Brits spend £6bn on moving

Homeowners spent over £6bn on moving in 2013, Lloyds Bank research has revealed.

Stamp duty, estate agency fees and legal fees primarily drive the costly process.

The cost of moving has increased by 6% on an annual basis to £8,248, a quarter of average annual earnings.

Brits spent a total of £6.6bn on moving in 2013, up from £5.2bn in 2012.

Marc Page, Lloyds Bank mortgages director, said: “The cost of moving can be an expensive one, and rising house prices have had an impact on this with more property sales now within higher stamp duty brackets.

“On top of the costs of moving, homemovers also need to consider the costs involved with changing mortgages, such as product and administration fees.

“However, as earnings have also risen in the last ten years at a higher rate than the cost of moving, at a national level the relative cost of relocating to a new property is actually lower than it was in 2003.”

Unsurprisingly, London is the most expensive place to move, costing £20,825, five times more than in Northern Ireland where moving costs £4,253.

Indeed, the cost of moving in London is so high that it equates to nearly half of average gross earnings in the city.

Higher house moving costs are driven by a rise in house prices, as the cost of moving has increased by 22% since 2003, driven by a house price rise of 31%.

Peter Lawrence at Lawrence Rand said: “The telling statistic is the last one in this report which shows that, despite the increased cost of moving, gains from increasing house prices over the last decade, have far outstripped, the cost of doing so.

It must be remembered that on a sale and purchase at say £500,000, some 75% of the total costs of moving is likely to be taxation in one form or another (mainly stamp duty and VAT).”