A new assessment says the process of buying and selling a home in 2024 costs almost £14,000 in upfront expenses – and there’s only a brief window before that cost rises even further when lower Stamp Duty thresholds are reinstated on April 1 2025 – pushing the cost of moving up another £2,500 to a record high of £16,478.

Taking into account Stamp Duty, conveyancing, estate agent fees, a Level 2 Homebuyer survey, an EPC and removals costs, comparison site reallymoving has analysed data from almost 140,000 quotes to determine the typical cost of moving home in 2024.

There is a clear north-south divide in the cost of moving home, driven largely by the gulf between median house prices across the country. Movers in the North East of England pay the least, with a home move costing £5,492 – less than one fifth of the cost of moving home in London.

In comparison, movers in the capital must fork out £30,048 on average, due to higher house prices which drive up stamp duty bills and estate agent fees.

London is the only location where, based on their average purchase price, First Time Buyers will be forced to pay stamp duty again from next April, meaning they need to find an additional £6,250 on top of their current £2,552 bill for buying a home.

On April 1, the temporary higher threshold at which Stamp Duty is payable, currently £250,00 for someone buying and selling a property at the same time, will be reduced back to £125,000. Based on the median purchase price in England, the average stamp duty bill will jump by £2,500 from £6,250 to £8,750, pushing the total cost of moving to a new record high of £16,478.

Movers in the North East and Northern Ireland, who currently benefit from paying no Stamp Duty at all based on the median purchase price, will be forced to pay £2,400 and £2,500 respectively when the lower threshold is restored.

The proportion of First Time Buyers paying Stamp Duty will more than double from 17% currently to 39% when the government reinstates the £300,000 threshold on April 1. This presents a significant additional upfront cost at a time when First Time Buyers are already grappling with high house prices and mortgage rates – as well as extortionate rents which make it harder than ever to save a deposit.

Reallymoving’s research shows it takes nearly 6.5 years to save to buy a first home, assuming First Time Buyers can afford to put aside 10% of their salary each month. Based on the UK average FTB purchase price, they need to raise £25,554 to cover a 10% deposit and additional moving costs such as conveyancing, a survey and removals.

With the cost of many home mover services tied to house prices, a 3% fall in the median sale price and a 1.3% fall in the median purchase price in 2024 means estate agent fees, conveyancing fees, a survey and stamp duty bills are all lower than last year, when the total cost of moving home was £14,458.

As providers have competed for business in a slow market, moving costs have also failed to rise with inflation, meaning in real terms a home move this year costs £1,087 less than in 2023.

Around 2.3m moves take place every year, but there are particular days and months that are favoured by movers, creating greater competition for removals and conveyancing services.

August has been the most popular month to move home for the last 12 years, with January and February the quietest. 

Friday is by far the busiest day of the week, with 29% of home moves taking place on a Friday, leaving movers with the weekend to unpack and get organised before the start of the new week. Tuesday is the quietest weekday to move home, meaning there is likely to be less competition for services.