MOVING FOR AN EXTRA BEDROOM CAN COST £60,000 …
A recent report revealed that it can cost up to £60,000 to buy a house that has one extra bedroom. As a result more families are now improving their homes with extensions and loft conversions rather than moving to a larger house.
The research, published by property website Hometrack, shows that the move from a three to a four bedroom home involves the financial biggest leap of all.
A typical three bedroom home costs in Yorkshire 130,000 but families would have to find an extra £60,000 to make the leap up the ladder to a four bedroom property. This is an average UK figure but the situation is even worse for people in the most expensive property areas of the UK. In London for example homeowners will have to find an extra £131,000.
On average a three bedroom house is 19 percent more expensive than one with two bedrooms. The move from a three to a four bedroom house is a formidable 37 percent.
With the average cost of two storey extensions around 30,000 homeowners not only enjoy the extra space but can also add up to £60,000 to the value of their house.
THE COST OF MOVING CAN EXCEED £13,000 FOR A £250K HOME …
Moving home has never been more expensive for ordinary families. Soaring property prices have caused a domino effect on the cost of buying and selling. Many people, despite their changing needs, simply cannot afford to move.
Stamp duty is usually the biggest expense, with more and more families having to pay the top rate of tax. But estate agents and solicitors who base their fees on the value of the property are also cashing in on the boom.
Buyers have to pay 1 per cent duty on homes worth more than £60,000, 3 per cent on the entire value of home worth more than £250,000 and 4 per cent on properties worth more than £500,000. In parts of London and the South-East a small house can easily cost in excess of £500,000.
A survey by the Woolwich involving 1,000 estate agents and 300 solicitors – shows how fees have escalated. A home owner wanting to move from a £150,000 property to a £250,000 house will pay, on average £2,500 to the estate agent, £1,000 in solicitors fees, land registry and search fees of £200, between £500 to £2000 on removal fees and a whopping 7,500 in stamp duty. The total move cost could therefore be a staggering £13,200. For people moving into a property in excess of £500,000 this cost could easily exceed £20,000.
More people are now re mortgaging and releasing equity from their homes and extending their property rather than moving house. Why pay £13,000 in moving fees and tax when a loft conversion costs between £15,000 – £25,000 and the average extension £15,000 to £50,000. The added benefit of course is that improving your home can be an investment where-as handing over sums of money in moving expenses is not.
