Insights
What buying property in the UK actually costs.
Most buyers budget for the deposit and the purchase price, then meet a series of costs nobody mentioned. These guides set out the real figures — one-off purchase costs, mortgage costs and the ongoing cost of ownership — in plain English, for buyers based in the UK and abroad.
Start here
The complete cost of buying a property in the UK
Every cost you will meet between making an offer and collecting the keys, in the order you meet it — deposit, stamp duty, legal fees, searches, survey, mortgage fees, removals — plus the ongoing costs that begin the day you complete.
Read the full guide →What it covers
- Costs before you complete
- Costs on completion day
- What changes for overseas buyers
- Buy-to-Let and second homes
- Worked example budgets
14 min read
In detail
Four supporting guides, each on one part of the bill.
Stamp duty costs for UK and overseas property buyers
How Stamp Duty Land Tax is banded, what first-time buyers pay, the additional-property surcharge, and the extra rate that applies to non-UK residents.
Read guide → Legal & surveySolicitor, searches, survey and valuation costs
What conveyancing actually buys you, which searches your solicitor orders, the difference between a lender valuation and a survey, and when each is paid.
Read guide → MortgageMortgage costs: deposit, broker, lender and product fees
Why the deposit is not a cost, how arrangement and product fees work, when adding a fee to the loan is expensive, and what to check on an illustration.
Read guide → OwnershipOngoing costs after buying a UK property
Council tax, buildings insurance, service charge and ground rent, maintenance, utilities — and the costs that catch overseas owners and landlords out.
Read guide →Work out your own numbers.
Use the mortgage calculator for repayment figures, read the fifteen-section UK Mortgage Guide for the full process, or tell us what you are looking for and we will come back to you personally.