The cost of being a first time buyer
Published April 2024
Updated April 2026
5 minute read
The cost of being a first time buyer
Published April 2024
Updated April 2025
5 minute read
Whether you’re moving out of your family home or switching from renting to owning, buying your first house is a huge and exciting moment in your life.
But when it comes to stepping onto the property ladder, it’s important to be aware of the many costs involved. In this article, we help guide you through every step of the home buying process, making sure you feel confident and ready for your journey to ownership.
Legal fees
When buying a house, you’ll have to speak with a specialist solicitor, called a conveyancer. They will help with the legal side of buying your first home. They’ll check contracts, look into the history of the property, and make sure there are no issues like flooding or upcoming construction. Solicitors are trained to handle tricky legal problems, protecting you from the unknown and giving you peace of mind.
Solicitor fees often vary depending on the size of the home, with the average cost in the UK being £2,205 in 20251.
Many estate agents will be able to introduce you to a preferred solicitor, but it’s also well worth shopping around and comparing prices from different solicitors before making a final decision.
Stamp Duty
One of the biggest fees many people face in the home buying journey is Stamp Duty, which is a tax the government asks for when you buy a property. How much you pay depends on the value of your new home. In the UK, Stamp Duty is set at 5% for properties bought for between £300,001 to £500,000. If the price is over £500,000, you cannot claim the relief. You'd need to follow the rules for people who've bought a home before. However, the great news is that as a first time buyer, you don’t have to any pay Stamp Duty2 on the first £300,000 of your home’s value.
Product fees
These are fees you pay when taking out a mortgage. They can either be paid up-front or added to the loan, where a lender allows. For some mortgages, the fee may be up to £2,000+3. Others might not have a fee but could have a higher interest rate.
Survey and valuation fees
When you’re ready to get a mortgage, the lender will ask for a survey of your property. This is to make sure the house is really worth the price you and the seller agreed on, and it involves some fees to pay the surveyor.
While this might sound like just another expense, this survey may actually uncover hidden issues with the property, giving you a chance to negotiate the price down if there are problems you didn’t know about.
Home renovation costs
Once the home is officially yours, you can get creative and potentially invest in the comfort, energy efficiency, and personalisation of your space.
The costs of home renovation can be kept down if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and embrace the do-it-yourself approach. You could also use reclaimed or second-hand materials, which is not only good for your budget but good for the environment too!
Other costs
If you have a lot to take with you to your new home, then hiring a professional removal service is the best way to ensure that it all makes it to your new home in one piece. The cost of this service changes based on how many things you have, who you hire, and the distance they need to travel.
Adding up all these costs might feel a little overwhelming, but don’t worry, help is out there when it comes to saving for your first home. At Coventry Building Society, we offer a range of savings solutions like our dedicated account for first time buyers – the First Home Saver account – to help get you on the path to saving for that dream first home.
This account is designed especially for first time buyers. You can pay in up to £1,000 a month for 36 months and watch your deposit grow by earning interest on a variable rate. There are some restrictions, including a 60 days’ notice period to withdraw any money in the account but we’ll also add a £500 celebratory bonus if you get a mortgage with us5.
- Source – How much are solicitor fees when buying a house?
- Source - Stamp Duty Land Tax: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Source - Discover buying costs https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/buying/buying-costs/.
- Source - How much does a house survey cost How Much Does a Home Survey Cost in 2026? | SDL Surveying
- This product has a 60 day notice period to withdraw funds free from the account. If you need your funds right away, you can make a withdrawal subject to a charge equal to 60 days’ interest. Limited to one account per person.
Information correct as at April 2026.
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10 steps to buying your first home
A step by step guide of what you need to know.
