Advanced options
Typical figures: conveyancing ~GBP 1,500 buying / GBP 1,200 selling, homebuyer survey ~GBP 500, EPC ~GBP 80 when selling. Stamp duty (or LBTT/LTT) is on top for buyers: use our stamp duty calculators for that. Mortgage arrangement fees, mail redirection and cleaning add more.
What The Moving House Cost Calculator Works Out
- Total moving costs: removals plus conveyancing, survey, EPC and the estate agent's fee, depending on whether you are buying, selling or both. A sell-and-buy move on an average home typically runs GBP 6,000 to GBP 10,000 before stamp duty.
- Biggest item: for most sellers it is the agent's fee at 1% to 1.5% plus VAT of the sale price; for buyers and small homes it is the removal van.
- Breakdown: the itemised list. Sellers pay the agent and EPC (about GBP 80), buyers pay the survey, searches and any stamp duty, both pay conveyancers, and removals sit in the middle at roughly GBP 600 for a 1-2 bed, GBP 900 for a 3 bed and GBP 1,300 for larger homes.
- Conveyancing quotes (advanced): override the GBP 1,500 buying and GBP 1,200 selling assumptions with real quotes. Prices vary by hundreds of pounds for identical work, and the cheapest fixed fee sometimes hides disbursement padding.
- Survey type (advanced): a mortgage valuation alone (often free), a Level 1 condition report around GBP 300, a Level 2 HomeBuyer around GBP 500, or a Level 3 building survey around GBP 900 for older or unusual properties.
- Agent fee incl. VAT (advanced): agents often quote 1.2% "plus VAT", which is really 1.44%. Choose how your quote was given and the fee is grossed up if needed. Fees are openly negotiable and online fixed-fee agents charge GBP 1,000 to GBP 2,000 instead.
- Mortgage fees and extras (advanced): arrangement fees of GBP 0 to GBP 1,500, valuation fees, storage when dates do not align, professional cleaning and mail redirection (about GBP 40 for three months).
- Total with contingency (advanced): adds a percentage buffer for the overlap of council tax and utilities across two addresses and the immediate purchases a survey flags. 10% is a common allowance.
- At risk if the chain breaks (advanced): the survey and roughly 30% of the buyer's conveyancing fee (searches) are spent before exchange and are lost if the purchase collapses, which is why that money should be treated as at risk.
- Itemised table (advanced): each cost with who normally pays it, buyer, seller or both.