Table of Contents
The cost of selling a house
Whether upgrading, downsizing, moving to the village, relocating to another country or going to travel, it’s worth getting clued up on the cost of selling a house before you plan your next move.
From estate agent fees to energy performance certificates, surveyors, conveyancing and removal costs, there will be several elements to include in your budget. If this is the first home you’ve sold, many of these fees can present as nasty surprises.
If you have potential buyers, the cost of selling a house involves the following charges:
Cost provided item Unit Average UK Cost
Estate agent fees 1.18% of house price £2,665
Conveyancing fees Fixed fee £1,300
EPC fees Fixed fee £75.50
Mortgage fees Arrangement fee £650
Removal fees Total cost £1,600
How much does it cost to sell a house?
The total cost of selling a house will depend on various factors, including your home’s sale price and the companies you choose to work with for the transaction.
Factoring in the fees for each part of the process, it costs £5,583 to sell a house priced at £244,370 – the average UK house price.
Below, we’ve set the typical costs and rates for each process stage.
What fees are involved in selling a house?
Several costs are associated with selling a house that you will need to factor into your budget. These include:
Estate agent fees when selling a house
When an estate agent successfully sells your property, they typically charge between 0.76% and 3.6% of your home’s sale price. The exact fee will vary between companies and the location and value of your property.
Online Estate Agents are usually cheaper than high street real estate agents; however, online estate agents cant provide the same service as your local real estate agent.
While some may offer a fixed rate, it’s more common for estate agents to take a percentage of the sale price. For example, in the UK, the average is 1.19%. Online agents can be considerably cheaper than high street counterparts, as they often charge a fixed fee, so you may also want to look at their packages to compare.
Working on the UK average house price stated above, estate agent fees would come out at around £2,765.
Bank Remortgaging fees
You have two options if you sell your home and still have a mortgage. Either broker a new deal or take the same one with the same lender to your new property. Both options can come with additional fees worth keeping in mind ahead of the sale.
If you choose to port your mortgage and the amount you’re borrowing increases, arrangement fees will sit between £110-£550. If the amount you’re borrowing decreases, there may still be an early payment fee of around 1-6% of the differential loan amount.
Some lenders will charge little to no arrangement fees for remortgaging. Others may charge more than £1,100. Although the obvious choice would seem to be the lender with low prices, it’s often the best mortgage deals with arrangement fees attached.
Arrangement fees will either be a fixed amount or may be based on a percentage of your mortgage.
Solicitor Conveyancing fees
Having purchased property, you will be familiar with the conveyancing process – transferring land and property from one person to another.
When buying a home, a qualified conveyancing solicitor will charge a fee for selling the house.
The average legal fees for selling property in the UK are around £1,100, although prices will vary between law firms and individual conveyancers.
Online conveyancing solutions may prove cheaper, but we recommend digging for reviews to ensure a smooth process. The last thing you want is unnecessary hurdles or complications to stand between selling your property.
Typical Removal fees
Removal fees are part and parcel of selling a house, so it’s best to account for these in advance. If you’re hiring a removal company, the costs can either be calculated as an hourly rate – typically between £51-62 p/h for 2 professionals and a van with a 2-hour minimum charge – or as a fixed fee, which on average is around £1,250.
For long-distance moves (i.e. beyond a neighbouring town or city), removals can cost anywhere between £460 for a one-bed flat and £1100 for a four-bedroom house. Save yourself the costs by doing as much packing as you can manage.
Cost of EPC
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a report that sellers legally need to obtain ahead of the transaction. It details exactly how efficient your property is and its environmental impact—getting an EPC costs between £45 and £151 (including VAT). However, fees will differ depending on the size and type of property.
Cost of Valuation
If you have an estate agent, you may not need to get a separate valuation done on your house as it’s part of their service and included in their cost, so you will not pay anything extra. However, you may want to get it done for a more accurate estimate of the value of your property. If you do, then valuation fees will also be a part of the cost of selling your house.
Why would you want to get your property valued by someone else? If your estate agent is not local, they may not consider all local factors. Even if they are local, they might want a higher or lower price for their ends. Chartered surveyors will charge valuation fees between £310 – £610 and give you a realistic estimate for your house.
We recommend that even if you do pay valuation fees, you should verify them yourself. For example, several online resources could tell you how much properties around you have sold for and what similar properties in your area cost.
Find property surveyors your neighbours recommend
How to get my home for sale?
Even the most well-looked-after property might need a bit of love if you’re trying to sell it. So when preparing your house for sale, you will want to consider a few jobs to make your house even more attractive on the market.
Two jobs to do before selling your home:
Professional cleaners make a massive difference in how your home looks. So when prospective buyers come to take a look at your home, they’re impressed.
- House cleaning costs are around £16 – £23 per hour. The time it takes will depend mainly on the size of your property and how difficult it will be to clean your home. It could take anywhere from 3-6 hours to clean your house. But it’s worth the investment to create the best first impression.
- Carpet cleaning costs on average are £210 for a typical three-bed house, including the bedrooms, landing, hallway and stairs.
General house repairs
You would get a higher price for selling your property if it had no damage that needed repairing.
Check out the common house repairs:
- uPVC door repair–£44 to £307
- Fence repair–£45 to £1,850+
- Repair a blown window–£59 to £155 per window
- Drain repair–£855
- Boiler repair–£110 to £550
- Appliance repair–£95 to £210
Please find out more about house repair costs in our cost guide.
Cost of selling a house calculator in the UK
When selling a house, calculating the cost is a little more complicated because some fees will usually be charged as a percentage, not a flat rate. That means it’s even more critical to understand your quoted rates to get a clear idea of how much it will cost you overall.
You’ll need to factor in the cost of the estate agent selling your house, which will be a percentage of the house’s sale value. The more expensive the property, the more you’ll pay in agent fees. And don’t forget the solicitor’s fees for the conveyancing work.
In addition to the fees you’ll need to pay to process the sale of your house, you also need to add on the cost of removals and the cost of setting up a new mortgage for any property you might be buying (if required).
In summary, you will need to budget for the following:
- Estate agent fees
- Remortgaging fees
- Conveyancing fees
- Removal fees
- EPC fees
- Valuation fees
Selling house quotes
We always recommend obtaining at least three quotes from property experts. Depending on the nature of your house sale, the value of the property and the amount of paperwork involved.
It’s a good idea to shop around to ensure you’re paying a fair and competitive price for their efforts. And thankfully, we’ve got a tool that makes finding multiple quotes super easy.
Overview of costs to sell a house
- The average cost to sell a house with a value of £234,470 is £5,683
- Estate agents typically charge an average of 1.19%of the sale price
- Conveyancing costs range between£1,100 – £2,100.
- Mortgage fees can range anywhere between£110 – £1,100 depending on your choice.
- Removal fees are, on average, £1,240 depending on the scope of the work, the size of the property and the location of your new home.
Find property surveyors your neighbours recommend
