The 'asking price' is usually the smallest number you'll pay
If you've offered £400,000 on a house, you're probably looking at £415,000–£425,000 of cash out the door before you sit on your sofa. Here's where the rest goes.
1. Stamp Duty Land Tax (~£0–£40,000+)
England-and-NI rates from April 2025: nothing under £125,000, 2% £125–£250k, 5% £250–£925k, 10% above. First-time buyers get a higher threshold. Buy-to-let / second-home: add 5%.
A £400k purchase: £7,500. A £600k purchase: £20,000. A £1.5m purchase: £128,750.
2. Conveyancing (~£1,200–£2,500)
Solicitor fees, plus disbursements: search fees (£250–£400), Land Registry fee (£20–£500 depending on price), bank transfer fees (£25–£50). Get fixed-price quotes from at least three firms.
3. Survey (~£400–£1,500)
We treat the survey as the single most under-priced spend in UK property. £700 to know whether the £400,000 thing has a £30,000 problem is good odds.
4. Mortgage costs (~£1,000–£2,500)
Arrangement fee (£0–£2,000), valuation fee (£200–£500 if your lender doesn't waive it), broker fee (£300–£500 — many are commission-only and free to the buyer).
5. Removals + insurance (~£500–£1,500)
A van and two men for a 1-bed flat: £400–£700. A 4-bed house cross-country: £1,500+. Buildings insurance from exchange (£200–£500/year).
6. The first six months you forget about
What our reports tell you
A £14.95 PostcodeProperty report gives you the council-tax band, energy cost (estimated from EPC + national fuel-cost averages), broadband cost, and area-level crime + flood risk in one document. Not a substitute for a survey, but it surfaces the cost questions you should be asking before you offer.
Total
A £400k house: ~£11,000–£14,000 of buy-side costs on top. Budget 3–4% on top of the asking price as a working number, more if you're above £600k.