The average conveyancing fee when buying a house in 2024 is £1,567, which has risen around 18.7% from the cost of conveyancing in 2023, according to Compare My Move 2024 Cost of Moving House Index.
Although conveyancing costs when buying a house have gone up, conveyancing costs while selling a house have decreased by 10.3% in 2024. This is because, over the past year, it has been harder to sell than buy, with drops in house prices and increases in the bank’s base rate. The property industry is still recovering from this, which is why we see a drop in the cost of selling conveyancers. This shift also allowed conveyancing prices for purchase to rise by 18.7% to keep the cost of conveyancing overall on an increase just above inflation of 4.5%.
The cost of buying an EPC certificate is on average around £85 but can rise to £200 depending on factors such as the size of the house, the location of the house, and the type of house.
Also, the average cost of moving house is now just over £12,000, 30% more than in 2023. This price doesn’t include a house deposit, usually 5-10% of the house price.
Compare My Move have worked out the average cost of moving house based on the UK average house price of £285,000. It’s been split into three sections, the cost of buying a house, the cost of selling a house, and the general moving costs. We have also included the change in these prices from the average cost of moving house in 2023.
The cost of buying a house in 2024, not including the house deposit is £4,117, rising 18% since 2023. Stamp duty, when you aren’t a first-time buyer, is 5% on the price you pay above £250,000. The stamp duty of 5% hasn’t risen, but the average house price has, meaning the average amount people are spending on stamp duty when moving house has increased by 29.6%.
The average cost of property surveys has dropped to around £470. However, this will change depending on the type of survey. Level 1 surveys are the least thorough of the surveys but are the cheapest, whereas Level 3 surveys will go in-depth into the state of the property but will be the most expensive.
The cost of selling a house in 2024 has risen by almost 50% which comes down to one factor in the selling process, the estate agent fees. The average fee paid out to estate agents in 2024 is £5,700, with the average estate agent fee being 2% of the property price.
The general moving costs for 2024 are an average of £1,146, dropping 5.7% from 2023. The majority of the general moving costs come from the cost of the removals company, which in 2024 would cost an average of £1,110.
When there is a shift in the property market, whether it’s rising base rates, changes in house prices, or new houses being built, the effect is felt throughout the stages of buying, selling and moving house. In the past year, mortgage base rates have increased and are now static at 5.25%, and house prices have fallen alongside it, although they are now seeing a rise and we suspect they will continue to rise throughout the summer.
Because of pricier mortgages, buyers are more reluctant to buy which forces sellers to lower their prices, conveyancing fees are often affected by the price of the house you are selling and therefore the costs of conveyancing will decrease when the market changes to a buyer-focused one. Similarly, Compare My Move said that when we are in a buyer-focused property market, conveyancers for buying will be more in demand and will have to make up for the price decrease on selling, therefore increasing their prices.
Factors of moving house such as stamp duty, estate agent fees and deposits will of course heavily rely on the cost of the house, and are often some of the biggest unavoidable expenditures when moving house.
With inflation coming down and the average house price rising, we will likely see the base rate fall soon. The rising house prices will raise the estate agent fees, stamp duty, and the deposit when moving house as these prices are fully dependent on the average house price.
However, with the base rate stagnating and threatening to fall in 2024, we will see more people moving house. This means more people using conveyancers, surveyors, and removal companies, increasing the individual costs of these services.
3 responses
The cost of selling a house in 2024 has risen by almost 50% which comes down to one factor in the selling process, the estate agent fees. The average fee paid out to estate agents in 2024 is £5,700, with the average estate agent fee being 2% of the property price.
The average estate agent fee is 2% of the property price?! Who on earth is paying that? Vendors should only be paying around 1% (including or excluding VAT depending on negotiating skills). I find it infuriating that clients quibble over £50 of Solicitors fees and then are paying such exorbitant fees to agents.
Yes, Andrew but don’t forget that the Estate Agents do all the hard work. Like calling solicitors for updates.
Please stop calling it “stamp duty”. Stamp duty hasn’t been paid on property purchases since 2003.