First-time buyer guide: the full 2026 cost list
Most first-time buyer guides tell you about the deposit and stop. The deposit is the part you already know about. This guide covers everything else: the six to eight thousand pounds of costs that appear between making an offer and getting the keys, and which sink more purchases than anything else.
In this guide
The real total: a worked example
A first-time buyer purchasing a £280,000 home in England with a 10% deposit. Average UK house prices sit around £272,000 to £299,000 depending on the index, so this is a realistic middle case.
| Cost | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit (10%) | £28,000 | The 90% LTV tier, 5.31% typical rate |
| Stamp duty | £0 | First-time buyer relief covers the first £300,000 |
| Conveyancing | £1,400 | Legal fees plus VAT |
| Searches & disbursements | £450 | Local authority, drainage, environmental |
| Land Registry fee | £150 | Scaled by price |
| Homebuyer survey | £600 | Level 2, strongly recommended |
| Mortgage product fee | £999 | Can be added to the loan, at a cost |
| Bank transfer fee | £40 | Charged by your conveyancer |
| Buildings insurance (first year) | £280 | Required from exchange, not completion |
| Removals | £600 | Or £150 for a van and willing friends |
| Total cash needed | £32,519 | £4,519 on top of the deposit |
Then there is what comes after completion: white goods if the seller takes theirs, curtains and blinds, a bed that fits, immediate repairs the survey flagged. Budget another £2,000 to £5,000 for the first three months, or accept living without a sofa for a while. Almost everyone underestimates this part.
The deposit, and the tiers that matter
The mainstream minimum is 5%. But mortgage pricing moves in tiers, and the difference between them is substantial.
| Deposit | Cash needed | Typical 5-year rate | Monthly payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% (95% LTV) | £14,000 | 5.79% | £1,680 |
| 10% (90% LTV) | £28,000 | 5.34% | £1,524 |
| 15% (85% LTV) | £42,000 | 5.06% | £1,400 |
| 20% (80% LTV) | £56,000 | 4.83% | £1,287 |
| 25% (75% LTV) | £70,000 | 4.64% | £1,184 |
Going from 5% to 10% deposit saves £156 a month, or £46,800 over 25 years, for £14,000 of extra saving. That is one of the best returns available to anyone in the UK. If you are within six months of the next tier, waiting is usually the right call.
The exception is a rising market: if prices are climbing faster than you are saving, the tier you are chasing keeps moving away. With annual growth around 1.8 to 2.0% in mid-2026, that pressure is mild, and saving to the next tier generally wins.
Stamp duty relief and the £500,000 cliff edge
In England and Northern Ireland, first-time buyers pay nothing on the first £300,000 and 5% between £300,001 and £500,000. Above £500,000 the relief disappears entirely, and it is a cliff edge, not a taper.
The £500,000 trap. At £500,000, a first-time buyer pays £10,000. At £500,001, they pay £15,000, standard rates on the whole purchase. One pound of price costs £5,000 of tax. If you are negotiating near that line, this is the single most valuable fact in this guide. Check any price on the stamp duty calculator.
Elsewhere in the UK: Scotland's LBTT gives first-time buyers a nil-rate band to £175,000, worth up to £600. Wales has no first-time buyer relief at all, but its £225,000 nil-rate band applies to everyone, which is the most generous starting threshold in the UK.
You count as a first-time buyer only if you have never owned a property anywhere in the world, including an inherited share. If you are buying jointly, both of you must qualify, or the relief is lost entirely.
Every other cost, itemised
- Conveyancing, £1,000 to £1,800 plus VAT. Get three quotes and check what is excluded, because some cheap quotes add fees for leasehold, help-to-buy, or gifted deposits.
- Searches, £350 to £550. Local authority, drainage and environmental. Non-negotiable and paid early, before you know whether the purchase will complete.
- Survey, £400 to £1,500. The lender's valuation is not a survey and protects only the lender. A Level 2 Homebuyer Report at around £600 is the usual choice; a Level 3 Building Survey at £900 to £1,500 is worth it for anything pre-1930 or visibly altered.
- Mortgage product fee, £0 to £1,999. Adding it to the loan costs roughly 75% more over 25 years in interest. Pay it upfront if you can.
- Broker fee, £0 to £500. Many brokers are free to you and paid by the lender. Ask before the first appointment.
- Land Registry, £20 to £500. Scaled by property price.
- Buildings insurance. Required from exchange of contracts, not completion, a detail that catches people out.
- Leasehold extras. If you are buying a flat, expect a management pack at £200 to £400 and possibly a notice of transfer fee. Check the ground rent and service charge carefully; both affect what a lender will lend.
The timeline, step by step
- Check your credit file: three to six months before you apply. Free with the main agencies. Fix errors early; they take weeks to correct.
- Work out your budget on the affordability calculator, then sense-check the monthly payment against what you actually spend.
- Get a decision in principle. Minutes, usually a soft search, and estate agents will ask for it.
- View, and view again. Second viewings at a different time of day catch traffic noise, parking problems and light issues.
- Offer. In England and Wales nothing is binding yet, so either side can walk away until exchange.
- Full mortgage application. Two to six weeks, including the lender's valuation.
- Survey and searches run in parallel. This is the slow part; searches can take two to eight weeks depending on the council.
- Exchange contracts. Now it is binding, and your deposit is at risk if you pull out. Insurance must be live.
- Completion. Usually one to two weeks after exchange, occasionally the same day.
Twelve to sixteen weeks from offer to keys is normal. Chains make it longer. Nothing about this process rewards optimism in your planning.
Seven mistakes that cost first-time buyers money
- Applying for credit during the process. A new card or car finance between decision in principle and completion can collapse the mortgage offer. Buy the sofa afterwards.
- Skipping the survey to save £600. A survey that finds £8,000 of roof work either gets you a price reduction or saves you from a much worse surprise.
- Not budgeting for the gap. Searches and surveys are paid weeks before completion, from money you might have earmarked as deposit.
- Ignoring the leasehold. A lease under 80 years is expensive to extend and hard to mortgage. Ask the length before you offer, not after.
- Taking the estate agent's recommended broker or solicitor without comparing. They may be good; they also usually pay the agent a referral fee.
- Maxing out the borrowing. Lenders stress-test at 8% for a reason. Borrowing your absolute maximum leaves nothing for a boiler, a job change, or a rate rise.
- Forgetting the deal end date. Set a reminder for five and a half years into a five-year fix. Rolling onto a 7.03% standard variable rate is the most expensive kind of forgetting.
Schemes worth knowing about
- Lifetime ISA. A 25% government bonus on up to £4,000 a year, so £1,000 free annually towards a first home up to £450,000. The property cap has not moved in years, which increasingly matters in the South East. Withdrawing for anything else incurs a penalty that exceeds the bonus.
- Shared ownership. Buy 10 to 75% and pay rent on the rest. It lowers the deposit needed, but you carry full maintenance costs, staircasing is expensive, and resale can be slow. Read the lease terms properly.
- Guarantor and family-assisted mortgages. Several lenders let a family member secure savings or a charge against their property to support the application, sometimes without needing a deposit from you at all.
- Gifted deposits. Common and accepted, but the lender will want a signed letter confirming it is a gift and not a loan, plus evidence of the donor's source of funds.
Do this next: work out your budget on the affordability calculator, check the monthly cost of a specific property on the mortgage calculator, and confirm the tax on the stamp duty calculator. Those three numbers are your whole picture.