Money News
New figures from property website, Propertyfinder, show the cost of moving home closing in on 10K. In fact, home moving costs have more than tripled to just over £9,400 over the past decade. Much of the impetus has come from higher Stamp Duty and estate agents' fees. And, depressingly, the figures don't include fees applied by lenders and surveyors.
Estate agents' charges - typically at around £3,000 - have risen broadly in line with house prices. But Stamp Duty has seen a near ten fold increase to £5,000. Legal fees typically come in at £1,000, while removal costs are now £450 on average.
Inflated stamp duty costs should come as no great surprise, given that in 1996 there was a standard 1% fee on properties valued at 60K+. Nowadays, additional bands see £250K+ properties levied at 3% and 500K+ properties at 4%. And with the average price of a property now at 200K, home purchasers are witnessing ever higher financial outlays.
27 March 2007 © Moneyextra.com
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