortgage in principle. Know your budget before you fall for the view.
2. Find the flat. Agents must be licensed by the Estate Agents Authority. Check the saleable area, the building's age, the management fees and any unauthorised building works.
3. Sign the provisional agreement and pay the initial deposit. This is binding in Hong Kong. Don't sign until you're sure.
4. Instruct a solicitor. In Hong Kong your solicitor checks the title at the Land Registry, prepares the formal sale and purchase agreement and handles completion.
5. Pay stamp duty on the agreement through the Inland Revenue Department's Stamp Office [1].
6. Complete, usually a couple of months later, when the bank pays out and you get the keys.

Running costs and the buy-versus-rent sums

Owning brings bills a tenant often avoids: rates and, for most flats, government rent (both collected by the RVD), management fees for the building, insurance and repairs. Unlike in the UK, there's no council tax on top.

Rental yields are modest. Using the RVD's September 2026 Island averages, a medium flat lets for about HK$438 per m² a month against a price of about HK$157,500 per m², a gross yield of a little over 3% a year [4]. If your mortgage rate is well above that, renting is usually cheaper month to month; buying is a bet on staying put for years and on prices continuing to rise. Our guide to renting in Hong Kong shows the other side of the sums.

The UK angle

• Buying back in the UK later. HMRC's higher rates of SDLT apply if you'll own another residential property after a purchase, and that includes property abroad. The surcharge is 5% on top of the normal rates, plus a 2% surcharge for non-UK residents buying in England or Northern Ireland [5]. Read buying UK property from abroad before you commit.
• Your UK home. Selling it as a non-resident brings the 60-day capital gains tax return; keeping it means the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme. See keeping your UK home or selling it before you go.
• Wills. A Hong Kong flat sits outside your UK estate planning unless you plan for it. A local will alongside your UK one is common.

For more on the visa side, start with moving to Hong Kong as a Brit. And if you want to hear from people who've bought recently, and what they wish they'd checked, ask in our community group for Brits in Hong Kong.

Sources

1. GovHK: Stamp duty rates (last revised May 2026)
2. Hong Kong Budget 2026–27, supplement: ad valorem stamp duty on residential property
3. HKMA: Countercyclical macroprudential measures for property mortgage loans (16 October 2024)
4. Rating and Valuation Department: Hong Kong Property Review Monthly Supplement, November 2026 (provisional figures for September 2026)
5. GOV.UK: Stamp Duty Land Tax, residential property rates
6. ONS: Private rent and house prices, UK: October 2026 (21 October 2026)
7. HKMA: Countercyclical macroprudential measures for property mortgage loans (28 February 2024)

Keep reading

• Renting in Hong Kong
• Banking in Hong Kong as a Brit
• Buying UK property from abroad
• Wills and estate planning across two countries