The Costs of Moving Home

There’s more to moving home than just the price of the property you are buying and how much your mortgage payments are.

Sellers’ Costs

EPC – As of May 2010, a Home Information Pack (HIP) is no longer required when you sell your property. However, as part of a European Directive, an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is still mandatory if you intend to sell or rent your property. The cost of the EPC is not included in the fees of No-Flies but we will be very happy to recommend an accredited domestic energy assessor to undertake the work for you. EPC fees are not, in the context of a house sale, significant.

Estate Agent’s fees – these usually fall due upon exchange of contracts and are usually settled by your solicitor or licensed conveyancer from the sale proceeds upon completion.

Legal Fees – again these are generally invoiced before completion and deducted from the sale proceeds at completion of the sale.

Mortgage Redemption Costs – it is important, if you have a mortgage on the property that you are selling, that you investigate whether any fees are payable upon redemption of the mortgage. Many mortgage products these days, particularly when they incorporate a fixed interest element, include redemption penalties if the mortgage is redeemed before the end of the period for which the interest rate has been fixed. You should know, up front, what these penalties, if any, are so that they do not come as an unwelcome surprise to you after an offer has been accepted.

Removal Costs – the scale of removal costs can vary significantly depending upon the extent of your personal possessions and the distance over which they need to be transported. If you are not moving immediately into a new property you may also need to consider the costs of storing and insuring your possessions.

Buyers’ Costs

Stamp Duty – in addition to the purchase price, the buyer needs to pay stamp duty when purchasing an interest in land. Stamp duty is determined by the purchase price of the property that you are buying. The current value bands and rates of stamp duty are available here.

Surveyors’ Fees – if you require a mortgage to complete your purchase, you are likely to have to pay your mortgage provider a mortgage valuation fee so that they can send a surveyor to the property to value it. In addition you may wish to undertake your own investigation of the physical state of the building by commissioning a surveyor to undertake a homebuyer’s report or a structural survey. Fees payable to the surveyor will depend upon the level of investigation that you want carried out.

Legal Fees – You will need to instruct a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to act for you on the purchase of your new home. Fees (and the various search fees that are payable) are normally agreed with your solicitor in advance and invoiced at completion (although a payment on account is sometimes required at the outset of the transaction).

Deposit – you will be required to pay a deposit at the time of exchange of contracts. Whilst this is part of the purchase price for which you will have already budgeted, you need to remember that it is payable on exchange of contracts, before you have sold your existing property and/or got access to the funds from your new mortgage, so you need to be sure you will have the funds available to you at the appropriate time.

Mortgage Fees – Many mortgage products these days, particularly when they incorporate a fixed interest element, have an upfront fee. This can sometimes be added to the principal amount of the loan that you are borrowing. Also, if you have an existing property on which you have a mortgage and which you need to sell to fund the purchase, you should check whether the mortgage is portable and can be carried over to your new property. If not, then you need to consider whether there are any penalties payable for redeeming your existing mortgage early. We strongly recommend that you look into this early on, as it can come as a very unwelcome surprise later in the transaction and has even been the cause of sales falling through on on some occasions.

Removal Costs – As for the seller, the scale of removal costs can vary significantly for you as buyer depending upon the extent of your personal possession and the distance over which they need to be transported. If you are not moving immediately into your new home you may also need to consider the costs of storing and insuring your possessions.