How much does it cost to sell and buy a house?

[MinimalistMommi]

Wondering what sort of budget I need, the house I have currently cost just under £160,000 and we would be looking to buy something is similar price bracket. We do not need to factor in removal costs as we would do that ourselves. We have a five year fixed mortgage.

having done both recently:

no stamp duty in that price range - great news as that is the big one!
agents fee - try for 1% or you may even want to use the online agents for a few hundred if your house will be easy to sell.
solicitors - my good one (not a high street one, v. expensive) charges about £500 for each end, plus there are the searches (depends on council, say £200) and survey. (£300)
mortgage fees - whatever they are
and trivia like post redirect (£30 for three months)

You've got to factor in estate agent fees if you're selling (this can really vary, in my area it's around 1.5% +VAT), stamp duty for the new property, legal fees, probably need to pay for a survey,
Remember lots of fees you are quoted (estate agents, solicitors) do not include VAT, so can end up being more than you first thought.
It's impossible to be more specific with costs as they vary regionally.

I would have a go at selling the house yourself and save the agents fees, if you feel confident enough.

specialsubject thanks, do you you know if you can transfer fixed rate mortgages to a new house?

I think stamp duty is now 1% for properties £125,000 - £250,000.
You'll have to check with your lender about transferring mortgage, it's usually fine but they will want a survey on the new property which I'd imagine you would have to pay for.

FlouncingMintyy any tips on selling privately? Our house is in a prime location, close to station (for commuting to London) and is in spitting distance of houses that cost £500,000.

It's feels too busy for me, I've only been here a few days and I'm thinking about selling already!

Re selling privately, we used an online agent and that worked well for us--cost 500 inc. VAT. Main reason we did this rather than privately was to get our place on rightmove. There are a few threads on here that you should be able to find re: online agents.

Our selling costs all in, with the online agent, were 1,500. For buying, you'll probably be looking at c. 3000 (1600 stamp duty, 400 survey, 1000 solicitors fees, searches, land registry etc). Plus you will probably have to pay fees to transfer your mortgage, if your provider will allow you to do that.

brain-fade, sorry -the stamp duty threshold is indeed £125k. Apologies.

this is paid by the buyer.