Total cost of buying a home in the UK: calculator

Work out the costs of buying in England or Wales: SDLT or LTT, the HM Land Registry fee and the costs from your quotes, the cash needed upfront and the total.

Purchase tax is calculated separately for England (SDLT) and Wales (LTT) — separate systems with different thresholds. The HM Land Registry fee is the same in both. Scotland and Northern Ireland are outside the scope of this site.

Where the property isEngland — Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)Wales — Land Transaction Tax (LTT)

Property price (GBP)

Starting value: the average price in England according to HM Land Registry (July 2026, provisional); in Wales £215,037. Enter the price of the property you are considering.

Deposit (GBP)

The part of the price paid from your own money; the rest is the mortgage.

Buyer's situationYou're a first-time buyerThis is an additional property (e.g. buy-to-let)You're not a UK resident (in the UK for less than 183 days during the 12 months before your purchase)Registering a new lease, e.g. a flat in a new building

The HM Land Registry fee for registering a lease is higher than for a transfer of the whole property, even when applying online. It is charged on the price plus the rent under the lease, where that can be quantified — the calculator uses the price only.

Other costs (GBP)

Enter the amounts from the quotes you have. The calculator assumes no typical amounts — each of these prices depends on the firm and the property.

Solicitor (conveyancing) including searches

From the solicitor's or conveyancer's quote.

Survey

Lender fees (arrangement, valuation)

A fee added to the mortgage is not paid upfront, but it increases the loan and interest is charged on it — in that case enter 0.

Broker

Removals

Other

Total buying costs: £4,823
Cash needed upfront (deposit + costs): £34,171
Price plus costs: £298,302

What the costs are made of
SDLT	£4,673
HM Land Registry fee	£150
Other costs	£0
Mortgage amount (price − deposit)	£264,131

Indicative amounts, not tax advice. Tax is worked out at the rates verified on 2026-08-04 (SDLT) and 2026-10-18 (LTT); the SDLT and LTT calculators show the band breakdown. "Cash needed upfront" assumes you pay all the costs from your own money.

How does the calculator work it out?

The tax is worked out with the same functions as the SDLT calculator (England) and the LTT calculator (Wales), with rates carrying a verification date; SDLT is rounded down to the nearest pound, as HMRC calculates it. The HM Land Registry fee comes from the Scale 1 table: for a transfer of the whole property the calculator uses the fee for a portal application, and for registering a new lease the higher fee that, according to HM Land Registry, applies to leases even when applying online. A price with pence is rounded down to the nearest pound before the band is chosen (SI 2024/931).

Other costs are added up as you enter them. Cash needed upfront is the deposit plus all the costs, price plus costs is the price plus the costs, and the mortgage amount is the price minus the deposit. Totals are worked out in pence and shown in whole pounds.

How much cash is needed upfront at the average price?

At the average price in England (£293,479, HM Land Registry, July 2026, provisional) a 10% deposit, SDLT at the main rates and the HM Land Registry fee come to £34,171 of cash needed upfront; in Wales, at the average price of £215,037, it is £21,654 — before the solicitor, survey, lender fees and removals. The table shows how the tax changes with the buyer's situation.

Tax, HM Land Registry fee and deposit at the average price in England and Wales (HM Land Registry, July 2026, provisional; rates: SDLT as at 2026-08-04, LTT as at 2026-10-18, HM Land Registry fees as at 2026-10-18)
Item	England, price £293,479	Wales, price £215,037
Tax — main rates	SDLT £4,673	LTT £0
Tax — first-time buyer	SDLT £0	LTT £0 (no relief)
Tax — additional property / higher rates	SDLT £19,347	LTT £11,978
HM Land Registry fee (portal application)	£150	£150
10% deposit	£29,348	£21,504
Cash needed upfront at the main rates, before costs from quotes	£34,171	£21,654

In England first-time buyer relief (thresholds since 1 April 2025) means 0% up to £300,000 and applies at prices up to £500,000; Wales has no such relief, but the LTT main rates have a 0% band up to £225,000. The conditions for reliefs and surcharges are on the pages of both tax calculators.

Which costs come on top of the price?

