Buying in Berlin vs the UK: costs and taxes

Berlin takes one simple bite when you buy and usually nothing when you sell after ten years. The UK starts gently, then piles on surcharges the moment you live abroad or own a second home.

The short version

Berlin's land transfer tax is a flat 6% of the price, from the first euro, with no first-time buyer relief [9].
England's stamp duty starts at 0%, but a Brit living in Berlin usually adds a 2% non-resident surcharge, and owning a Berlin flat triggers the 5% higher rates for additional homes on top [1][2].
Germany doesn't restrict foreign buyers. Nor does the UK. The passport matters far less than where you live and what else you own.
Selling a Berlin flat after ten years is usually tax-free in Germany, and sooner if you lived in it yourself [10]. Selling a UK home from Berlin means a 60-day report to HMRC, tax or no tax [5].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.20).

What a Brit can buy in Berlin, compared

Germany has no foreign-buyer approval, quota or surcharge, so a Brit can buy a flat in Friedrichshain or a house in Zehlendorf on the same terms as a Berliner.

What you're buying is different, though. Most Brits in Berlin buy a flat in a building split into owner units (Wohnungseigentum). You own your flat outright plus a share of the roof and stairwell. Think share of freehold rather than an English leasehold: no lease ticking down and no ground rent.

Back home, anyone can buy too, whatever their nationality or address. In England and Wales, houses are usually freehold and flats usually leasehold, with a lease that runs down and a freeholder who collects ground rent and service charges. Scotland has its own system, where outright ownership is the norm.

In England nothing binds anyone until exchange; in Berlin the deal is done once the notary has read the contract aloud and everyone has signed. Our guide to buying a flat in Berlin walks through those steps.

Upfront costs side by side

Here's a typical Berlin flat against a £300,000 house in England, bought by a Brit who lives in Berlin.

	Berlin: EUR 400,000 flat (about £333,000)	England: £300,000 house
Foreign-buyer surcharge	None	None for foreigners, but a 2% surcharge if you're not UK resident [1]
Main purchase tax	Grunderwerbsteuer, 6%: EUR 24,000 (about £20,000) [9]	SDLT, banded from 0%: £5,000 at standard rates [1]
Non-resident buyer	Same 6%	£11,000 (£6,000 with first-time buyer relief) [1]
You also own another home	Same 6%	£20,000 at the higher rates (UK resident) [1][2]
Non-resident and another home	Same 6%	£26,000 [1][2]
Legal side	Notary and land register fees, set by law on a scale	Solicitor or conveyancer, plus HM Land Registry fee
Estate agent	Split equally if the agent acts for both sides	Usually paid by the seller

That "another home" row is the one Brits in Berlin trip over. HMRC's test looks at residential property worth £40,000 or more that you own anywhere in the world [2]. Your Berlin flat counts, so buying a house in Leeds while you keep it means the higher rates, plus the 2% while you're non-resident. The non-resident surcharge can be refunded if you then spend 183 days in the UK within a year of buying; our guide to buying UK property from abroad has the detail.

Berlin doesn't care how many homes you own or where you live. EUR 24,000 is EUR 24,000.

Scotland and Wales do it differently, and neither has a non-resident surcharge. Scotland's Additional Dwelling Supplement is a flat 8% of the price for contracts from 5 December 2024, on top of LBTT [3]. Wales charges higher residential rates of Land Transaction Tax, starting at 5% and reaching 17% above £1.5 million, from 11 December 2024 [4]. On a £300,000 home that's roughly £28,600 in Scotland and £19,950 in Wales at the second-home rates, against £26,000 in England for a non-resident.

Financing: German bank or UK lender?

In Germany, there's no legal cap on how much a bank can lend to a foreigner, but banks are conservative. They usually want a permanent German job past its probation period, a solid residence status (Brits with an Aufenthaltsdokument-GB tend to have an easier time) and enough savings to pay the buying costs themselves. Long fixed rates of ten years or more are normal, which feels very different from a two-year fix back home.

Back in the UK, borrowing while you live in Berlin narrows the field. Many high-street lenders won't lend to people abroad or won't count euro income, and those that do tend to want a bigger deposit. A buy-to-let mortgage on a UK home you'll let while away is a different product again. Our guide to UK mortgages for Brits living abroad covers the foreign-currency rules and the paperwork.

Owning it: property tax and running costs

In Berlin, owners pay Grundsteuer, a yearly property tax in four instalments on 15 February, 15 May, 15 August and 15 November [9]. The city's multiplier (Hebesatz) is 470%, applied to a base set by the tax office, so the bill is usually modest by UK standards [9]. The bigger running cost is Hausgeld, your monthly share of the building's costs and repair reserve. If the flat is a second home (Nebenwohnung), Berlin charges second-home tax as well [9]. Let it out and the rent is taxable in Germany, even if you live abroad [9].

In the UK, council tax is the yearly bill, banded by value and set by your council. If the home sits furnished and empty because you're in Berlin, English councils can charge a second-home premium of up to 100% since April 2025 [7]. It's their choice, so check your council. Councils in Scotland and Wales have their own second-home premiums.

If you let the UK home instead, the tenant normally pays the council tax and you meet the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme. Your letting agent, or a tenant paying more than £100 a week, must take basic rate tax off the rent unless HMRC has approved you to be paid gross [6]. You apply for that on form NRL1, then declare the rent on a UK Self Assessment return each year. Budget 2026 lists a property basic rate of 24% from 2027/28, so the deduction is set to rise from April 2027 [1]. See our guide to renting out your UK home.

Tax when you sell

The German side

Germany taxes private property sales under the "speculation period" rule. Sell within ten years of buying and the gain is generally taxed as income. Sell after ten years and it's tax-free [10]. There's an important escape: a home you lived in yourself the whole time, or in the year of sale and the two years before, is exempt however short the ownership [10]. A let-out flat sold after six years is the case that bites.

The UK side

Selling your UK home while you live in Berlin. You must report the sale to HMRC within 60 days of completion and pay any tax in the same window, even if no tax is due [5]. Gains on residential property are taxed at 18% or 24% in 2026/27, with a £3,000 annual exempt amount [1]. Under the UK–Germany double taxation convention, the UK may tax gains on UK property, and Germany generally exempts them while taking them into account for your German tax rate [8]. Private residence relief can still cover years you lived in the house, but the rules for years abroad are strict; our guide to selling UK property as a non-resident explains the 90-day test.

Selling your Berlin flat after moving back. Once you're UK resident again, the UK taxes your worldwide gains, worked out in pounds at the exchange rates on the dates you bought and sold. Germany may also tax the gain if it falls inside the ten-year rule, and the treaty then lets you credit the German tax against the UK bill [8]. If the flat was your main home, private residence relief may help, but that's general information only. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case before you sign anything.

Which makes sense for whom

Settled in Berlin for good. Buying locally is simple and foreigner-friendly, and the ten-year rule rewards patience. Live in it and a sale is usually tax-free in Germany anyway.
Back in the UK within a few years. Renting in Berlin may beat paying 6% you'll never see again, and a let-out flat sold before ten years is taxed in Germany.
Keeping a UK home while buying in Berlin. Fine, but expect a possible second-home council tax premium, the NRL scheme if let, and a 60-day return when sold.
Buying in the UK from Berlin. Run the stamp duty numbers first. Living abroad and owning a Berlin flat can turn a £5,000 bill into £26,000 on a £300,000 home.

Swap stories with people who've done both in our community group for Brits in Germany.

Buying in Berlin vs back home: a flat 6% now, stamp duty surcharges later