The costs that catch buyers out are the ones on top of the deposit: Stamp Duty Land Tax, legal fees and searches, the HM Land Registry fee, surveys and the lender's valuation, mortgage fees, and the cost of moving in and running the home. GOV.UK's guide to buying a home lists taxes, surveys, solicitor's fees, mortgage fees, search fees and land registration fees as the extra costs to plan for.
Some of these costs are fixed and can be worked out before you make an offer. On a £400,000 purchase by a first-time buyer in Cambridge, for example, Stamp Duty is £5,000, the HM Land Registry fee is £150 if your conveyancer applies online, and the official local authority search costs £203. Others, such as legal fees, surveys and mortgage fees, vary between firms and lenders, so you need written quotes. This guide covers England and uses the rates in force in October 2026.
Your deposit is the part of the price you pay from your own money rather than borrowing. Under the contract, a deposit is paid on exchange, a few weeks before completion. Citizens Advice says this is often 10% of the price, although it can vary. Before deciding how much to spend, Citizens Advice also recommends making sure you will have enough money for all the additional costs below.
You pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) when you buy a home in England or Northern Ireland. Scotland has Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Wales has Land Transaction Tax, each with its own rates. SDLT is charged on the part of the price that falls in each band, not on the whole price at one rate.
You must send an SDLT return to HMRC and pay the tax within 14 days of completion. If you use a solicitor or conveyancer, they will usually file the return and pay the tax on completion day and add it to their bill, so you need the money ready before then. HMRC can charge penalties and interest if the return or payment is late.
HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index put the average price in the Cambridge local authority area at £475,151 in July 2026. A home mover buying at £475,000 would pay £13,750: nothing on the first £125,000, £2,500 on the next £125,000 and £11,250 on the remaining £225,000.
If you and everyone buying with you are first-time buyers, and you intend to live in the property as your only or main home, you pay no SDLT on the first £300,000 and 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000. You only count as a first-time buyer if you have never owned a home, or a share of one, anywhere in the world, including one you inherited or were given.
The average price paid by first-time buyers in Cambridge was £397,573 in July 2026. On a £400,000 first home the relief cuts the bill to £5,000, against £10,000 for someone who has owned before. Watch the upper limit: if the price is over £500,000 you cannot claim the relief at all, and the standard rates apply to the whole price. A first-time buyer pays £10,000 at £500,000 but £15,500 at £510,000.
You usually pay 5% on top of every band if, at the end of the day you complete, you will own more than one residential property worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world and you have not sold or given away your previous main home. The rules also count property owned by your spouse or civil partner and by anyone buying with you, so the higher rates can apply even when you plan to live in the new home. The bands then become 5%, 7%, 10%, 15% and 17%. A £475,000 second home or buy-to-let costs £37,500 in SDLT, £23,750 more than a home mover would pay.
If you are replacing your main home but complete on the new one before your old one has sold, you pay the higher rates on completion. If you then sell your previous main home within 3 years of buying the new one, you can claim back the extra, within 12 months of the later of the sale or the filing date of the SDLT return for the new home. Our guide to the property 36-month rule and Stamp Duty refunds explains the conditions.
If you have not been present in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before your purchase, you are not UK resident for SDLT purposes and usually pay an extra 2% on top of all other rates, including first-time buyer relief and the higher rates. Nationality and visa status make no difference. If any joint buyer is non-resident, all the buyers are treated as non-resident, although a married couple or civil partners buying together are both treated as UK resident if one of them is. A non-resident home mover buying at £475,000 would pay £23,250.
You can claim the 2% back if you are present in the UK for at least 183 days in any continuous 365-day period that falls between 364 days before and 365 days after your purchase. The claim is made by amending your SDLT return within 2 years of the purchase, and if you bought with someone else, every buyer must meet the test.
You will need a solicitor, licensed conveyancer or chartered legal executive to handle the legal work, and as the buyer you pay your own legal costs. The bill has three parts: the firm's own fee, plus VAT, plus disbursements, which are payments the firm makes to other organisations for you.
The most useful independent figures come from the Legal Services Board, which surveyed conveyancing providers across England and Wales between September and November 2024 and published the results in June 2025. For buying a £285,000 freehold home with a mortgage, the median quoted fee was £1,200 and the mean £1,372, with the middle half of quotes between £925 and £1,560. For a £285,000 leasehold home bought by two people, the median was £1,500. These figures exclude VAT and disbursements such as search fees and the Land Registry fee, and VAT at 20% turns a £1,200 fee into £1,440. They are national figures from late 2024, so compare written quotes on the same basis.
Once your offer is accepted, your solicitor or conveyancer organises the searches and you pay for them, usually up front. They usually include a local authority search, a water and drainage search and an environmental search. For homes in Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire, the official local search comes from Greater Cambridge Shared Planning, which charges £203 for a full residential search from 1 April 2026 and says it will get back to you within 10 working days of receiving a full official search. The other searches are priced separately and should be listed in your quote. Our guide to the searches done when you buy a house explains what each one covers.
