Stamp Duty costs and estate agency fees have been blamed for pushing up the cost of moving home over the past year, Lloyds Bank has claimed.
According to the lender, the average cost of moving home in the UK has increased by £870, or 9%, in the past 12 months to £10,996.
But there are questions over the reliability of the figures.
The research claims Stamp Duty has increased by 17% in the past year and agency fees have gone up by 8% (by £372 outside London and by £402 within London). Conveyancing, surveyor fees, home removal and getting an Energy Performance Certificate make up the rest of the cost.
The report uses the Halifax average house price index to give an average property price for the second quarter of each year and then works out the corresponding Stamp Duty, but more dubiously it uses estate agency fees from a five-year-old Which? report.
Notes in the report say: “The average estate agency bill has been estimated as a fee of 1.8% (plus VAT) of the average house price for each year. This estimate has been sourced from research by Which?”
But data from EYE columnist Stephen Hayter, dating from December 2015, has shown that fees are falling and increasing numbers of agents are charging 0.5% to 0.75%, with the average fee 1.2%.
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, to nearly £11,000.
“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 in these parts of the country.”
Comments (15)
I laughed at this. This noble business has paid out £2bn in PPI claims and set aside the same again for misselling and over-charging and was then fined a record £117m for failing to handle these complaints fairly.
You only need to look at the interest rates charged by the banks including LLOYDS on their credit cards to know who the ROGUES OF SOCIETY ARE. Look at short term loans at over 1,000% interest on the poorest on society to know who the MORAL CROOKS are.
Look at the SDLT rates to see how it is helping to lock down the property market and cause stagnation. Stop moves in the higher value property and the first time buyers market stops. This is not rocket science!
Bit of journalistic licence by PIE here! The blame is laid on rapidly rising house prices. Higher selling prices will lead to higher Eatate Agent fees….and more stamp duty etc. That said, why take any notice of a failed bank?
Entry level SDLT 2% rising to 12%
Average agency fee 1.2%
The culprit is obvious.
How is it possible to dislike this comment?
The bloke from Lloyds clicked the dislike button.
It’s have a pop at agents day again eh. Pathetic a bank could deign to comment so.
Erm, what about mortgage arrangement fees, redemption penalties, rising survey costs etc etc. Those in glass houses…
Am I really reading an article whereby Lloyds Bank are being critical of agents fees, when they want £250 a year for a sodding platinum account with them? Oh, the irony!
I think you’ll find it’s three hundred quid, Mr O!
Outrageous. I have the same cover and better interest rates for a tenner a month at Nationwide (other financial institutions are available)!
Outrageous that a bank (of all people) should make an issue out of agency fees without recognizing how well sellers are served by agents taking the stress off the move, facilitating the sale, sourcing and qualifying the right buyer and in most instances probably securing a much higher price for the seller, than had the seller sold without the agent’s involvement. In the US, where 5.3 million transactions happen annually, at an average of over 5%, the NAR reports that sellers are 16% better off using an agent than without. Why is there such a fixation over what is by far the lowest fee regime in the world, which delivers excellent value for money? The only reason fees have spiraled down over the years is weak agents unable to defend their position against undercutting competitors. The public has remained silent on the issue because agency fees in the UK are really not an issue. But here’s one way to help get your fees up – show a prospective seller the Lloyds article and offer to do it for 1.7% – just under the “official national average”! (Assuming you’re not already charging a healthy 2% of course). Have a great day!
Which? really need to take note of the way their 5 year old survey (not hard data) is being abused by some agents to mislead consumers on an industrial scale
I think we can all take it as read that Which? are more than aware of that fact – and are sitting there laughing their uninformed, meddling rocks off.
Outrageous. I have the same cover and better interest rates for a tenner a month at Nationwide (other financial institutions are available)!