Cost of moving home in England eases 2.3% to £17,413, with stamp duty still more than half the bill

Reallymoving puts the upfront cost of a typical home move in England at £17,413 in 2026, down 2.3% (£418) on last year's record, in figures published on 5 October. Most of the fall is mechanical: a lower median purchase price (£390,000, from £395,000) trims the typical stamp duty bill by £250 to £9,500, a lower median sale price cuts typical agent fees by £142 to £4,473, and removals for a move of under 30 miles fell almost 12% to £624. For buyers, stamp duty is still more than half of the total and conveyancing moved the other way, up £59 to £2,241; for sellers moving up the ladder, the saving is real but small set against deposits and today's mortgage rates. The total remains 74% higher than a decade earlier, so this is a slight easing, not a removal of one of the main brakes on moving.