You will usually pay the lender a fee when submitting the application form for the surveyor to value your prospective home. This is done for the lender’s benefit to confirm that the property is adequate security for the loan. It may tell you if there are any major problems with the property such as damp, electrical or structural problems but you should not rely on it to do so. The amount you can borrow will be based upon the valuation on the report rather than the amount you are paying for the property and usually if this is lower than the purchase price then it may be possible to renegotiate a lower price with the vendor. We can, of course, help you with this.

The cost of a valuation report is dependant on the purchase price of the property. However, as a guide, it usually ranges from £150- £500. This is much more comprehensive than a valuation report and is always advisable for someone purchasing an older property or one in a poor state of repair. The report is designed to point out both major and minor defects giving you a much better indication of any future expenses and potential problems. Sometimes a saving can be made if we ask the lender to instruct the same surveyor to carry out this survey at the same time as their valuation. As a guide, the cost of the report is approximately double the price of the basic valuation. This is a much more in depth report on the structure of the property and is usually commissioned if the buyer is especially concerned about structural movement or if the house is very old. They can be expensive (often in excess of £1000) but are extremely comprehensive as they usually involve digging down to the foundations of the property. Most of our clients will commission a Homebuyers Report first which should disclose whether further investigations are required. These could include a Structural Engineers Report which will focus on the problems highlighted in the Homebuyers Report. These are the fees sometimes charged by the lender to arrange the mortgage for you. The booking fee is usually charged to secure a particular fixed rate deal. They vary between product to product and we have a duty to make you aware of these on any illustrations that we provide before you decide if a particular deal is right for you. The fee is usually £200-£500 and can often be added to the loan or it should be paid with the application although some lenders will deduct it from the amount sent to the solicitor on completion. The deposit for your property is due on exchange of contracts if you are a first time buyer although we will need confirmation of the amount you have when before we can source a mortgage for you. This is a fee payable to some lenders if you are borrowing a high percentage of the purchase price. Put simply, it is an insurance policy paid for by you that protects the lender if they are forced to repossess the property which is subsequently sold at a loss. It is important to note that although this policy is paid for by the borrower, it protects the lender only. If the insurer has to meet a claim following repossession, they can pursue the borrower for the amount of the claim. Generally speaking , we will try and avoid placing your mortgage with a lender that charges a MIG. These fees vary significantly depending on area of the country, purchase price, service provided by the solicitor etc. We are able to give you a detailed quote within a few minutes from a panel of over 150 firms of Solicitors. Please see our section on ‘Appointing a Solicitor’ for more details. This is a government tax on property purchase and is therefore impossible to avoid. It is paid to your solicitor on completion of your purchase and cannot be added to the mortgage. The threshold is now so low that with the rise in house prices over the last few years almost everyone is charged it. The fees are based on the purchase price of your property as follows-

£120,000 and below 0%
£120,001 to £250,000 1%
£250,001 and above 3%
£501,000 and above 4%

A few areas in the country are exempt from stamp duty. You can find out if your new purchase is one of them by checking the Inland Revenue website.



Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

The FSA does not regulate legal advice or some forms of mortgage.