The average cost of moving house is now just over £12,000, 30% more than in 2023.
This price doesn’t include a house deposit, usually 5-10% of the house price. However, different factors affect the cost of moving house in different ways, and the specifics of your house move will change this price massively.
To see the cost of moving house specifically look at how each of the costs is calculated or use a cost of moving house calculator.
Cost of moving house 2024: Summary
Below we have worked out the average cost of moving house based on the UK average house price of £285,000. It’s been split into three sections, the cost of buying a house, the cost of selling a house, and the general moving costs. We have also included the change in these prices from the average cost of moving house in 2023.
The cost of buying a house in 2024, not including the house deposit is £4,117, rising 18% since 2023. Stamp duty, when you aren’t a first-time buyer, is 5% on the price you pay above £250,000. For the average house price of £285,000, this is £1,750 but of course, will change with the price of your house. The stamp duty of 5% hasn’t risen, but the average house price has, meaning the average amount people are spending on stamp duty when moving house has increased by 29.6%.
The average cost of property surveys has dropped to around £470. However, this will change depending on the type of survey you have. Level 1 surveys are the least thorough of the surveys but are the cheapest, whereas Level 3 surveys will go in-depth into the state of the property but will be the most expensive. Note that if you buy a house in Scotland, you do not need a survey, as this is the seller’s responsibility.
The average conveyancing fee when buying a house in 2024 is £1,567, which has risen around 18.7% from the cost of conveyancing in 2023. Conveyancing costs can change depending on your personal needs, and it’s best to consult a conveyancing calculator and make sure your conveyancer gives you an explanation of your costs before the conveyancing process.
A valuation report is required by your mortgage provider to make sure you are paying the right amount for the house you are buying. However, this can often be included as part of your home survey. If it isn’t, the average cost of a valuation survey is around £330, which has risen slightly from 2023.
The cost of selling a house in 2024 has risen by almost 50% which comes down to one factor in the selling process, the estate agent fees. The average fee paid out to estate agents in 2024 is £5,700, with the average estate agent fee being 2% of the property price.
Although conveyancing costs when buying a house have gone up, conveyancing costs while selling a house have decreased by 10.3% in 2024. This is because, over the past year, it has been harder to sell than buy, with drops in house prices and increases in the bank’s base rate. The property industry is still recovering from this, which is why we see a drop in the cost of selling conveyancers. This shift also allowed conveyancing prices for purchase to rise by 18.7% to keep the cost of conveyancing overall on an increase just above inflation of 4.5%.
The cost of buying an EPC certificate is on average around £85 but can rise to £200 depending on factors such as the size of the house, the location of the house, and the type of house. If you are planning on renting out your property, the EPC rating must be at least E, but you can be exempt from this if the predicted cost of improving the energy efficiency of the property will cost more than £3,500.
The general moving costs for 2024 are an average of £1,146, dropping 5.7% from 2023. The majority of the general moving costs come from the cost of the removals company, which in 2024 would cost an average of £1,110. However, there are a lot of factors that can change the price of your removal company, the biggest being the distance you are moving and the amount of items you are moving. Other factors could be the location you are in, whether you also need packing services and the type of items you are moving.
The cost of redirecting your mail for 3 months in 2024 is £36, this price is for one person, and you will have to pay an extra £8.50 for any other resident’s mail that you’d like to redirect. You can also pay extra for longer redirection duration with up to 12 months of mail redirection costing £76 and an extra £11 for each person.
Why are the costs of moving house changing?
When there is a shift in the property market, whether it’s rising base rates, changes in house prices, or new houses being built, the effect is felt throughout the stages of buying, selling and moving house. In the past year, mortgage base rates have increased and are now static at 5.25%, and house prices have fallen alongside it, although they are now seeing a rise and we suspect they will continue to rise throughout the summer.
Because of pricier mortgages, buyers are more reluctant to buy which forces sellers to lower their prices, conveyancing fees are often affected by the price of the house you are selling and therefore the costs of conveyancing will decrease when the market changes to a buyer-focused one. Similarly, when we are in a buyer-focused property market, conveyancers for buying will be more in demand and will have to make up for the price decrease on selling, therefore increasing their prices.
Factors of moving house such as stamp duty, estate agent fees and deposits will of course heavily rely on the cost of the house, and are often some of the biggest unavoidable expenditures when moving house.
Removal companies will also be affected when there is a change in the housing market, if there is a decline in people moving house, removal companies will have to adjust their prices in a more competitive market. Higher base rates come with a reluctance to move house, and fewer people needing to hire a removal company.
How will the cost of moving house change?
With inflation coming down and the average house price rising, we will likely see the base rate fall soon. The rising house prices will raise the estate agent fees, stamp duty, and the deposit when moving house as these prices are fully dependent on the average house price.
However, with the base rate stagnating and threatening to fall in 2024, we will see more people moving house. This means more people using conveyancers, surveyors, and removal companies, increasing the individual costs of these services.
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