Buying in Tel Aviv vs the UK: costs and taxes

Tel Aviv flats cost London money, and the purchase tax depends on who you are. A foreign resident pays more than a Brit buying a second home back in England; a new immigrant pays almost nothing.

The short version

The average Tel Aviv 2.5 to 3-room flat sold for about ILS 3.93 million (about £910,500) in January to March 2026 [7].
Purchase tax (mas rechisha) is 8% from the first shekel for foreign residents and anyone buying an extra home, 10% above ILS 6,055,070. On that average flat: about ILS 314,400 (about £72,800). An Israeli resident buying their only home pays about £21,300, a new immigrant (oleh) about £2,300 [6].
Back home, stamp duty on a £900,000 London flat is £53,000 for a non-resident, or £98,000 if you also own the Tel Aviv flat [1][2].
Banks in Israel lend first-home buyers up to 75% and investors up to 50%; foreign residents usually get less, so check with the bank [9].
Selling: Israel's betterment tax (mas shevach) is 25% of the real gain on homes bought since 2012, subject to exemptions [8]. The UK has its 60-day return, and the 1962 UK–Israel convention handles the overlap [3][5].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = ILS 4.32).

What a Brit can buy in Tel Aviv, compared

Back home, anyone can buy, and the question is freehold or leasehold. In England and Wales most houses are freehold and most flats leasehold, with ground rent, a service charge and a lease that matters more the shorter it gets.

Foreigners can buy in Israel, but most land is public, managed by the Israel Land Authority, and many flats come with a long lease of state land rather than outright ownership. A 2009 reform began turning many urban leases into ownership. Rights may be recorded in the land registry (the Tabu), at the Authority, or with a developer for newer buildings. Your lawyer checks which, searches for mortgages and liens, and registers a caveat (he'arat azhara) in your name as soon as you sign. Some state land has rules on who can hold the lease, so ask early.

The bigger difference is status. As a Brit you're either a foreign resident, an Israeli resident (living here, centre of life in Israel), or a new immigrant under the Law of Return. The same flat carries three very different tax bills. Our guide to buying property in Israel as a Brit has the process, the lawyer's role and the urban renewal angle.

Upfront costs side by side

Tel Aviv prices don't map neatly onto £300,000, so here's the average three-room flat against a similar spend in London, with a £300,000 house for reference. Rates are as of November 2026.

	Tel Aviv, ILS 3.93 million (about £910,500)	England, £900,000	England, £300,000
Resident, only home	Israeli resident: about ILS 92,000 (about £21,300) [6]	£35,000 [1]	£5,000 [1]
New immigrant / first-time buyer	Oleh: about ILS 9,800 (about £2,300) [6]	No relief above £500,000	£0 for a first-time buyer
Foreign resident / non-resident	8% flat: about ILS 314,400 (about £72,800) [6]	£53,000 with the 2% surcharge [1]	£11,000 [1]
Owning another home	8% flat, same as a foreign resident [6]	£80,000 resident, £98,000 non-resident [1][2]	£20,000 resident, £26,000 non-resident [1][2]

How the Israeli brackets work. For an Israeli resident's only home, the first ILS 1,978,745 is tax-free, then 3.5% up to ILS 2,347,040 and 5% up to ILS 6,055,070. Olim pay 0% on the first slice and 0.5% up to ILS 6,055,070, for contracts signed from 15 August 2024 and within a window running from a year before aliyah to seven years after [6]. Foreign residents and extra homes pay 8% from the first shekel up to ILS 6,055,070 and 10% above it [6]. The brackets can be index-linked, so check the figure on the day you sign.

The UK catch. HMRC's higher rates apply if you'll own a home worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world [2]. A Brit living in Tel Aviv who keeps the flat and buys in Manchester pays both the 5% extra and the 2% non-resident surcharge, unless they've spent 183 days in the UK in the year before buying.

Scotland and Wales have their own taxes. Neither charges a non-resident surcharge. Scotland adds a flat Additional Dwelling Supplement on the whole price of a second home, and Wales has its own higher residential rates, both changed in December 2024. See our guide to buying UK property from abroad for the figures.

