What Fees Do You Pay When Selling a House in the UK?

Here’s something that catches most sellers off guard: on a typical £250,000 property, you could spend £6,000 to £8,000 just on the costs of selling it.

Estate agent commission. Solicitor fees. Tax. Mortgage penalties. Removal costs. They all stack up, and most sellers don’t see the full picture until they’re already deep into the process.

I’m Danny, the owner of Property Rescue. We’ve purchased over 500 properties in the last three years, so I’ve seen every type of selling cost going. In this guide, I’ll walk you through each one: what it costs, who has to pay it, and where you might be able to save.

A quick note on scope: This guide covers England and Wales. If you’re selling in Scotland, you’ll need a Home Report before marketing (costing around £250 to £600), a mandatory package that includes a survey, EPC, and property questionnaire. The fees and process in Scotland differ materially from what’s outlined below.

Let’s get into it.

Estate Agent Fees

This is usually the single biggest cost of selling.

Estate agents typically charge around 1% to 2% plus VAT (the average is about 1.42% including VAT according to the HomeOwners Alliance), though fees can range as high as 3.5% for multi-agency agreements. On a £250,000 property, that’s anywhere from £3,000 to £10,500 (including VAT at 20%).

That’s a big range. So what determines where you land?

• Sole agency agreements (one agent) typically sit at the lower end: 1% to 1.8%
• Multi-agency agreements (two or more agents competing) push fees up to 2.5% to 3.5%
• Online and hybrid agents offer fixed fees between £500 and £1,500, though these are often paid upfront, regardless of whether your property actually sells

Here’s the thing most people don’t realise: these fees are negotiable. Get multiple quotes, compare offers, and don’t be afraid to push back. If your property is likely to sell quickly (desirable area, priced right, good condition), you’ve got leverage.

Many sellers find themselves on the market for six months or more before reconsidering their approach. Often it’s because of a poor initial valuation, the wrong agent, or a slow solicitor. Choosing the right agent at the right fee matters more than most people think.

Estate agent fees are usually the single biggest line item. But there’s another cost every seller has to pay: the legal work.

Conveyancing Fees

Your conveyancer (or solicitor) handles the legal side of the sale: preparing contracts, managing title deeds, dealing with the buyer’s solicitor, and handling the exchange of funds.

Expect to pay £500 to £1,500 for conveyancing, depending on sale complexity and whether your property is leasehold (Which?, 2025).

On top of the conveyancer’s fee, you’ll pay disbursements, third-party costs for things like:

• Land Registry title documents
• ID verification and anti-money laundering checks
• Bank transfer fees
• Leasehold enquiry fees (if applicable)

These disbursements are typically modest for sellers (usually under £100 for standard transactions), but always ask for an itemised quote that includes everything upfront.

Worth noting: Conveyancing delays are one of the biggest hidden costs of selling, not just in fees, but in time. When there’s no chain involved, the legal process tends to move much more quickly and smoothly.

With the legal side covered, there’s one more requirement to sort before marketing your property.

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

An EPC is legally required to sell your home. You must have one available when marketing, though you can list the property while the EPC is being commissioned as long as it’s completed promptly (gov.uk). It rates your property’s energy efficiency from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). Remember: EPCs are valid for 10 years, so check whether you already have one before paying for a new one.

The cost? Typically £60 to £120, depending on property size and location.

The good news: an EPC is valid for 10 years. If you’ve had one done recently (perhaps when you bought the property or had work done), you may not need a new one. In England and Wales, you can check the GOV.UK EPC register to see if yours is still current. (Scotland uses a separate Scottish EPC register.)

Those three costs (estate agent, conveyancing and EPC) apply to virtually every seller. The next few depend on your circumstances.

Mortgage-Related Fees

Still have a mortgage on the property? There are two potential charges to watch for.

Early Repayment Charges (ERCs)

If you pay off your mortgage before a fixed-rate or introductory deal period ends, your lender may charge an Early Repayment Charge of 1% to 5% of the outstanding balance (MoneyHelper, 2025).

On a £150,000 mortgage, that could mean a charge of £1,500 to £7,500. It’s one of the most commonly overlooked selling costs.

Check your mortgage term end date before you commit to a sale timeline. If your fixed deal is ending in a few months, waiting could save you thousands.

Mortgage Exit Fee

Some lenders also charge a flat mortgage exit fee of £50 to £300 simply to close your account, regardless of whether you’re in a fixed deal or not. It’s often called an “account closure fee” or “deeds release fee.”

Check with your lender to confirm what you’ll owe.

