The initial cost of moving home has increased by as much as 13% over the past year alone, with England home to the highest moving cost at £51,826, research from Yopa has revealed.
Yopa’s Housing Market Affordability Review examined how the cost of homeownership has changed, how this has impacted affordability for buyers when taking earnings into account, and just what costs attribute to the high cost of moving home.
The research showed that England is by far the most expensive nation to move home, with the total average cost increasing to £51,826.
This figure has increased by 10.9% over the last year alone and whilst the average mortgage deposit of 15% is the largest cost incurred at £43,585, it’s the recent changes to Stamp Duty relief thresholds that have driven this increase in moving costs.
A year ago, the average home mover would have paid £1,433 in Stamp Duty.
Prior to 1st April this year, this cost sat at £2,028, but with the Government failing to extend relief thresholds beyond 31st March, the average cost of Stamp Duty now sits at £4,528 – a 216% increase versus last year.
Conveyancing costs increased by 12.5% annually, averaging £1,364, with the average mortgage payment of £1,432 up 3% annually, whilst removal costs have increased by 1.3% to £917 on average.
At a total of £34,429, home movers in Wales faced the second largest cost when moving home, with the cost of conveyancing (£1,228) the highest cost incurred after placing a mortgage deposit.
Conveyancing costs have also seen the largest increase across Wales at 9.5%, however, the nation has seen the smallest overall increase in the cost of moving of all UK nations at just 3.2%.
Scotland’s version of Stamp Duty, or LBTT, saw the largest increase year on year, largely due to increasing house prices, up by 39%, with the average cost of removals also up 14.1%.
Although, it is conveyancing that costs Scottish homemovers the most after a mortgage deposit, at an average of £1,163.
All in all, the average initial cost of moving home across Scotland now sits at £32,172, having climbed by 7.8%.
And whilst Northern Ireland was home to the lowest overall cost of moving at £31,353, this cost increased by 13.2% over the last year – the largest overall increase of all UK nations.
Verona Frankish, CEO of Yopa, said: “Homeownership doesn’t come cheap and house prices are the key factor behind the high cost of purchasing a home, with the value of bricks and mortar largely trending upwards over the last 30 years.
“Of course, a mortgage deposit alone isn’t enough to secure a property and there are a raft of additional costs that homemovers need to factor in when entering the market, such as stamp duty, conveyancing costs, mortgage repayments and even removals.
“The bad news is that, like house prices, these costs have increased pretty much across the board and total as much as £52,000 depending on which UK nation you’re looking to make your move within.”
