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The True Cost of Buying a £1m Home

Having £1m in the bank does not always mean that you’re in a position to buy a million-pound home. While property has proven itself to be a worthwhile investment in the long-term and the sale of high-value properties is on the rise, it’s important to consider all the hidden and associated costs involved with purchasing a property at this price tag.

Even if you have enough cash to buy the property outright and don’t need a mortgage to make the purchase, there are still various upfront and ongoing costs to consider. Here are some of the costs associated with buying a £1m home.

Broker Fees

Even if you have £1m in the bank, it’s likely that you will be required to get a high-value mortgage in order to free up cash to cover many of the costs associated with purchasing a high-value home. And, at this buying level, you might find that it’s harder to get a mortgage from banks and other conventional lenders due to the level of risk associated with lending this amount of money.

However, there are specialised companies that can help. Enness Global is a large mortgage broker working with a global network of over 500 lenders that are willing to provide larger mortgage amounts. You’ll need to factor in the cost of broker fees when you get a large mortgage from Enness.

Stamp Duty

Stamp duty costs on a £1m home will set you back a huge amount at just over £43,000. And, if your million-pound property is a second home purchase, your stamp duty will come in even higher, and you’ll be charged a further £30,000 on the whole price before you have even moved in. This can certainly be one of the biggest expenses associated with purchasing a £1m home that is very important to budget for.

Surveying

The more you’re prepared to spend on a home, the more thorough of a survey you will want to ensure that it is contractually sound and to be aware of any problems or issues before you commit to buying.

Costs for a full building survey start at around £750, but this can get even higher depending on the type, age and size of the home, and whether or not any issues are discovered, in which case you may want to pay for an even more detailed survey to be carried out.

Legal Fees

You will need to work with a legal professional to carry out any legal work that’s involved in purchasing your home. The higher the value of the property, the more the legal fees are likely to cost. As a general rule of thumb, you should budget up to £2,000 to pay for the solicitor’s fees, and an additional £500 at least for disbursements such as local searches, environmental searches and Land Registry searches.