Buying a home comes with extra costs and fees you need to be aware of – from securing your mortgage to booking the removal van.

Whether you’re a first-time buyer, downsizing or moving to your dream family home, it’s an exciting – and busy – time. It also comes with costs that could take you by surprise, so here’s a look at the ones you’re likely to come across and how we can help you through the journey.

Advice fee

We can help when you’re applying for your mortgage in principle, putting you in a strong position once an offer is accepted. The benefit of using a broker is that they have the expertise to ensure you’ve covered the required checks and paperwork related to buying your home and getting a mortgage.

We will let you know at the start of the process about our fees.

Booking and arrangement fees

These fees go to your mortgage lender. The booking/application fee is usually £100 to £300, but the arrangement fee can be much higher, anything from £0 to over £2,000 or a percentage of the loan. We can help you decide whether it’s better in the long term to opt for a mortgage with a slightly higher interest rate and lower arrangement fee, rather than a high arrangement fee and lower interest rate.

Valuation fee

Your mortgage lender will need to value the property themselves to make sure it’s not over- or under-priced. The valuation will also confirm the amount they’re willing to lend to you. Some lenders don’t charge a valuation fee, but if they do, it can cost upwards of £250 – depending on the size of the property and its value.

Surveyor’s fees

It’s important to know that the valuation fee doesn’t look at the structure of your new home, or any issues to do with maintenance and repair. We will be able to arrange an expert to conduct a thorough structural survey of the property. This will help you decide whether to negotiate the terms of the sale with the seller and their agent – before you exchange contracts. Survey fees can range from around £300 to over £1,500 - all depending on the level of service required and the size of the property.

Conveyancing costs

Buying a property involves lots of paperwork, and the legal side of things (known as conveyancing) covers the fees to solicitors or licensed conveyancers to carry out the work (‘disbursements’) as well as their own specific fees. Conveyancing can cost from £850 to £2,000, and disbursements, for example local authority searches which can cost around £250 to £450.

Electronic transfer fees

On the day you complete the sale and exchange contracts, a fee of around £50 will be added to your costs to cover the transfer of funds from your lender to the solicitor.

Insurance

Your lender will need to see that your new home is insured with buildings insurance. In 2022, the average cost of buildings and contents insurance was between £146 and £152 a year. We will help you find the best insurance plan to cover your new home and calculate how much contents coverage you will need as part of your insurance. At the same time we can review your personal coverage to check that you have enough life insurance to cover the mortgage should anything happen.

Removals

Once you’ve got the keys to your new home, it’s time to move in! Removal firms can charge anything upwards of £300, depending on how much you’re moving and how far it’s going.

We will help take the stress out of home buying and can find you the competitive deals and savings available.

Don’t forget the stamp duty

As a buyer you will have to pay a stamp duty land tax, this depends on whether you’re a first-time buyer, where you live, and where the property is located within the UK. First-time buyers will pay no stamp duty land tax on properties up to £425,000.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

Approved by The Openwork Partnership on 17/03/2023.

Key Takeaways:

• Buying a home comes with extra costs and fees you need to be aware of – from securing your mortgage to booking the removal van.
• There are additional costs you need to be aware of when buying your first home.
• Consider additional costs such as advice fees, booking and arrangement fees, valuation fees, surveyor’s fees, conveyancing fees, electronic transfer fees, insurance, removals and stamp duty.
• Always remembers additional fees when buying a home, save that little bit extra to account for them.