Moving home: costly business
The cost of conveyancing has risen 37% over the past decade, greater than the overall rise in the cost of moving home, new research has found.
Having been, on average, £1,138 in 2006, conveyancing fees reached an average of £1,558 last year, according to the study by Post Office Money and the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
It remains a relatively small proportion of the overall cost of moving home, however, which was put at £9,472 – although this was considerably more than people budgeted for, an opinion poll showed.
The biggest increase in additional costs over the decade were seen in surveyor fees, which jumped 53% to £764 in 2016.
The figures, which have not been adjusted for inflation, recorded a 25% increase in that overall cost over the decade.
The research forecast that the additional costs of moving would hit £12,267 by the end of 2020.
These are on top of the deposit of £94,200 payable on the average home – a figure that fell to a still significant £50,136 for first-time buyers.
Those hoping to move in the South East have been one of the hardest hit by increases, with additional costs rising by 72% in the last 10 years (from £8,809 in 2006 to £15,114 in 2016). But London remains the most expensive place to move home, with an average cost of £26,673.
Owen Woodley, managing director at Post Office Money, said: “Forecasts indicate the cost of buying and moving will only continue to rise over the next five years, even with the impact of revised stamp duty rules introduced to reduce the impact on prospective buyers’ wallets.”