Buyers Will Need an Extra £12,000 to Move House
A lot of the focus surrounding the property market has been on house prices recently. However, the cost of moving home has risen significantly in the last ten years.
Buyers Will Need an Extra £12,000 to Move House
Research has found that moving house costs almost £12,000, a rise of 59% in the past decade.1
Buyers have to pay a huge £11,894 in expenses covering Stamp Duty, estate agent and surveyors’ fees, and removals, the study revealed.
In 2004 the same costs came to £7,475, according to a survey by the Post Office and Centre for Economics and Business Research.1
Head of Mortgages at Post Office Money, John Willcock, says that first time buyers often don’t consider the additional costs and focus more on saving a deposit.
He says: “Although house prices may continue to rise, there are steps buyers and movers can take to reduce the amount they pay on top of this. Planning ahead is essential and potential homebuyers should be setting aside savings specifically for these costs. These add-ons should be considered as part of the overall cost of buying or moving home.”1
The study discovered that London is the most expensive place to move home, costing an average £27,946. Northern Ireland is the cheapest at £6,453.1
It is predicted that moving costs will reach an average of £15,414 by 2020, but the research indicates that aspiring buyers are not saving enough.
1 Shaw, V. (2015) ‘Saved enough for a house? You’ll need an extra £12,000’, Metro, 17 April, p.28