Cost of moving homes in UK rises

JANUARY 30, 2012 BY AGENCY REPORTER
The cost of moving house in the United Kingdom has risen at a faster rate than house prices over the past decade, according to new research by Lloyds TSB.

Propertywire.com reported that since 2001, the average cost associated with moving home for someone who already owns a home has increased by 69 per cent.

In 2011 it cost £8,922 compared with £5,290 in 2001. This is greater than the 64 per cent rise in house prices over the same period.

The expense of moving home is now at its highest level since the peak of the housing market in 2007 and is currently equivalent to 27 per cent of average UK gross full time earnings, up from 22 per cent in 2001.

The costs covered in the report included stamp duty, mortgage arrangement fees, estate agency fees, surveyors’ fees, conveyancing and removal costs. The costs of decorating and improvement prior to sale, local searches and land registration fees are excluded.

It says that the increase in the costs of moving home over the past decade has been driven by rises in the cost of all six of the house moving expenditure categories tracked.

In monetary terms, estate agency fees are up £1,318, mortgage fees up £770 and stamp duty up £732. The increases in these three components combined accounted for more than three-quarters of the overall rise in moving costs.

Estate agents’ fees remain the largest single component of the cost of moving home, accounting for 38 per cent of total costs, followed by stamp duty at 21 per cent.

CULLED FROM PUNCH NEWSPAPER, HOMES AND PROPERTY