MOVING house in Scotland now costs more than £8,000 on average, according to research published today.
Homeowners north of the Border have seen a 38 per cent rise in the cost of switching properties over the last 10 years, with estate agent fees alone surging by more than two thirds to £3,721 for an average move.
In total, a mover in Scotland was typically shelling out £8,097 in 2014 for the combined cost of estate agent fees, stamp duty, surveyors' costs, conveyancing and removals.
This is up from an average of £5,862 in 2004 and exceeds the rate of inflation over the same period by roughly ten per cent.
However, the cost of moving in Scotland remains well behind the UK average of almost £12,000, although that is skewed by the colossal costs of moving home in London - currently coming to almost £28,000.
Taking London out of the equation, the average cost of moving in the UK is £9,034 with Scotland sandwiched roughly in the middle between the West and East Midlands.
Average stamp duty costs in Scotland have risen only fractionally over the past ten years, from £1,352 in 2004 to £1,366 - an increase of just £14.
In comparison, the cost of a removals company has increased by £179 on average, from £855 in 2004 to £1,034 in 2014 - up 21 per cent.
The cost of paying an estate agent to market a property is up 68 per cent over the past decade, from £2,214 in 2004 to £3,721 in 2014 - an increase of more than £1,500 per average move in Scotland.
Meanwhile surveyors fees were costing movers £557 in 2014, compared to £402 a decade earlier, with solicitors costs also surging by more than a third from £1,039 for conveyancing in 2004 to £1,419 last year.
John Willcock, head of mortgages at Post Office Money, who compiled the results in collaboration with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), said the extra costs of moving often took homeowners by surprise.
He said: "With prospective home buyers' attention firmly fixed on saving for a deposit, the additional costs of moving can often come as an afterthought - particularly for first-time buyers who are taking their first steps on the property ladder.
"Although house prices may continue to rise there are steps buyers and movers can take to reduce the amount they pay on top of this.
"Planning ahead is essential and potential home buyers should be setting aside savings specifically for these costs.
"These 'add-ons' should be considered as part of the overall cost of buying or moving home."
The average cost of moving in the UK as a whole has spiralled by 59 per cent over the last decade, twice the rate of inflation.
According to the Consumer Prices Index, the cost of living grew by 29.4 per cent across the UK between December 2004 and December 2014.
The average cost of moving is forecast to increase further to £15,414 by the end of 2020 - but the research also found that 84% of prospective homebuyers were severely under-estimating the cost of moving.
A survey of 500 people looking to buy a home in the next three years found that, on average, they expected the cost of moving to come to less than £7000 when in fact it would typically cost around twice as much.
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