The Real Cost of Buying Your First Home in the UK 2026

Most first-time buyers focus on saving for a deposit and forget about everything else that needs paying before they get the keys. Stamp duty, solicitor fees, surveys, mortgage fees, insurance, and moving costs can add several thousand pounds on top of your deposit, and being caught short close to completion is stressful. This guide breaks down every cost involved in buying a first home in the UK, with a full worked example on a £275,000 property. It sits in our Finance category, alongside our mortgage and property calculators.

The deposit

Your deposit is usually the biggest single cost. Most lenders ask for a minimum of 5% to 10% of the property price, though a bigger deposit, such as 15% or 20%, typically unlocks a meaningfully lower interest rate, since you're borrowing a smaller share of the property's value. Our mortgage deposit guide covers minimum deposit sizes and schemes that can help you get there faster in more detail.

A Lifetime ISA is one of the most useful tools for building a first deposit, since the government adds a 25% bonus on top of whatever you save into it, up to the annual Lifetime ISA limit, provided the money is used towards a first home worth up to £450,000. Our ISA calculator shows how that bonus adds up over time alongside your own contributions and investment growth.

Stamp duty and first-time buyer relief

First-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland benefit from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) relief: no stamp duty at all is due on the first £300,000 of a property's price, and a reduced 5% rate applies on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000. If the property costs more than £500,000, the relief is lost completely and standard rates apply to the whole price instead.

Scotland and Wales run their own separate systems, LBTT and LTT, with different thresholds and reliefs. Our stamp duty guide covers all three in full, and our stamp duty calculator gives you an exact figure for your own price and buyer type.

It is worth double checking your first-time buyer status before you rely on this relief. HMRC generally defines a first-time buyer as someone who has never owned a residential property anywhere in the world, including inherited shares of a property, so a small inherited stake from years ago can sometimes disqualify a buyer who otherwise feels like a genuine first-timer.

Solicitor and survey fees

You'll need a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to handle the legal side of the purchase, typically costing somewhere in the range of £850 to £1,500 including standard searches, though this varies by firm and property. A survey is optional but strongly recommended: a basic mortgage valuation (which protects the lender, not you) is often included free or cheaply, while a more thorough RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey, which protects your own interests, typically costs anywhere from around £400 to £1,000 or more depending on the depth of the survey and the property's size and age.

Mortgage broker and arrangement fees

Many first-time buyers use a mortgage broker to compare deals across the market. Some brokers are free to you and paid by commission from the lender, while others charge a flat fee, often somewhere around £300 to £500. Separately, most mortgage products also carry a lender arrangement or product fee, commonly in the range of £999 to £2,000, though fee-free products with a slightly higher interest rate are also available. It is worth comparing a handful of deals side by side, since a slightly higher headline rate with no fee can sometimes work out cheaper overall than a lower rate with a large fee attached, particularly on a smaller mortgage. Many lenders let you add this fee to your loan rather than paying it upfront, which eases short-term cash flow but means paying interest on the fee over the mortgage term.

Buildings insurance and moving costs

Buildings insurance is normally required by your lender from the moment you exchange contracts, since you become responsible for the property at that point even before you legally own it. Typical annual premiums are often in the region of £150 to £300, depending on the property's size, location and rebuild cost. On top of this, budget for moving costs: a removals firm, van hire, or simply time off work to manage the move, commonly totalling somewhere between £300 and £1,000 depending on distance and how much help you need.

First-year running costs

Once you've moved in, ongoing costs begin immediately: council tax, utilities, and any ground rent or service charge if the property is leasehold. It's also sensible to keep a cash buffer for unexpected repairs, particularly with an older property or one that's been rented out previously, since these often need attention sooner than a newer or recently renovated home. Many new buyers underestimate this first-year buffer and find themselves stretched thin on furniture, white goods, and small repairs on top of a new mortgage payment.

It is worth checking your take-home pay before you commit to an offer, so you can see clearly what is left each month once your mortgage, council tax and typical bills are accounted for. A property that looks affordable on the mortgage payment alone can feel very different once every other monthly cost is added on top, particularly in the first year when one-off setup costs are still being paid off.

Worked example: a £275,000 first home

Take a first-time buyer purchasing a home for £275,000, with a 10% deposit.

Because the £275,000 price sits entirely under the £300,000 first-time buyer relief threshold, no stamp duty is due at all, a genuinely significant saving that many buyers don't realise applies to them. Adding up the other costs, a first-time buyer on this purchase might reasonably budget somewhere in the region of £1,700 to £4,800 on top of the £27,500 deposit, depending on the solicitor, survey level and broker they choose, before any first-year running cost buffer.

Try our mortgage calculator to see the monthly repayment on the remaining £247,500 loan, and our mortgage overpayment calculator to see how much time and interest you could save by overpaying once your finances settle after moving in.

Frequently asked questions