After completion your solicitor registers you as the owner, and the fee depends on the price. For the transfer of a whole registered title applied for online, it is £150 for a price from £200,001 to £500,000 and £295 from £500,001 to £1 million. Postal applications cost more, at £330 and £655. If you are buying only part of a registered title, which can happen on a new development, the fee is £330 or £655 even when applied for online. There is no extra fee for registering your mortgage when it is sent in with the transfer.
If you are buying with a mortgage, your lender will value the property before approving the loan. Citizens Advice says the buyer pays for this valuation, usually in advance when the mortgage application goes in, so check whether your chosen deal charges a valuation fee. RICS points out that the valuation is for the lender's benefit, not yours, and can miss problems that would be costly to put right.
A survey is a separate report for you. RICS describes three levels:
RICS says costs start at a few hundred pounds for Level 1, with some bespoke Level 3 services costing over £1,000, depending on the size and complexity of the home. If the survey finds a problem, the price can still be renegotiated, because your offer is subject to contract until exchange. If the purchase falls through, you will usually have paid for the valuation or survey already, and you may also have to pay for legal work done. Our guide to choosing a home survey helps you pick the right level.
Lenders and brokers may charge fees for arranging a mortgage, on top of any valuation fee. When you compare deals, look at the total cost over the deal period, including fees, rather than the headline interest rate alone.
Interest rates matter as much as fees. The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% on 17 September 2026, with its next decision due on 5 November 2026, and it notes that higher interest rates mean higher payments on many mortgages. Lenders test whether you could still afford the repayments if rates change, taking account of your income and outgoings such as utility bills, insurance and council tax.
If you already have a mortgage and are moving, check for an early repayment charge. The Financial Ombudsman Service explains that a lender may apply one if you repay during a fixed, capped or discounted rate, and that your mortgage agreement should set out when it applies. Our independent mortgage advice page lists two independent brokers we recommend, who can compare deals and fees with you before you make an offer.
Arrange buildings insurance to start from exchange of contracts, because Citizens Advice says you become responsible for the property once contracts are exchanged. Budget for contents insurance too. Get quotes from removal firms, and remember the final gas, electricity and other bills at your current home will need paying when you move.
Once you own the home, the running costs are yours: council tax, heating, water, broadband and repairs. Council tax depends on the property's band, which is based on what it would have sold for on 1 April 1991. In the Cambridge City Council area for 2026 to 2027, the annual charge runs from £1,644.68 in Band A to £4,934.04 in Band H, with Band D at £2,467.02. Charges differ in other council areas, so check the band and the council for the exact address. If you buy a freehold, you are also responsible for maintaining the property and its land, so set money aside for repairs.
If you buy a leasehold home, you may also pay a service charge, which usually covers buildings insurance, and ground rent. For most new long residential leases granted from 30 June 2022 (1 April 2023 for retirement homes), ground rent cannot legally be more than a peppercorn, meaning nothing can be charged. Older leases can still carry a ground rent, so ask your solicitor to check the amount, any increases and the length of the lease. The government has published a draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill that would cap ground rent on most existing leases at £250 a year, but it is not yet law.
With shared ownership you buy a share of between 10% and 75% of the home and pay rent to the landlord on the rest, usually alongside service charges. You will usually pay a reservation fee of up to £500 and a deposit of between 5% and 10% of the share you are buying. Our guide to shared ownership in Cambridge explains how it works locally.
The Help to Buy: Equity Loan is closed to new applications in England, and you can no longer open a Help to Buy ISA. The schemes still open include:
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Speak to a solicitor or licensed conveyancer, a tax adviser or a mortgage adviser about your own circumstances.
The main ones are Stamp Duty Land Tax, legal fees with VAT, searches, the HM Land Registry fee, the lender's valuation, a survey, mortgage arrangement or broker fees, buildings insurance from exchange, removals, and running costs such as council tax once you move in.
Nothing on the first £300,000 and 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000, so £5,000 on a £400,000 home and £10,000 on a £500,000 one. Above £500,000 the relief does not apply and the standard rates are charged on the whole price.
Usually, yes, if you will own more than one residential property worth £40,000 or more at the end of the day you complete. The higher rates are 5% above the standard rates. If you are replacing your main home and sell the old one within 3 years, you can claim the extra back.
The buyer. Your solicitor or conveyancer orders the searches after your offer is accepted, and you usually pay for them up front. In Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire, the official local search costs £203 from 1 April 2026.
Within 14 days of completion. In practice your solicitor or conveyancer usually files the return and pays the tax on completion day, then adds it to their bill.
The Legal Services Board's 2024 survey found a median of £1,200 for buying a £285,000 freehold home with a mortgage and £1,500 for a leasehold one. Both figures exclude VAT at 20% and disbursements such as searches and the Land Registry fee.
