Cost of moving home in Yorkshire soars by £795

Moving home in Yorkshire costs £795 more than it did last year, meaning the average home buyer can now expect to spend £7,730, according to new figures published today.
Rising house prices have driven up the cost of moving home, Lloyds Bank said.  Pic: Tim Ireland/PA WireRising house prices have driven up the cost of moving home, Lloyds Bank said.  Pic: Tim Ireland/PA Wire
Rising house prices have driven up the cost of moving home, Lloyds Bank said. Pic: Tim Ireland/PA Wire

The region is the most expensive area of the North of England in which to move home, research by Lloyds Bank shows, and has seen the biggest price increase over the last year outside of London and the South East - of 11 per cent.

Rising house prices have driven the increase, pushing up estate agency, stamp duty and conveyancing fees, Lloyds Bank said.

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Nationally, the average cost of stamp duty has increased by 17 per cent in a year to £2,504 and both estate agency and conveyancing fees by eight per cent, to £5,404 and £1,251 respectively.

Mike Songer, mortgage director at Lloyds Bank, said: “The cost of stepping up the housing ladder has continued to rise sharply over the past year. As a result, the cost of completing a home move in the UK has grown significantly over the past decade.

“This trend is especially marked for buyers in London and the South East with the combination of both higher property prices and more rapid increase in prices in recent years resulting in significantly higher moving costs.”

Across the UK, the typical cost of moving home is £10,996 - an increase by around £870 over the last year.

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In London, home movers can expect to pay £4,732 more than a year ago, with the average cost of moving being £31,416.

The particularly sharp rise in moving costs in the capital is mostly due to London house prices having increased by 14.5 per cent over the last year, compared with an increase of 8.5 per cent across the UK generally.

The nine per cent increase in moving costs over the last year across the country is significantly higher than the rise in living costs generally, with a 0.6 per cent Consumer Price Index rate of inflation recorded in August.

Moving costs have also increased faster than earnings over the last decade, by 25 per cent versus a 17 per cent increase in full-time earnings, Lloyds said.

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As a result, moving house now eats a bigger chunk out of people’s earnings than it did 10 years ago.

The total cost of moving has increased from 30 per cent to 32 per cent as a percentage of gross annual earnings.

In Yorkshire the average cost of moving has increased by eight per cent, or £582, over the past decade.

Other areas have seen costs fall, by 27 per cent in a decade in Northern Ireland and by two per cent in both the North East and Wales over the same period.