The bill at a glance
| Cost | Paid by | Typical figure |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp duty (LBTT in Scotland, LTT in Wales) | Buyer | £0 to £15,000 for a home up to £500,000 in England (below) |
| Estate agent | Seller | 1.42% of the price on average, high street sole agency with VAT (0.9% to 3.6%); online agents £0 to £999 |
| Conveyancing, searches included | Each side | £1,509 buying, £929 selling, with disbursements and VAT |
| Land Registry fee | Buyer, through the solicitor | £20 to £500 online, by price |
| Survey | Buyer | £520 on average for a RICS Level 2 (August 2026) |
| Mortgage fees | Buyer | Arrangement fee £0 to £1,500 or more; booking fee £100 to £300; valuation often free |
| Energy Performance Certificate | Seller | About £65 |
| Removals | Each mover | £624 for a move under 30 miles |
reallymoving's total for England, at the median price of £390,000: stamp duty £9,500, estate agent £4,473, conveyancing £2,241, survey £510, removals £624 and EPC £65. In London it is just over £32,000. The year before, the same report found a record £17,831.
Stamp duty
In England and Northern Ireland, Stamp Duty Land Tax on a home you will live in has been charged in these bands since 1 April 2025: nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the part from £125,001 to £250,000, 5% from £250,001 to £925,000, 10% from £925,001 to £1.5 million and 12% above. The Budget of 28 October 2026 left the residential rates as they are.
First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000 and 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000; above £500,000 the relief is lost. Buying a home while keeping another usually adds 5% to every band, unless it replaces your main home and you sell the old one within 36 months.
| Price | England & NI, moving home | England & NI, first-time buyer | Scotland (LBTT) | Wales (LTT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £200,000 | £1,500 | £0 | £1,100 | £0 |
| £300,000 | £5,000 | £0 | £4,600 | £4,500 |
| £390,000 | £9,500 | £4,500 | £12,350 | £9,900 |
| £500,000 | £15,000 | £10,000 | £23,350 | £18,000 |
Worked out from the published bands for a home that will be your only one. Each government's own rates page is in the sources below.
Scotland: Land and Buildings Transaction Tax is 0% up to £145,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £325,000, 10% to £750,000 and 12% above. First-time buyers' nil band is £175,000, which saves up to £600. A second home adds the Additional Dwelling Supplement, 8% of the whole price since 5 December 2024.
Wales: Land Transaction Tax is 0% up to £225,000, 6% to £400,000, 7.5% to £750,000, 10% to £1.5 million and 12% above. There is no first-time buyer relief, and higher rates apply to a second home.
The solicitor, the searches and the Land Registry
Conveyancing for a purchase averaged £1,509 and for a sale £929, both including the searches, other disbursements and VAT, on reallymoving's figures reported by HomeOwners Alliance in October 2026: £2,438 for both. A leasehold adds around £300. Estimates differ: MoneySavingExpert expects total legal fees of £1,000 to £2,500, and Which? £500 to £1,500 for the legal work.
The local authority search typically costs £250 to £450. HM Land Registry's fee to register a purchase depends on the price: applied for online, £100 up to £200,000, £150 up to £500,000 and £295 up to £1 million, from £20 to £500 across all its bands. The conveyancer pays it and adds it to the bill.
The survey
A RICS Level 2 survey averaged £520 across the UK in August 2026, from £463 in the North East to £590 in London. HomeOwners Alliance puts Level 1 at £300 to £900, Level 2 at £400 to £1,000 and Level 3, the full building survey, at £630 to £1,500. In Scotland the seller provides a Home Report, which costs £300 to £850.
Selling: the estate agent and the EPC
High street agents charged 1.42% of the sale price on average for a "no sale, no fee" sole agency, VAT included, within a range of 0.9% to 3.6%; putting the home with several agents costs 2.4% to 3.6%. Online agents sell for a fixed fee, from £0 to £999.
You must order an Energy Performance Certificate before the home is marketed. It rates the home from A to G, lasts 10 years and costs about £65.
Mortgage fees
A mortgage arrangement fee runs from nothing to about £1,500, and MoneySavingExpert says the lowest rates usually carry a fee of £1,000 or more; Which? finds £999 to £1,999 common. A booking fee is £100 to £300 and a broker £0 to £500. Which? says most mortgages now come with a free valuation; where you pay, MoneySavingExpert puts it at around £300.
The move itself
Removals for a move under 30 miles averaged £624 in reallymoving's 2026 report, down from £709 a year before. Our removal cost calculator gives a guide range for your own move, the removal costs guide explains what drives the price, and removal companies by town has local guide prices.
Then there is what movers didn't plan for. In a Which? survey of 647 people who had moved (Deltapoll, August 2025), the costs most often named as unexpected were decorating (8%), new furniture and appliances (8%), curtains and blinds (7%), tradespeople (7%) and stamp duty (6%).
Questions about the cost of moving
How much does it cost to move house in the UK?
reallymoving's 2026 report puts the cost of buying and selling a home in England at £17,413, at the median price of £390,000: £9,500 stamp duty, £4,473 estate agent, £2,241 conveyancing, £510 survey, £624 removals and £65 for the EPC. In London it is just over £32,000.
How much is stamp duty on a £300,000 house?
In England and Northern Ireland, £5,000 if you are moving home (2% of £125,000 plus 5% of £50,000) and nothing for a first-time buyer. For a home that will be your only one, Scotland's LBTT is £4,600 and Wales's LTT £4,500.
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty?
In England and Northern Ireland, not up to £300,000, then 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000; above £500,000 the relief is lost. In Scotland first-time buyers' nil band is £175,000. Wales has no first-time buyer relief, but its tax starts at £225,000.
Who pays for the survey, the searches and the EPC?
The buyer pays for the survey (a RICS Level 2 averaged £520 in August 2026) and the searches, through their conveyancer (the local authority search typically £250 to £450). The seller pays the estate agent and orders the Energy Performance Certificate, about £65.
Compare what the move itself costs
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Sources
Read on 28 October 2026. Figures are averages and typical ranges from the sources named, not quotes.
- Which?, How much does it cost to move home in 2026?, 10 October 2026: reallymoving's 2026 Cost of Moving Report, at median purchase prices. What Mortgage, the same report, 13 October 2026. Property Industry Eye, the 2025 report, 18 November 2025.
- GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates; buying an additional residential property, updated 1 April 2025; Budget 2026, Annex A: rates and allowances, 28 October 2026.
- Revenue Scotland, LBTT residential property and Additional Dwelling Supplement. Welsh Government, Land Transaction Tax rates and bands, updated 10 December 2024.
- GOV.UK, HM Land Registry: registration services fees, updated 28 April 2025 (Scale 1, online).
- HomeOwners Alliance, conveyancing fees, 14 October 2026; survey costs, 22 October 2026; the cost of selling, 6 October 2026.
- MoneySavingExpert, mortgage fees and stamp duty, 17 September 2026. Which?, the cost of buying a house, 29 May 2026.
- GOV.UK, Selling a home: Energy Performance Certificates.
- Which?, the cost of moving house, 2 November 2025 (Deltapoll survey of 647 movers, August 2025).