If your mortgage is already paid off, you can cross both charges off the list. If you’re outside a fixed deal, you’ll avoid the Early Repayment Charge but will still need to pay the Mortgage Exit Fee when your account is closed. Either way, there’s one more potential cost that catches some sellers out: tax.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT)

Selling your main home? You can probably skip this section. If you’re selling the property you live in, you’ll normally be exempt from CGT thanks to Principal Private Residence Relief.

But if you’re selling a second property, a buy-to-let or an inherited home, read on, because CGT can take a significant bite out of your proceeds. (For inherited properties, CGT only applies if the property has increased in value since the date of death, and various reliefs may be available.)

2025/26 Tax Year Rates

• 18% for basic rate taxpayers
• 24% for higher and additional rate taxpayers

(HMRC, 2025)

The annual tax-free allowance is £3,000. This has been significantly reduced in recent years. It was £6,000 in 2023/24 and £12,300 in 2022/23 (HMRC). That sharp reduction means more sellers may now be affected by CGT on property disposals.

Those are the financial charges. Now let’s talk about the practical costs of the move itself.

Removal and Moving Costs

This one’s easy to overlook when you’re focused on the bigger numbers above, but it still needs budgeting for.

Removal costs typically range from £300 to £2,000+, depending on:

• Property size (a one-bed flat vs. a four-bed house)
• Distance (local move vs. cross-country)
• Whether you need packing, unpacking, or storage services
• Day of the week (weekends and month-ends tend to cost more)

Get at least three quotes from British Association of Removers members to ensure you’re dealing with reputable companies.

Depending on your property type, there may be a couple more costs to factor in.

Costs That Apply to Some Sellers

Selling a Leasehold Property?

If you’re selling a leasehold property, you’ll need to purchase a management information pack from your freeholder or managing agent. This typically costs £200 to £500, though some management companies charge £600 to £800 or more for complex buildings or in high-cost areas.

Order this pack as soon as you decide to sell. In our experience, waiting until a buyer is found can add three to four weeks to the process, and that delay has cost more than one seller their buyer.

Thinking About Repairs or Renovation?

This one’s optional, but worth thinking about. Selective upgrades may improve your sale price, though extensive spending doesn’t always provide a return on investment.

Focus on the high-impact, low-cost improvements: a fresh lick of paint, tidy gardens, decluttered rooms. Major structural work rarely pays for itself unless the property is in genuinely poor condition.

That’s every cost covered. Let’s put it all in one place so you can see the full picture.

The Full Picture: What Selling Actually Costs

Here’s everything at a glance:

Capital Gains Tax is additional where applicable; see the CGT section above.

Looking at those numbers, you might be wondering: is there a way to avoid some of these costs altogether?

How Property Rescue Can Eliminate These Costs

I’ll be straightforward with you: we’re not the right option for everyone. In fact, we turn away roughly 10% of enquiries where we believe the seller would be better served listing on the open market.

But for sellers who need speed, certainty, or want to avoid the costs and stress above, here’s what we offer:

• No estate agent fees: we’re the buyer, so there’s no middleman
• No conveyancing costs: we cover all legal fees on both sides
• No marketing expenses: we buy properties in any condition. (A valid EPC is still generally required when selling in England and Wales unless a statutory exemption applies; we can help arrange this.)
• A fast cash sale: no chain, minimal risk of fall-throughs, no gazumping
• Completion in days, not months: about 95% of our sales complete within four weeks of offer acceptance

The Honest Trade-Off

Our cash offers are below full market value. That’s the trade-off for speed, certainty, and zero fees.

But here’s what most people don’t consider: when you factor in estate agent commission (typically 1.5%), conveyancing fees, ongoing mortgage payments, council tax, and the carrying costs of a property sitting on the market for months, from what we’ve seen the net proceeds from a traditional sale often end up around 90–95% of market value anyway. The gap is smaller than you’d think.

And there’s another cost that rarely gets mentioned. Over our 20-plus years buying property, we’ve noticed that a significant number of sales agreed through estate agents never actually complete. Buyers pull out, chains collapse, mortgage offers get withdrawn. Each time it happens, the seller has already spent money on solicitors, surveys, and time, often running into thousands of pounds in wasted costs. With a cash buyer, that risk is significantly reduced.

Industry surveys suggest that a significant proportion of buyers engage in gazundering, dropping their offer at a late stage in the process. When you accept a cash offer from us, the price is the price. No renegotiation. No last-minute surprises.

Who We Typically Help

Over the last three years, we’ve completed over 500 purchases. Our typical sellers include people facing:

• Repossession risk or financial difficulty
• Divorce or separation
• Inherited properties they need to sell quickly
• Properties that have been on the market for months without selling
• Relocation for work on a tight timeline
• Landlords exiting the market

And if we think you’d do better on the open market? We’ll tell you. That’s a promise.