In today’s current housing market deciding to move should not be taken lightly.  The largest fee to take into consideration is usually Stamp Duty.  For properties selling for £500.001 or more this is 4%, for properties selling for between £250.001 - £500.000 the Stamp Duty is 3%, this is quite a hefty chunk of the moving costs.  If you are planning a London removal you will be looking at a expensive move as the cost of property is so high in that area.

On properties of £125.000 or less there is no Stamp Duty payable, yet again it very much depends on the area you are looking to purchase in.  If you are planning to purchase in Croydon for example I suspect your options would be very limited.  Personally this seems a little unfair as the cost of moving seems to be less the further up the country you go.  We must remember though that salaries vary quite wildly across the country  as do employment opportunities.  I don’t feel quite so bad about paying more now we have it in perspective.

Properties that sell for £125.001 - £250.000 need to pay 1% Stamp Duty.  If the property you are purchasing is in a disadvantaged area and worth £150.000 or less you may have no Stamp Duty to pay.

So other than Stamp Duty what other costs are involved in a move?

Estate agents fees which can vary from 1% - 2% a one percent variation on the Estate Agents fee can have a major impact on your moving budget.  Not many people realise that Estate Agents fees are negotiable.  When I moved a couple of years ago my husband got the fee from 1.5% to 1%, ( they did not like it much) in my husband’s opinion he was the customer and he could easily take his business elsewhere.

It is also not commonly known that you do not have to sign up for so many weeks with your estate agent.   We refused to do this during our sale. We told our Estate Agents that if we were not happy with their efforts in selling our property we wanted to be free to use another Estate Agency.  The Estate Agents did sell our property within 6 weeks and got their 1% fee.  It felt empowering to have choices in that situation.

The next fee to consider is the fee for the solicitor which can vary greatly so I would recommend shopping round for quotes.  Some solicitors will bill you on the hours spent, some charge a fixed fee for conveyancing.  Based on a purchase of 275.000 and a sale of £225.000 you could be looking at around £1.800.

Another of the costs to consider is a valuation, some mortgages offer free basic valuations with them.  A basic valuation will cost around £85, but unless you are a cash buyer you will need to purchase a home buyers report which will cost around £250.  A full structural survey can cost upwards of £450. dependant on the size and condition of the property.

Then there is the cost of house removals, it is worthwhile shopping around for prices.  If you are able to move early in the week you can often get a better price.  You can reduce costs by hiring a van and carrying out the move yourself but sometimes this is just not practical.  A rough figure is around £600 but this will vary according to how much furniture you are moving and the distance the move is over.

Storage facilities can be an extra cost you incur, if you are in a chain sometimes this is unavoidable.  We used a Croydon storage facility during our last move which was £93 for two weeks.  Obviously if you can avoid the use of storage it will reduce costs.

So all of these points leave a lot for consideration and does not even touch the extra costs of new purchases for your new home.  Even a lick of paint can add up to quite a expense.   This is why many people look to spend a little on improving their homes rather than go through the stress and expense of moving.