Conveyancing, stamp duty and someone with a van – the cost of moving home.
Once you have found your perfect home, you will need to arrange a few things before the move. The best mortgage deal all squared away and properly arranged on the house you are buying is going to be top of the list. Without that in place there will be no move at all. Although the mortgage company will need to offer against the house you intend to buy, you can usually check your position and the likelihood of getting the mortgage “in principle” in advance. Speak to us about this as soon as you are thinking of buying a new home, and we will advise you on the best course of action and timings for the mortgage being ready to go.
For the moment, let’s assume you are all set to move and look at what expenses you may need to think about:
- Legal fees
- Selling or buying costs
- The physical move itself will all have an attendant price tag
The best option is to be aware of what these costs potentially are and that way you can budget for them well in advance.
If you are buying a house:
- Conveyancing-This is the process of transferring the ownership of the house. Often this cost is paid in stages, so make sure you know when each one is due. In total, you can expect a cost of £800 – £1200 for the average UK house.
- Stamp duty- This will depend on the cost of the house and whether you are a first-time buyer or not. Now that the stamp duty holiday is over, rates are back to normal. First-time buyers are still exempt for properties valued up to £300,000 for other buyers; it starts with properties valued at over £125,000. You must use a stamp duty calculator to check exactly how much you’ll have to pay. It is important to bear in mind that stamp duty increases rather exponentially as the value of the property increases and settles at 12% on values over 1.5 million – don’t leave it to an approximate calculation.
- The surveyors and valuers will add around £500 and £250 respectively on average.
- Van hire (depending on how much stuff you have and how far you are moving) can range from £300 to £600 for the average house but could be more. If you prefer to use a moving company instead, the cost may start from £500 with around £1200 being the average.
If you are selling a house:
- In many cases, you will need to have the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) at around £80.
- Again, there will be a conveyancing cost of around £1000
- Additionally, the estate agents may charge a fee anywhere between 1% and 2% depending on the price of the house you are selling. There are some online and high street estate agents who offer fixed price deals, however.
The rest of the cost will be made up of sundry small items such as packaging materials, redirecting your post, utility changes and so on. So, if you are selling and buying as part of your move you will probably need to budget for all the moving costs listed above – and that’s two conveyancing fees, one for the sale and one for the purchase, although you may get a discount if you go through the same conveyancer for both sale and purchase.
Every move is different, though, and the total cost will vary. It’s important to know what it will be. The key is to carefully plan ahead in advance to make it as stress-free as possible.
So, will it be worth it? Well, I suppose you must ask yourself what the house means to you to answer that question. As you sink into your sofa in your new home for the first time with a nice cuppa or glass of bubbly, I think you will consider it all worth it.
If you want to find out about the best mortgage deal, or just need help planning, give us a call.
To discuss the options available to you please contact our team on 01603 750000 or email
