How Much Does It Really Cost to Buy a Home?

The deposit is only the first payment on the road to completion. Here is what else you are likely to pay for, and what drives each cost up or down.

Summary

• First-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland pay no Stamp Duty Land Tax up to £300,000, then 5% on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000.
• Conveyancers charge in various ways, and disbursements on top can materially change the final bill, so ask for a full written breakdown before signing.
• Your lender may require a valuation to confirm the property is worth the price, and fuller surveys can reveal problems before you commit.
• A conveyancer usually files the SDLT return and pays the tax on completion, adding it to their fees; otherwise it is due within 14 days.
• Removals and set-up costs vary widely with distance, property size and condition, so leave spare room in the budget for them.

The deposit takes up most of the headline space when people talk about buying a home: it is usually the largest single payment. It is far from the only one. Tax, legal work, surveys and the practical business of moving all need paying for, often within the same few weeks. Budgeting for the deposit alone is where purchase budgets most often come apart.

The Deposit Is Only the Start

The deposit is the share of the purchase price you pay upfront, with the rest covered by your mortgage. Lenders have their own requirements around how much they will lend and on what terms, so the same property can involve very different sums from different buyers.

Because a deposit usually takes years to build, decide early where those savings will sit and how they are protected. The costs below come on top of it, and several fall due in a concentrated burst around exchange and completion.

Stamp Duty Land Tax: When You Pay It and How Much

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax paid to the government when you buy property or land over a certain price in England or Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales have their own equivalents with different rules. It applies to freehold and leasehold purchases, shared ownership purchases and transfers of property in exchange for payment.

For a residential property, no SDLT is due on the portion of the price at or below £125,000. First-time buyers do better still. If you, and anyone else you are buying with, have never owned a residential property:

• A home priced at or below £300,000 attracts no SDLT at all.
• A home priced between £300,001 and £500,000 attracts 5% on the amount above £300,000.
• A home priced above £500,000 does not qualify for the relief, and standard rates apply from £125,001 upwards.

Several other rules change the bill. Buying an additional property, such as a second home or a buy-to-let, usually adds 5% on top of the normal rates. Non-UK residents usually pay an extra 2% on properties costing more than £40,000, a charge introduced from 1 April 2021.

The rates are not fixed forever. Temporary higher thresholds introduced in September 2022 ended on 31 March 2025, and new rates took effect from 1 April 2025. Check the position on GOV.UK and use HMRC’s official SDLT calculator for your own price and circumstances before committing to a budget figure.

Payment is usually handled for you: a solicitor, agent or conveyancer will normally file the return and pay the tax on completion day, then add the amount to their bill. Otherwise you must file a return and pay within 14 days of completion.

Legal Fees, Searches and Conveyancing Costs

Conveyancing covers the legal work behind a change of ownership, whether a property is sold, handed on or gifted. It runs from the point at which a buyer makes an offer to the point at which the money reaches the seller’s solicitor, known as legal completion. Most buyers instruct a conveyancer or solicitor to run the process, and the fee is one of the larger upfront costs after the deposit and tax.

Conveyancers charge clients in various ways, so ask exactly what each quote covers. If a quote is based on hours, ask for a rough estimate of the hours your transaction is likely to take.

The fee is not the whole cost. Conveyancers also charge disbursements, expenses incurred during the process and passed on to you. These vary with the type of property, so a flat will not generate the same list as a house. Two points matter when comparing quotes: anything already covered by the initial fee should not reappear as a disbursement, and disbursement charges often sit in the small print or terms and conditions, so read them before signing, because you will be obliged to pay all of them.

Valuations, Surveys and Mortgage Fees

Your lender may need a valuation before offering a mortgage, to confirm the property is worth the price you have agreed to pay. That check serves the lender’s purposes. For your own protection there are three types of survey, and it pays to think about which suits the property. A fuller survey costs more but examines more, and it can reveal problems that would cost far more to put right after you move in.

Mortgage costs do not stop at the interest rate. Lenders structure their charges differently, so ask for an itemised list of every charge before choosing, and if you use a mortgage broker, ask how they are paid as well. It can also help to understand your own credit file before you apply; our guide to credit reports and scores explains how the three agencies work.

Moving Day and Immediate Set-Up Expenses

The cost of the move depends on distance, how much you are moving and whether you hire a removal firm or do it yourself. Access and parking at both properties can add to the difficulty, and often to the price.

Then come the costs of making the property liveable. What you spend depends on the condition of the home and what is included: furniture that does not fit the new rooms, appliances the seller took with them, and getting utilities running in your name. Our guide to budgeting for household bills covers the regular costs that follow once you are in, from council tax to energy.

A Worked Example Budget for a Typical Purchase

Take two first-time buyers purchasing a flat priced at or below £500,000. Under first-time buyer rules, no SDLT is due on the first £300,000 of the price, and 5% applies to the portion between £300,001 and £500,000, provided everyone buying with them is also a first-time buyer. Without the relief, standard rates would apply from £125,001 upwards and the bill would be substantially larger. For the exact figure at any given price, use HMRC’s official SDLT calculator.

Where Buyers Most Often Underestimate

Three gaps appear again and again. The first is stamp duty: rates changed on 1 April 2025, so an estimate based on older thresholds can be badly out of date, and surcharges for second homes and overseas buyers are easy to overlook. The second is disbursements, which sit in the part of the conveyancing contract few people read closely. The third is the tail end of the process, where removals, furniture and set-up costs arrive just as the budget is most stretched. A deliberate margin between total savings and estimated costs is the simplest defence against all three.

Next steps

• Easy-Access vs Fixed-Rate Savings: helps you decide where to keep the money while you build up the deposit.
• FSCS Protection Explained: sets out how your savings are covered while they sit in the bank waiting for completion day.

Questions readers ask