Valuation fee, budget £100 - £500
A valuation fee, often depending on the property price, will be charged by the proposed lender.

Survey £300 - £1000
It is worth commissioning your own survey. There are different levels of detail you can specify from a simple, relatively inexpensive basic report to full structural surveys and specialist reports, which cover trees, electrical systems, damp, and other conditions. You should consider commissioning a full structural survey - especially if the property is old, unusual construction or could be in need of repair.

Booking or processing fee
When you apply for a mortgage you may be charged by the lender a booking fee or application fee for a fixed rate or discounted mortgage.

Completion or arrangement fee, budget £200-400
An arrangement fee is often charged by the lender once the mortgage is complete. This is usually added to the loan.

Higher Lending Charge
The lender's insurer can charge a Higher Lending Charge (HLC) fee if the loan amount is over 75% of the property valuation. Some lenders will pay this for you if the Loan-to-Value is less than 90%. The fee can be added to the mortgage or paid separately. This insurance is to protect the lender and not yourself.

Legal fees, budget £500-£3000
When you purchase a property and apply for a mortgage, or if you are remortgaging, you'll need a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to carry out the legal work for you. You'll also need to budget for necessary land registry and local authority searches, often referred to as disbursements. Ask for a quotation beforehand.

Paying SDLT
If you buy either a freehold or a leasehold property and the purchase price is more than £125,000, you pay SDLT of between one and five per cent of the whole purchase price. See the table below for more detail.
 
If the purchase price is £125,000 or less you don't pay any SDLT.
 
First-time buyers
If you are a first-time buyer the threshold for when you start to pay SDLT is £250,000. This is only if you have never owned a house or flat in the UK or anywhere else in the world. If you are buying with someone else they must never have owned property before either. This higher threshold applies to purchases made on or after 25 March 2010 and before 25 March 2012.
 
Purchase price of residential        Rate of SDLT
property Rate of SDLT                - first-time buyers
(% of total purchase price)           (% of total purchase price)

£0 - £125,000  0%                               0%
£125,001 - £250,000  1%                    0%
£250,001 - £500,000  3%                    3%
£500,001 - £1 million  4%                   4%
£1 million or more  5%                        5%
 
You can check current rates of SDLT on the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website

Moving
Get at least three quotes and check the insurance and packing methods.

Mortgage administration fee
Once your mortgage is active you may be charged an administration fee if you require further services such as additional loans or changes to your mortgage deeds.

Buildings insurance
You should insure your home for at least the full rebuilding cost against damage caused by major risks such as fire, flood and subsidence. You could extend your level of cover to include full accidental damage. The amount may not be the same as the market value of the property.

Contents insurance
This is designed to protect all the things in your home, which are not fixtures or fittings. You can usually tailor contents insurance cover to suit your own particular needs.

Mortgage payment protection insurance
If you become unemployed, or an accident or sickness prevents you from working, this cover ensures that your mortgage payments are covered. You can usually extend your cover to include other regular expenses such as endowment premiums and utility bills. This is subject to eligability.

If you're self employed, you won't be able to claim unless you've actually stopped trading. And workers on short-term contracts may not be able to claim until they have been in the same job for a year with the contract renewed within this period.

Life cover
Most people arrange life assurance cover to pay off the outstanding mortgage loan if they die. If your mortgage is backed by an existing endowment policy, life cover is automatically included, but you can easily add to this in order to cover any shortfall.