Conveyancing

When you buy a house in the UK, the price on the estate agent's listing is only the starting point. Add together your deposit, conveyancing fees, stamp duty, survey costs and mortgage charges, and the extra costs beyond your deposit typically run £2,500 to £12,000, sometimes more if you are buying a leasehold flat or a second property.

Knowing this total matters because lenders and solicitors will ask for proof of funds covering your deposit and fees well before completion day. Buyers who only budget for the deposit are often caught out by a shortfall of several thousand pounds in the final weeks of a purchase, which can delay exchange or force a scramble for extra cash.

The table below shows worked totals at four common property price points, split between first-time buyers and home movers, since first-time buyers benefit from stamp duty relief that home movers do not get. Figures assume a standard freehold purchase in England with a mortgage. Leasehold properties, additional-property purchases and properties in Scotland or Wales carry different costs, covered later in this guide.

These are guide figures rather than quotes. Your actual costs will vary with your solicitor's fee structure, whether you need a basic or full structural survey, and your lender's specific charges. Comparing conveyancing quotes early lets you replace these averages with real numbers for your own budget.

Your deposit is the lump sum you put toward the property price yourself, with a mortgage covering the rest. It is not a fee you pay to someone else, but it is usually the single largest cash amount you need to find, so it shapes almost every other cost in this guide.

The absolute minimum deposit most lenders accept is 5% of the purchase price, though these deals come with higher interest rates and a smaller pool of willing lenders. A deposit of 10% to 15% is more typical for first-time buyers and opens up a wider range of products. Putting down 20% or more usually unlocks the best mortgage rates, because your loan-to-value (LTV) ratio drops and the lender takes on less risk.

LTV is simply the size of your mortgage as a percentage of the property value. A £20,000 deposit on a £200,000 house gives you a 90% LTV mortgage; a £40,000 deposit on the same house gives you an 80% LTV mortgage. Lenders reserve their lowest rates for LTVs of 75% or below, so even an extra 5% deposit can meaningfully reduce your monthly repayments over the life of the mortgage.

Watch for: gifted deposits from family need a signed declaration for your solicitor and lender, and some lenders restrict how much of a deposit can be gifted rather than saved. If you are buying for the first time, compare first-time buyer mortgages before fixing on a deposit size, since some schemes accept as little as 5% with competitive rates attached.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax you pay to HMRC when you buy a property in England or Northern Ireland over a certain value. It is usually the second-largest cost after your deposit, and unlike most other fees on this page, it cannot be negotiated down, only reduced through the reliefs and thresholds built into the system.

SDLT is charged in bands, meaning you only pay the higher rate on the portion of the price that falls into each band, similar to income tax. For 2026, the standard residential rates in England and Northern Ireland are:

• Up to £125,000: 0%
• £125,001 to £250,000: 2%
• £250,001 to £925,000: 5%
• £925,001 to £1.5 million: 10%
• Above £1.5 million: 12%

First-time buyers get relief on top of these bands: you pay 0% up to £300,000, then 5% on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000. If the property costs more than £500,000, first-time buyer relief does not apply at all and you pay the standard rates on the full price instead.

Buying an additional property, such as a second home or buy-to-let, adds a 5% surcharge on top of the standard rates across every band, which can add tens of thousands of pounds to the bill on higher-value purchases.

Scotland and Wales use their own systems instead of SDLT. Scotland's Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) has a nil-rate band up to £145,000, lower than England's £125,000, while Wales's Land Transaction Tax (LTT) has a nil-rate band up to £225,000, higher than England's. Use a stamp duty calculator to get an exact figure for your specific price and location rather than relying on the bands alone.

Conveyancing is the legal work of transferring ownership of a property, and it is a cost every buyer pays regardless of how they finance the purchase. The total bill has two parts: the professional fee your solicitor or licensed conveyancer charges for their own time, and the disbursements they pay out to third parties on your behalf.

Solicitor and conveyancer fees

Expect to pay £850 to £1,500 plus VAT for a standard freehold purchase, though prices vary by firm, region and how complex the title is. Fixed-fee quotes are now standard across the market, so you should always ask for the total figure in writing before instructing anyone. See our full breakdown of conveyancing fees for how quotes are typically structured.

Disbursements explained

Disbursements are third-party costs your solicitor collects and pays on your behalf. The main ones are:

• Local authority and environmental searches: £250 to £400, covering planning, drainage and contamination checks on the property.
• Land Registry fee: £20 to £500, scaled to the property's value, paid to register you as the new legal owner.
• ID verification checks: £5 to £20 per buyer, required under anti-money laundering rules.
• Bank transfer fee: £20 to £50 to send your funds securely to the seller's solicitor.

Our guide to conveyancing disbursements breaks each of these down in more detail, including which apply to every purchase and which only apply in specific circumstances.

Leasehold supplement

Buying a leasehold flat or house adds £300 to £600 to your legal bill, because your solicitor has additional work reviewing the lease terms, checking ground rent and service charge history, and dealing with the freeholder or managing agent for a leasehold information pack.

