Your lender does not lend a percentage of your offer. It lends a percentage of its valuation, and in Scotland that is normally the Home Report figure. So every pound you bid above that valuation is your own cash, on top of your deposit, and it is the single most common surprise in a Scottish purchase. This page works that out before you commit to a number.
Scotland advertises a starting figure and values the property separately. The two are rarely the same, and only one of them decides what your bank will hand over. Put your own numbers in below: nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored, and no figure you type leaves your browser.
Cash you need on the day
£28,900
- Mortgage at 90% of the valuation £166,500
- Deposit on the valuation £18,500
- Above the valuation, cash only £10,000
- Land and Buildings Transaction Tax £400
- Additional Dwelling Supplement £0
- Legal and lender fees you entered £0
- Total cash needed £28,900
Your £30,000 covers it, with £1,100 left over.
Why your deposit is not the answer
In the example above the deposit is £18,500 and the cash needed is £28,900. Nothing has gone wrong. The deposit is 10% of the valuation, because that is the number the mortgage is a percentage of. The extra £10,000 is the part of the offer the lender was never going to fund, and the £400 is tax on the price agreed rather than on the valuation.
That is why two buyers with identical savings can walk away with very different ceilings, and why "I have a 10% deposit" answers a different question from "what can I offer".
The three numbers that decide your cash
- The valuation, not the advertised price. The Home Report is commissioned by the seller and carries a surveyor's valuation. Your lender lends against a valuation, usually that one, though it can instruct its own survey and occasionally comes back lower.
- Your loan to value. The percentage on your agreement in principle. It is applied to the valuation, or to the price if the price is lower, never to whatever you decide to offer.
- The gap you create. Every pound between the valuation and your offer is cash, and it is on top of the deposit rather than instead of part of it. It is also taxed, because the tax follows the price you agree.
The tax, and where these rates come from
Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax rather than stamp duty, and it is worked out in slices: each band applies only to the part of the price inside it.
| Part of the price | Rate on that part |
|---|---|
| Up to £145,000 | 0% |
| £145,001 to £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 to £325,000 | 5% |
| £325,001 to £750,000 | 10% |
| Over £750,000 | 12% |
Two consequences worth holding on to. Bidding over the valuation raises the tax as well as the cash gap, because the tax follows the price. And first-time buyer relief is capped at £600, so it changes the arithmetic by less than most buyers expect.
What this calculator cannot tell you
It knows your money. It knows nothing about the property. It cannot tell you whether the valuation is generous or cautious, what comparable homes on that street actually sold for, how far above their advertised figures they went, or whether this listing is heading for a closing date. Those are the things that decide whether an offer is competitive, and no calculator has them.
We will not guess at them either. What we do is research them for one specific property and hand you the sourced record, with the publisher and the date beside every figure. We never tell you what to bid.
Get your report — £20 →Frequently asked questions
Does the bank lend against my offer or the Home Report valuation?
Against the valuation. A lender lends a percentage of its own valuation, and in Scotland that is normally the Home Report figure, though a lender can instruct its own survey. If your offer is higher than the valuation, the difference is not covered by the mortgage and has to come out of your savings, on top of your deposit.
How much cash do I need to offer over the Home Report value?
Your deposit on the valuation, plus every pound between the valuation and your offer, plus the tax on the price you agree. On a £185,000 valuation with a 90% mortgage, an offer of £195,000 needs £28,900 in cash: an £18,500 deposit, £10,000 above the valuation, and £400 of tax after first-time buyer relief. Legal and lender fees come on top of that.
Is the tax worked out on the valuation or on what I pay?
On what you pay. Land and Buildings Transaction Tax is charged on the price agreed, so bidding above the valuation raises the tax as well as the cash gap. The rates are published by Revenue Scotland and the residential bands have been unchanged since 1 April 2021.