Cost of moving jumps 27% in a year, with conveyancing costs up 8%

Home movers pay an average £17,831 in upfront costs when buying and selling a property – up 27% since 2024 – according to the latest Cost of Moving Report from comparison website reallymoving. London movers pay almost twice as much, with average costs of £32,786, while first-time buyers pay an average of £2,315 to move home – an increase of 6.5% since last year.

The figures have been calculated by reallymoving using data from quotes generated by 181,000 home movers, factoring in stamp duty, conveyancing fees, estate agent fees, the cost of a Level 2 RICS Homebuyer survey, an energy performance certificate (EPC) and removal costs.

The most significant cost for movers buying and selling a home, by a considerable margin, is stamp duty. The median cost of a home in the analysis was £395,000, with a stamp duty payment of £9,750. Estate agent commission adds £4,615 to the total, with conveyancers taking just £2,182 including expenses and disbursements. Survey (£510), removals £709) and EPC (£65) take the total to £17,831.

The fees for buyers and sellers have jumped by 27% – £3,786 – since last year, with the removal of the higher stamp duty thresholds resulting in higher costs. Conveyancing costs have climbed by 8.7%, surveys are up 6.5% and removal fees have increased by 1.5%. The cost of an EPC is unchanged.

For London buyers and sellers, costs shoot up to £32,786. Based on a median purchase price of £635,000, Londoners will pay £21,750 in stamp duty, £6,887 in estate agent fees and £2,859 in conveyancing costs. According to ONS data, a home move in London accounts for 69% of the median salary.

In the North East, the least expensive region of the country for home buying, buyers and sellers pay £8,010. In Yorkshire & Humber, it’s £11,5000 and in the North West moving expenses reach £11,920.

Rob Houghton, founder and CEO of reallymoving, said:

“The overwhelming cost of moving home now swallows up 46% of the median annual salary in England – a stark reminder of how transaction costs are acting as a significant barrier to mobility, market fluidity and broader economic growth. In years gone by, house price growth would enable people to build up significant equity which would then help fund the next move, but that can no longer be relied upon.”

 For first-time buyers, the median purchase price in the analysis was £253,800. With average conveyancing costs of £1,421, a survey fee of £462 and removals costing £432, fees for first-time buyers are a fraction of those paid by buyers and sellers.

However, overall costs have risen by 6.5% since 2024, meaning they now need to spend £2,315 on average to cover conveyancing, survey and removals costs.

‘That trend is playing out for FTBs in every region of the UK’, reallymoving said, ‘with average expenses up by between 3% and 8% compared with last year’.

“Conveyancing and survey fees have been the main drivers of these increases, reflecting both inflationary pressure on professional fees and moderate house price increases.”

Aside from London, which is the only region where first-time buyers are now liable for stamp duty based on the median purchase price of £410,000, the largest increases in overall costs have been seen in the East Midlands (up 8.4%), the North West (up 8.4%) and Scotland (up 8%). The South West and East of England saw the most modest growth, with an increase of 3.4% and 3.7% respectively.

London stands out as the clear anomaly, with total costs for first-time buyers leaping 221% as a result of the change in stamp duty thresholds. Excluding this tax bill, London’s underlying moving costs for first-time buyers rose by 5.5% – broadly in line with national trends.

‘For first-time buyers the challenge doesn’t end with saving a deposit – the cost of moving is creeping ever higher in every region of the country’, Houghton said.

“Even small increases in fees and services can have a real impact when finances are already stretched by high rents and the cost of living. It’s easy to see why the market share of first-time buyers in England and Wales has dropped by 6.6 percentage points since January – a 10.4% fall – as affordability pressures force growing numbers to put their home purchase plans on hold.”

Commenting on the analysis, Enzo Mora, CEO and founder of The Mortgage Brain, said the high costs of moving could be reduced ‘in one easy move’ by permanently increasing the 0% stamp duty threshold to £425,000 for first-time buyers and £250,000 for all other movers.

He explained:

 “These savings will immediately encourage more people to move with the positive knock-on effect for all allied businesses and contribute greatly to the health of the UK economy.

“Replacing stamp duty altogether with an annual property tax would require intense scrutiny to make sure regional prices differences were considered, otherwise it could create the same barriers to moving we have at present and penalise average income families living in more expensive parts of the UK.”

Houghton agreed, adding:

“The replacement of stamp duty with an annual property tax would immediately lower the financial barriers to moving and inject fresh momentum into the lower to mid-market, which accounts for the majority of housing transactions.

“By making it easier for people to move up or down the ladder as their circumstances change, such as accommodating a growing family or a new job, we would see wide-reaching benefits for the economy through greater mobility and productivity.”