Buying a first home budget checklist
Built around everything past the deposit — survey, fees, moving costs, the repairs a survey usually turns up — priced out before an offer goes in rather than after it's accepted.
16 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Deposit amount confirmed against what's actually saved
- Mortgage costs estimated: arrangement fee, valuation fee, ongoing repayments
- Solicitor or conveyancer fees costed
- Survey booked and costedThe cheapest survey isn't always the right one for an older or unusual property.
- Stamp duty or the equivalent property tax calculated
- Removal costs budgeted
- Buildings insurance costed from the point contracts exchange
- Life insurance or mortgage protection reviewed
- Immediate repairs or works budgeted separately from moving costsA survey usually turns up something, and it's rarely cheap.
- Furniture and appliances budgeted for what the new place actually needs
- Utility connections and any standing charges budgeted for the first weeks
- Council tax band checked for the new property
- Ongoing service charge or ground rent checked, if the property has one
- Legal searches costed as part of the conveyancing fees
- A contingency fund kept aside for the purchase falling throughA chain collapsing after fees are paid is common enough to budget for, not just hope against.
- Mortgage offer validity dates checked against the likely completion date
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- What costs catch first-time buyers out most?
- The ones beyond the deposit — survey, solicitor fees, moving costs, and whatever repairs a survey turns up. Budgeting only for the deposit is the most common shortfall.
- Is it worth paying for a more thorough survey?
- On an older or unusual property, yes — the fee is small next to the cost of missing a structural problem that only shows up after moving in.
- What happens to fees already paid if a purchase falls through?
- Most are non-refundable — survey and some legal work in particular. It's worth budgeting as if that money could be lost, since chains collapse for reasons outside anyone's control.