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How much does it cost to move house? Costs for sellers and buyers at each price

How much does it cost to move house in England? Stamp duty, agent fees and other costs worked out for sellers and buyers at four example prices.

4 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 6

Who pays what

General information, not advice. Moving house means a seller side and a buyer side, and most people are both at once. Stamp duty is a tax on the buyer; GOV.UK's rates apply to people buying a residential property. The seller pays the estate agent, their own conveyancer and the cost of moving out. This page uses England for the main table and checked the rules on 4 November 2026. Scotland and Wales have their own taxes, shown below the table. The Autumn Budget may change the rates, so check GOV.UK before you commit.

Part 2 of 6

The costs at four prices

Stamp duty here is calculated with our tested stamp duty code for a buyer moving home who owns no other property, using the GOV.UK rates: 0% up to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5 million and 12% above. The agent's fee uses the range Citizens Advice gives, from less than 1% up to 3.5% of the sale price, before VAT, so check whether VAT is included in any quote.

Cost line	£200,000	£300,000	£450,000	£750,000
Stamp duty, buyer moving home (England)	£1,500	£5,000	£12,500	£27,500
Stamp duty, first-time buyer (England)	£0	£0	£7,500	£27,500
Stamp duty, buying an additional home (England)	£11,500	£20,000	£35,000	£65,000
LBTT, buyer moving home (Scotland)	£1,100	£4,600	£18,350	£48,350
LTT, buyer moving home (Wales)	£0	£4,500	£14,250	£36,750
Seller's agent fee at 1%, before VAT	£2,000	£3,000	£4,500	£7,500
Seller's agent fee at 3.5%, before VAT	£7,000	£10,500	£15,750	£26,250
Buyer's deposit if 10%	£20,000	£30,000	£45,000	£75,000
Conveyancing, surveys, removals, EPC	Your quotes	Your quotes	Your quotes	Your quotes

First-time buyer relief in England gives 0% to £300,000 and 5% from £300,001 to £500,000, and GOV.UK says it cannot be claimed if the price is over £500,000, which is why the £750,000 figure matches the standard one. The additional-home line adds 5% on top of the standard rates. A cross-check: GOV.UK's own example of an extra property bought for £300,000 gives £20,000, which matches the table. Scotland's LBTT and Wales's LTT use their own bands, from Revenue Scotland and GOV.WALES. Our stamp duty calculator covers all three nations and the buyer types.

The deposit is not a cost in the same sense, because it becomes your equity. Citizens Advice says it is often 10% of the price but can vary, and that a holding deposit is usually paid to the agent after an offer is accepted.

Part 3 of 6

The biggest cost

For most sellers it is the agent's fee, and for most buyers it is the deposit followed by stamp duty. In England the stamp duty on a £450,000 home for someone moving home is £12,500, while a 1.5% fee on the same price would be £6,750 before VAT. Both rise with the price, so the table is a starting point, not a quote.

Part 4 of 6

Costs that need your own quotes

No official source we read gives a price for these, so we do not invent one:

Conveyancing. Citizens Advice says there is no set scale of fees, so get quotes from more than one provider and ask whether the figure is fixed and includes expenses and VAT. It also says to ask what you pay if the sale falls through before exchange.
Surveys. Citizens Advice says a lender's valuation fee is payable in advance and that an intermediate buyer's report is much cheaper than a full structural survey, but it gives no amounts.
Removals. Citizens Advice lists removal expenses and gives no price. Quotes depend on distance and volume, so get two or three.
Energy certificate. Citizens Advice says a seller must provide an EPC for buyers, and neither it nor GOV.UK gives an assessor's price. Ask for a quote.
Mortgage costs. Lender or broker fees may apply, and a higher lending charge if you borrow a large share of the valuation, according to Citizens Advice. A seller may also face an early repayment charge, covered in our guide to leaving a mortgage early.

Part 5 of 6

Costs that are easy to forget

Citizens Advice also lists land registry fees, searches, VAT on legal fees, and final bills from the old home. If the sale falls through you may already have paid for a valuation, a survey or some legal work. Keep a small buffer for these.

Part 6 of 6

Adding it up

Take the seller side from our guide to the costs of selling and the buyer side from the table above. Then ask each firm for a written quote. Our article on estate agent fees explains fee types and what you can negotiate.

This page is general information, not advice.

Our take

Add up both sides of the move before you commit

The two biggest lines are usually stamp duty for the buyer and the agent's fee for the seller. At £300,000 in England, stamp duty for someone moving home is £5,000. Our view is that people underestimate the smaller costs, so get written quotes for each.

Our stamp duty calculator works out SDLT, LBTT and LTT, including first-time buyer and additional-property rates. If you are selling, our sale method comparison shows net proceeds and timescale for auction, estate agent and cash buyer.

Compare sale routes

Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to move house?

There is no single figure. At £300,000 in England, stamp duty for someone moving home is £5,000 and an agent's fee of 1% to 3.5% is £3,000 to £10,500 before VAT. Conveyancing, surveys and removals need your own quotes.

Who pays what when moving house?

The buyer pays stamp duty, the deposit, their own legal and survey costs and mortgage fees. The seller pays the estate agent, their own conveyancer, the energy certificate and removals, plus any early repayment charge on a mortgage.

What is the biggest cost of moving?

For buyers it is usually the deposit, then stamp duty. For sellers it is usually the estate agent's fee, which Citizens Advice puts at less than 1% to 3.5% of the sale price. Both rise with the price.

What costs are easy to forget?

Searches, land registry fees, VAT on legal fees, final utility bills and removals. Citizens Advice also notes you may already have paid for a valuation or survey if a sale falls through.

Do the stamp duty figures apply in Scotland and Wales?

No. Scotland charges LBTT and Wales charges LTT, each with its own bands. The table shows both for a buyer moving home. The figures use rates checked on 4 November 2026 and the Autumn Budget may change them.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.