Agents’ fees on the rise but stamp duty holiday cut...

Consumer group Which? says the stamp duty holiday has cut more than £4,000 from the average cost of moving home - but it claims other fees, including agents’ charges, are on the rise.

Which? says that while overall moving costs have dropped by 39 per cent the charges from agents, conveyancers, surveyors and removers are all on the up.

Using data from the Reallymoving comparison website, based on 239,000 movers, Which? says the average cost of moving has dropped from £10,911 to £6,699.

This is despite a 15 per cent rise in conveyancing fees, 14 per cent increase in agents’ commission, a 10 per cent spike in the cost of a survey, and a three per cent rise for removal firms.

In absolute terms, it says estate agent fees are now an average of £3,936 which legal fees are £1,682. A house survey is £450 and the removal firm costs £546.

With an Energy Performance Certificate charge of £55, the total cost of moving comes to £6,669.

Reallymoving chief executive Rob Houghton says: “There’s little let up for First Time Buyers, who are facing increased house prices and greater moving costs than a few months ago, making it even harder to save enough for a deposit and to cover the up-front costs of buying a home.”

He continues: “In an unpredictable market it’s more important than ever to compare ratings and customer reviews when searching for home move services, as well as price, to ensure that when you do decide to buy, your transaction progresses as smoothly as possible.”

29 September 2020 23:36 PM

Yep so I don't.
I like FREE.
No need for EA unless they can prove that they consistently achieve better sales prices compared to the individual vendor listing for free.

Of course I am not saying that indeed EA are capable of achieving more.
As yet I haven't seen any empirical evidence that this is the case.

But then of course as free listings are so new I guess there hasn't been sufficient sales as evidence.

But for me I intend to list for free and sell my own property.

Not saying I will be able to achieve as EA purport to be able to do.

But I'd take a gamble that I could save thousands to the bargain.

Of course I might be WRONG!!!!
That pudding is going to have to be eaten if evidence is ever to be discovered.

As for free yep years ago used to roll over a £1 million pounds of free credit card money through my bank accounts annually

All legit.

My bank manager stated he had never seen a personal account like it!!

The game unfortunately ended in 2010 when balance transfer fees were charged.
But still had a good 10 year run.

Made good profits out of free credit card debt!!

But all good things come to an end.
Much to my annoyance.
Never thought the game would end which just proves how naive I was at the time.

I guess with age comes wisdom so I'm far more realistic now when I spot an opportunity for free money.
Very few if any of those possibilities now exist beyond that of robbing a bank!!