Beyond the interest rate, most mortgages come with a set of one-off fees charged by the lender for arranging and valuing the loan. These are separate from your solicitor's fees and are paid to your bank or building society rather than to a conveyancer.

• Arrangement fee: £0 to £2,500, charged for setting up the mortgage product. Fee-free deals exist but usually carry a slightly higher interest rate.
• Booking fee: £100 to £300, sometimes charged separately from the arrangement fee to reserve your rate while the application is processed.
• Valuation fee: £0 to £300, covering the lender's own check that the property is worth what you are paying for it. Many lenders now include this free with the mortgage.
• Broker fee: £0 to £500, charged by some mortgage brokers for arranging the deal, though many brokers are paid by commission from the lender instead.

Watch for: many lenders let you add the arrangement fee to your mortgage rather than paying it upfront. This eases short-term cash flow, but you then pay interest on the fee for the life of the mortgage, which usually costs more overall than paying in cash if you can afford to. If you are weighing up fee-free versus fee-paying deals, compare the total cost over your fixed term, not just the headline rate, in the same way you would when considering a remortgage.

A survey is an independent check of the property's physical condition, separate from the lender's valuation, and it is one of the few costs on this page that is optional but strongly advisable. Skipping it can leave you liable for repair costs the seller never disclosed, because valuations only confirm price, not condition.

• RICS Level 1 (Condition Report): £300 to £400, a basic traffic-light overview best suited to new-build or recently built homes in obvious good condition.
• RICS Level 2 (HomeBuyer Report): £400 to £700, the most common choice, covering visible defects, damp, and structural issues in more detail with repair advice.
• RICS Level 3 (Building Survey): £600 to £1,500, a full structural survey recommended for older, listed, or unusually built properties, or after any Level 2 survey flags a serious concern.

Which level you need depends on the property's age and construction. A Victorian terrace with visible cracks needs a Level 3 survey; a five-year-old new-build with a warranty in place may only need a Level 1. For new builds specifically, budget a further £300 to £600 for an independent snagging survey after legal completion, since builder-appointed inspectors have an obvious conflict of interest. Our guide to conveyancing searches covers the separate legal checks your solicitor carries out alongside your physical survey.

Insurance is a cost buyers often forget to budget for until their solicitor asks for proof of cover just before exchange. Unlike most costs in this guide, some insurance becomes a legal requirement the moment you exchange contracts, not just a nice-to-have.

• Buildings insurance: £150 to £350 a year, required by every mortgage lender from the point of exchange, because you become responsible for the property before you legally own it.
• Contents insurance: £100 to £250 a year, covering your belongings once you move in. Not a legal requirement, but worth arranging to start on your moving day.
• Life insurance: £15 to £40 a month for a typical mortgage-linked policy, not compulsory but often recommended by brokers to cover the mortgage balance if you die during the term.

Shop around rather than accepting your lender's recommended policy automatically, since buildings insurance premiums for the same property can vary by £100 or more between providers.

Moving costs are not part of the legal or financial process of buying, but they still land on completion day and catch some buyers out because they are booked and paid for separately from everything else in this guide.

A DIY approach, hiring a van and doing the physical work yourself, typically costs £300 to £600 for petrol, van hire and packing materials. A professional removals firm costs £700 to £3,000 depending on the size of your home and the distance you are moving, with three-bedroom house moves over longer distances sitting at the upper end of that range. Book removals as soon as you have a confirmed completion date, since good firms fill up fast around popular moving days.

Understanding when each cost falls due is just as important as knowing the total, because several large payments cluster together in the final week before completion. Spreading out what you can and knowing what is coming helps you avoid a cash-flow crunch at the worst possible moment.

The timeline below follows a typical purchase from mortgage application through to moving in. Dates shift depending on chain length and how quickly searches come back, but the order of payments stays broadly the same on almost every purchase.

Watch for: your solicitor will send a completion statement a few days before completion showing the exact balance you need to transfer, combining the remaining purchase price, stamp duty and their own fees into one figure. Read it carefully and query anything that does not match your own estimate, since this is your last chance to catch an error before funds move. For a full walkthrough of the final stages, see our guide to exchange of contracts and completion day.

You cannot avoid most of the costs in this guide entirely, but you can reduce several of them with some planning before you commit to a solicitor or a mortgage deal.

• Compare conveyancing quotes: Fees for a standard freehold purchase can vary by £400 or more between firms for the same work, so get at least three quotes before instructing anyone. Start with our guide to cheap conveyancing for what a genuinely competitive quote should include.
• Negotiate mortgage fees: Ask your broker whether the arrangement fee can be waived or reduced, particularly if you are a returning customer of the same lender.
• Use first-time buyer relief in full: Make sure your solicitor applies first-time buyer stamp duty relief correctly, since this alone can save up to £15,000 on a £500,000 purchase.
• Consider fee-free mortgage deals: Compare the total cost over your fixed term rather than just the headline rate, since a slightly higher rate with no arrangement fee is sometimes cheaper overall on smaller mortgages.