On both sides add lawyers. In Israel each party has its own lawyer, usually on a percentage of the price plus VAT, and buyers often pay a broker's fee too. Purchase tax is normally due within 60 days of signing. Back home, the conveyancer files the SDLT return within 14 days of completion.

Financing: Israeli bank or UK lender?

In Israel, the Bank of Israel caps loan-to-value at 75% for first-time buyers, 70% for upgraders and 50% for investors [9]. Foreign residents usually get less, often only around half the price even on a first home, so check with the bank early; banks also cap repayments as a share of income. Israeli mortgages come in tracks: some fixed, some prime-linked, some tied to the consumer price index. That takes a bit of getting used to after a UK two-year fix, and repaying a shekel loan from sterling income adds currency risk.

Back home, borrowing while abroad means specialist lenders, bigger deposits and paperwork on income paid in shekels. Read UK mortgages for Brits living abroad on the FCA's foreign currency loan rules. Releasing equity in a UK home to fund a Tel Aviv deposit is common enough; it's a decision for regulated mortgage advice.

Owning it: property tax and running costs

In Tel Aviv, the yearly bill is arnona, the municipal rates, charged per square metre by the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality and generally paid by the occupier, or by the owner when the flat is empty [8]. Add the building committee (va'ad bayit) for cleaning, the lift and shared repairs. There's no separate annual property tax on owning a home.

Back home, council tax is the closest match. Keep a UK house empty as a second home and it can cost more than when you lived there: councils in England have been able to charge a second homes premium since April 2025, and Welsh councils have premiums of their own.

Letting the UK home. If you live in Tel Aviv and let your UK house, the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme applies. A letting agent, or a tenant paying more than £100 a week, must take basic rate tax off the rent and pay it to HMRC each quarter unless HMRC approves you to receive it gross [4]. You apply on form NRL1 and still file a Self Assessment return. See renting out your UK home.

Tax when you sell

The Israel side

Betterment tax (mas shevach) is paid by the seller at 25% of the real, inflation-adjusted gain on homes bought from 1 January 2012; older purchases split the gain across periods at different rates [8].
The single-home exemption is built for Israeli residents. Foreign residents can qualify only in limited cases, typically by showing they don't own a home in their country of residence. A lawyer can confirm whether you do.
Surtax of an extra 2% can apply to capital income above ILS 721,560 in 2026 [8].

The UK side

Selling your UK home while living in Israel. Non-residents pay UK capital gains tax on UK property. You report online within 60 days of completion and pay any tax in the same window, even if there's no tax or you made a loss [3]. For homes owned before April 2015, usually only the growth since 5 April 2015 counts, and private residence relief can still cover years you lived there.
Selling the Tel Aviv flat after moving back. A UK resident pays UK capital gains tax on a gain abroad, at 18% or 24% for 2026/27 with a £3,000 annual exempt amount [1]. The gain is worked out in pounds, so the shekel rate on both dates matters.
Double taxation. Under the 1962 UK–Israel convention, as amended in 1970 and 2019, Israel can tax gains on Israeli property and the UK gives credit for Israeli tax on the same gain [5].
Private residence relief can cover a home abroad that was genuinely your main residence, but the day-count rules are fiddly. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case. New immigrants should also read tax benefits for new immigrants and returning residents.

Which makes sense for whom

Making aliyah. The olim purchase tax rate makes buying unusually cheap on the way in, and a first-home mortgage of up to 75% is open to you. Mind the seven-year window.
Living in Tel Aviv on a work visa. As a foreign resident you face 8% purchase tax and a smaller mortgage. Renting usually wins unless you're staying for years. See renting in Tel Aviv.
Keeping a UK house and letting it. Sort NRL1 before you go, and remember the Tel Aviv flat pushes any future UK purchase onto the higher stamp duty rates while you own both.
Heading back to Blighty. Buy once you're UK resident and the 2% surcharge goes. Sell the Tel Aviv flat within three years of buying your new main home and you can reclaim the higher rates [2].

House-hunting war stories are a staple of our community group for Brits in Israel, and worth a read before you sign anything.

Buying in Tel Aviv vs back home: purchase tax, your status and stamp duty