On top of the price, the one-off costs are the purchase tax, conveyancing and search fees, surveys, mortgage costs and removals — as listed in the government's How to buy guide (updated 6 September 2019). You can enter all of them in the calculator:

purchase tax — SDLT in England or LTT in Wales (worked out by the calculator);
conveyancing fees, and search fees, which according to the guide you typically have to pay up front;
surveys and other reports;
mortgage costs — lender fees and, if you use one, a broker's fee;
removals, as well as essential repairs or improvements in the new home.

The guide also lists costs that are not one-off: buildings insurance, life insurance and, for a leasehold property, service charges and ground rent. The calculator does not add them up, because they are paid for as long as you own the property.

When do you need the money for the deposit and buying costs?

You need the money for the deposit and buying costs before exchange of contracts. According to the How to buy guide, to exchange you need to be able to pay the deposit, and all the other associated costs — including the purchase tax and removal costs — in cleared funds; your bank may charge for the transfer. Before exchange you also need buildings insurance, because once the contract is signed the buyer is legally responsible for the property. If some of the money is coming from Poland, the guide to sending money from Poland to the UK covers the timing and cost of the transfer.

How much is the HM Land Registry fee?

The HM Land Registry fee for registering a purchase ranges from £20 to £500 for a portal application and from £45 to £1,105 otherwise, depending on the price (Scale 1, fees in force since 9 December 2024, SI 2024/931). According to HM Land Registry, on a typical purchase with a mortgage only the transfer is charged — a mortgage lodged with it has no separate fee.

HM Land Registry fee, Scale 1 (England and Wales; as at 2026-10-18)
Price up to	Transfer of whole, portal application	Other, including leases
£80,000	£20	£45
£100,000	£40	£95
£200,000	£100	£230
£500,000	£150	£330
£1,000,000	£295	£655
over £1,000,000	£500	£1,105

How does a lender's valuation differ from a survey?

A mortgage valuation is not a survey. According to the How to buy guide, a valuation checks that the lender is happy to lend against the property, does not protect you if something goes wrong with the property, and may not even include a physical inspection. A survey is a detailed inspection of the property's condition, ordered separately — which is why the calculator has two different fields: the valuation fee belongs with lender fees, and the survey has its own field.

What does the calculator not cover?

The calculator adds up the tax, the HM Land Registry fee and the costs you enter. It does not cover:

ongoing costs after the purchase: insurance, service charges, ground rent;
special tax cases beyond the calculator's fields — reliefs and rates the SDLT and LTT calculators do not cover;
fees added to the mortgage instead of paid upfront — they do not add to the cash needed upfront, but they increase the loan and the interest (enter them as 0 in that case);
the rent under a new lease, which counts towards the HM Land Registry fee;
currency exchange and transfer costs for money from abroad;
the HM Land Registry fee for a mortgage sent in separately, after the transfer is registered.

What next?

SDLT calculator and LTT calculator — the tax broken down by band.
LTV and deposit calculator — the deposit and loan at a given LTV.
Rent or buy — total rent next to the net cost of buying over a chosen period.
Additional buying costs — what to add to the price.

Frequently asked questions

Do buyers who are not UK resident pay more purchase tax?

In England, yes: 2 percentage points are added to every SDLT band (surcharge in force since 1 April 2021) when the price is £40,000 or more. According to gov.uk, you are not UK resident for SDLT if you were in the UK for less than 183 days during the 12 months before your purchase. LTT in Wales has no non-resident surcharge.

Is there a separate fee for registering the mortgage?

According to HM Land Registry, on a typical purchase where the mortgage is lodged with the transfer (or before its registration is completed), only the Scale 1 fee for the transfer is payable. A mortgage sent in after the transfer has been registered is a new application with its own fee.

Do first-time buyers in Wales pay no LTT?

There is no first-time buyer relief in Wales. The LTT main rates do, however, have a 0% band up to £225,000, so at that price the tax at the main rates is 0 — the same for a first-time buyer as for anyone else paying the main rates. Anyone paying the higher rates (e.g. on a second property costing £40,000 or more) pays LTT from the first pound.

How much more SDLT is due on an additional property?

The surcharge is 5 percentage points on every band (since 31 October 2024) when the price is £40,000 or more. At the average price in England (£293,479) SDLT is £19,347 instead of £4,673. In Wales a separate table of LTT higher rates applies instead of a surcharge.

Sources

As at 2026-10-18. Links point to primary sources and open in a new tab.