Cost of Moving Home by UK Region 2026
Selling an average home and buying another costs £29,252 in London and £6,993 in Wales - 4.2 times as much. Most of the gap is tax.
Key findings
- • London is the most expensive place to move: £29,252, of which £17,502 (60%) is stamp duty.
- • Wales is the cheapest, not the North East. The average Welsh home (£215,037) sits under the £225,000 nil-rate band for Land Transaction Tax, so a typical mover pays no tax at all - even though homes there cost more than in the North East or Scotland.
- • The removal van is the smallest line. At £969 for a 3-bed, removals are 3.3% of the London bill and 13.9% in Wales.
- • Across most of the UK the bill lands at about 4% of the home's value, rising to 5.3% in London as homes cross the 5% stamp duty band.
Full table
| Region | Average home | Tax | Estate agent | Other costs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | £550,037 | £17,502 SDLT | £7,811 | £3,939 | £29,252 |
| South East | £380,878 | £9,044 SDLT | £5,408 | £3,939 | £18,391 |
| East of England | £337,518 | £6,876 SDLT | £4,793 | £3,939 | £15,608 |
| South West | £302,298 | £5,115 SDLT | £4,293 | £3,939 | £13,347 |
| West Midlands | £250,880 | £2,544 SDLT | £3,562 | £3,939 | £10,045 |
| East Midlands | £242,274 | £2,345 SDLT | £3,440 | £3,939 | £9,724 |
| North West | £221,445 | £1,929 SDLT | £3,145 | £3,939 | £9,013 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £209,116 | £1,682 SDLT | £2,969 | £3,939 | £8,590 |
| Northern Ireland | £202,487 | £1,550 SDLT | £2,875 | £3,939 | £8,364 |
| Scotland | £196,349 | £1,027 LBTT | £2,788 | £3,939 | £7,754 |
| North East | £166,943 | £839 SDLT | £2,371 | £3,939 | £7,149 |
| Wales | £215,037 | £0 LTT | £3,054 | £3,939 | £6,993 |
“Other costs” are the same everywhere: £3,939 for conveyancing on both sides, a survey and removals.
Methodology
One scenario is applied to every region: an existing homeowner sells a home at the regional average price and buys another at the same price. That isolates the effect of where you live. Real moves differ - most people trade up or down - so use the moving budget calculator for your own figures.
- • House prices: UK House Price Index, July 2026 (provisional; Northern Ireland Q2 2026).
- • Tax: home-mover rates in force in October 2026 - SDLT in England and Northern Ireland, LBTT in Scotland, LTT in Wales - calculated with the same engine as our stamp duty calculator.
- • Estate agent: 1.42% of the sale price including VAT, the 2026 average reported by the HomeOwners Alliance.
- • Conveyancing: £1,450 on the purchase including searches and £1,000 on the sale.
- • Survey: £520 for a RICS Level 2 HomeBuyer report.
- • Removals: £969, the average for a 3-bed home from our study of 1,200+ completed moves.
- • Not included: mortgage fees, Land Registry fees, and any additional-property surcharge.
Using this data
- • Free to republish under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.
- • Cite as: “MovingCost.co.uk, Cost of Moving Home by UK Region 2026”.
- • More figures in UK Moving Statistics 2026; journalists, see the press kit.
What will your move cost?
Get a personalised removal estimate in about 2 minutes - free, no signup.
Get Your Free Estimate