The Cost of Moving
People stay put as the cost of moving rockets
The overall cost of moving house has rocketed over the last ten years, now standing just short of £10,000– increasing 225% over ten years - according to our latest survey.
On average, people looking to move home in the UK can currently expect to pay £450 in removal costs, £1,000 in lawyers fees, £3,027 in estate agent’s fees, and a massive £5,481 in stamp duty. Ten years ago, these figures stood at £376, £857, £1,257 and £679 respectively.
Stamp duty alone has rocketed 527% over ten years – even putting house price inflation aside, moving home has become a huge strain on people’s finances, prompting people to stay put and delay progressing up the property ladder. Propertyfinder.com’s monthly confidence index suggests people currently expect house prices to rise by 6.4% over the next twelve months and 31% of home seekers would account a rise primarily to the fact that there are too few properties coming on to the market.
Warren Bright, Chief Executive officer of Propertyfinder.com commented:
Our research shows that the total cost of moving, before you have even paid for the house, stands at nearly £10,000 – a ten year increase of 214%! The majority of these costs are stamp duty. Lawyer fees and removal costs have risen in line with, or below wage inflation, whilst agents’ commission as a percentage of house price remains almost unchanged. Meanwhile, stamp duty has risen an unjustifiable 527% over ten years. It is no wonder that people are staying put, and that we are experiencing such supply problems at the bottom end of the ladder. If the government wants to stem house price growth, they would do better to lower stamp duty than raise rates.
