Home Buying Total Cost Calculator

The true cost of buying a home extends well beyond the deposit and purchase price. Buyers need to budget for stamp duty (or LBTT/LTT), solicitor or conveyancer fees (£1,000-£2,000), a property survey (£400-£1,500 depending on type), a mortgage arrangement fee (£0-£2,000), a valuation fee, search fees (£250-£400) and a land registry fee (£100-£500). Most of these fall due before or at completion, so they have to come out of savings rather than the mortgage.

Moving costs include a removal company (£500-£1,500), redirected mail (£50-£100) and potentially storage fees. Ongoing costs to budget for include buildings and contents insurance, council tax, utility setup fees and any immediate repairs or redecoration needed before moving in. This calculator totals all purchase, mortgage, legal and moving costs to show the full amount you need to have available beyond your deposit. Enter the property price, deposit and mortgage details, then select which optional costs apply, and it produces a complete total.

A worked £300,000 purchase shows how the pieces add up. A 10% deposit is £30,000, and a first-time buyer pays £0 in Stamp Duty at that price. Add solicitor and conveyancing at £1,500, a HomeBuyer Report survey at £600, a mortgage arrangement fee of £999, a mortgage broker at £0-£500 if you use one, removals at £900, an EPC at £80 if the property lacks one, buildings insurance for year 1 at £300 and initial decoration or repairs at £1,000. The total upfront comes to £35,379, which is £5,379 beyond the deposit. After that comes the hidden monthly outlay of mortgage, council tax, utilities and a maintenance fund.

Stamp duty for first-time buyers in 2026/27 is 0% up to £300,000 and 5% on the slice from £300,001 to £500,000. Above £500,000 the relief disappears entirely and the full standard rates apply to the whole price. A £400k first-time buyer pays £5,000 (5% of £100k) and a £500k buyer pays £10,000 (5% of £200k), while a £700k purchase attracts the standard £25,000 with no relief at all. A standard buyer at £300k pays £5,000, and a second home at £300k costs £20,000 once the 5% surcharge is included.

Monthly running costs deserve a budget line of their own. The mortgage payment on a £270k loan at 4.5% over 25 years is around £1,500 a month. Council tax runs £100-£250 a month depending on band, buildings and contents insurance £25-£50, gas and electricity £150-£250, water £30-£50, broadband £25-£40 and the TV licence £15 (£180 a year from April 2026). A maintenance fund of 1% of the property value a year works out at about £250 a month. All told, a £300k property costs roughly £2,100-£2,500 a month to run.

Several costs sit outside the purchase itself. If you are selling an existing property, estate agent fees of 1-1.5% plus VAT come to £3,600-£5,400 on a £300k sale. Switching mortgage during a fixed period can trigger an early repayment charge of 1-5% of the balance. Major repairs such as a boiler, roof or structural work can cost £3,000-£15,000 or more each. Leasehold owners face a service charge of £1,000-£5,000 a year and, on older leases, ground rent of £100-£500 a year, plus contributions to a reserve or sinking fund that pays for major works on the building.

Government schemes can trim the bill for first-time buyers. A Lifetime ISA takes up to £4,000 a year and adds a 25% government bonus, worth up to £1,000 a year. First Homes offers a 30-50% discount on new builds, with an income cap of £80k (£90k in London). Shared Ownership lets you buy a 25-75% share and pay rent on the rest. The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme backs 95% LTV mortgages with government insurance, and Family Springboard or Deposit Boost products let a parent put savings up as security. Combined, these routes save a typical first-time buyer £10,000-£30,000 or more compared with the standard purchase route.