In most Scottish moves the largest single cost is not the removal or the solicitor. It is Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, and it falls due at settlement, on the same day you need the money for everything else.
Moving house in Scotland has a different cost structure from moving in England, and most cost guides online are written for the English one. This sets out every cost in a Scottish purchase, who you pay it to, when it falls due, and which ones you lose if the deal collapses.
The short version
- LBTT is the biggest number for most buyers and it is payable by the buyer, at settlement.
- The Home Report is paid for by the seller, so as a buyer you get the survey without commissioning one.
- Legal costs are two separate things: your solicitor’s fee, and outlays they pay on your behalf.
- The removal is variable and is one of the smaller lines for most households, though it is the one people notice.
- Once missives conclude you are bound, so the window in which you can lose money and walk away is much shorter than in England.
What a Scottish move is actually made of
Eight cost lines, and they do not all fall at the same time. Cash flow catches people out more often than the total does.
| Cost | Who you pay | When it falls due | Lost if it collapses? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Report | A chartered surveyor | Before marketing, if you are selling | Yes, if you are the seller |
| Estate agency fee | Your selling agent | On completion of the sale | Usually no |
| Mortgage arrangement and valuation | Your lender or broker | On application or on offer | Often yes |
| Solicitor’s fee | Your solicitor | At settlement | Partly, for work done |
| Outlays and searches | Your solicitor, on your behalf | During the transaction | Yes, once incurred |
| Land and Buildings Transaction Tax | Revenue Scotland | At settlement | No, it is never triggered |
| Registration dues | Registers of Scotland | After settlement | No |
| The removal | Your removals firm | Around the date of entry | Depends on notice given |
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax
LBTT replaced Stamp Duty in Scotland on 1 April 2015 and is administered by Revenue Scotland rather than HMRC. It is progressive: each rate applies only to the slice of the price inside that band, not to the whole price.
| Portion of the purchase price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £145,000 | 0% |
| £145,001 to £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 to £325,000 | 5% |
| £325,001 to £750,000 | 10% |
| Above £750,000 | 12% |
Worked through, that produces the following for a main residence:
| Purchase price | LBTT due |
|---|---|
| £200,000 | £1,100 |
| £250,000 | £2,100 |
| £300,000 | £4,600 |
| £400,000 | £13,350 |
First-time buyer relief raises the nil rate band from £145,000 to £175,000, worth up to £600. Unlike the English equivalent there is no upper price limit, so it applies whatever you are buying.
The Additional Dwelling Supplement applies if you already own a residential property anywhere in the world, and it is charged at a flat 8% on additional dwellings of £40,000 and above. The detail that catches people is that ADS is charged on the entire purchase price, not band by band. On a £300,000 second property that is £24,000 on top of the £4,600 standard charge.
The trap for anyone moving from England is the 10% band. It starts at £325,001 in Scotland, where the equivalent English rate does not arrive until far higher. A mid-priced Scottish house can attract materially more tax than the same price south of the border.
LBTT rates, bands and reliefs correct as at 31 July 2026, per Revenue Scotland. The Scottish Budget 2026 to 2027 confirmed all rates, bands and ADS remain unchanged. Check the Revenue Scotland residential rates page before relying on these figures.
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The Home Report and the survey
In Scotland the seller commissions the Home Report and the buyer reads it for free. That is a genuine saving compared with England, where buyers routinely pay for their own survey.
What it costs the seller depends on the value of the property, the surveyor, and how quickly it is needed. It contains three parts: a single survey with a valuation, a property questionnaire, and an energy report.
Two things to watch as a buyer. Your lender may not accept a Home Report beyond a certain age and may want it refreshed or retyped, which is a cost that lands on you rather than the seller. And if the single survey values the property below your offer, the gap between valuation and price has to come from your own funds.
Legal fees and outlays
Your solicitor’s bill is two separate things, and comparing quotes without separating them is how people end up surprised.
The fee is what the firm charges for its own work: negotiating missives, examining title, dealing with your lender, and settling. It varies by firm and by complexity, and it is worth asking whether it is fixed or hourly.
Outlays are sums the solicitor pays out on your behalf and recharges: property searches, Registers of Scotland registration dues, the LBTT submission, bank transfer charges. These are not the firm’s income and they are largely not negotiable.
Ask any firm for a written breakdown separating fee from outlays, including VAT, before you instruct. A quote that looks cheaper is often one that has left the outlays out.
Mortgage and lender costs
Arrangement and product fees vary by lender and by product, and can often be added to the loan, which makes them feel free and is not. Valuation fees depend on the lender and the property value, and some products include them.
The one worth planning for is timing. Lender costs are often incurred early, well before missives conclude, which makes them the money most at risk if the purchase does not proceed.
The removal itself
This is the line people budget first and it is rarely the biggest. It is also the only one on the list with no standard rate, because it is priced on what is actually being moved rather than on the value of the property.
What sets it is volume, access at both ends, the floor each property is on, whether there is a lift, how far the van has to park from the door, whether you want packing, anything specialist, and whether your dates leave a gap that needs storage. A month-end Friday date of entry, which is most Scottish dates, also tightens availability, so it is worth understanding when to book a removal company in Scotland before that date is written into the missives.
Because none of that is visible from a postcode, any firm quoting without asking those questions is guessing. Send the details through the quote form and you will get a written price, or read what is involved in a house removal in Glasgow first.
What you lose if the purchase falls through
This is where Scotland differs most, and it works in your favour.
Before missives conclude, either side can walk away. Anything you have already spent is gone: lender fees, searches, any survey work you commissioned yourself, and your solicitor’s time to that point.
Once missives conclude, both parties are bound and the date of entry is fixed. There is no equivalent of an English buyer pulling out the week before completion, because by then there is a binding contract. The practical consequence is that the risk window in Scotland is shorter, and it sits earlier in the process.
What you never lose is LBTT and registration dues, because neither is triggered until settlement actually happens.
Where the total gets underestimated
Four places, consistently.
ADS on a delayed sale. If you buy your next home before your current one sells, you own two properties on the effective date and ADS applies. It can be reclaimed if you sell the previous main residence within the time limit, but you have to find the money first, and 8% of the full price is a large sum to bridge.
Outlays counted as fees. People compare solicitors on the fee and then meet the outlays at settlement.
The valuation gap. If the single survey comes in below your offer, your deposit has to stretch further, because the lender lends against the valuation.
The overlap. When entry dates do not line up, you are paying for two properties, or for storage, for a period nobody planned for.
When this does not apply to you
It does not apply to a rental move. There are no missives, no LBTT and no Home Report, and your costs are a deposit, any agency fees permitted in Scotland, and the removal.
It does not cover buying a new build off-plan, where the Home Report position differs and the developer’s timetable, not a date of entry, sets the schedule.
And it is not tax advice. LBTT has reliefs, exemptions and edge cases, particularly around ADS, joint ownership and inherited property, that a general guide cannot cover. Your solicitor deals with the return, and Revenue Scotland publishes the detailed guidance.
Common questions about the cost of moving house in Scotland
Who pays for the Home Report in Scotland?
The seller. As a buyer you receive it free, though your lender may require it to be refreshed if it is old, and that cost usually falls on you.
When do I have to pay LBTT?
At settlement. Your solicitor submits the return and pays it on your behalf as part of the settlement, so the funds need to be with them before the date of entry, not after.
Do first-time buyers pay LBTT in Scotland?
Not on the first £175,000, thanks to first-time buyer relief, which raises the nil rate band from the standard £145,000. Above that, the normal bands apply. The relief is worth up to £600 and has no upper property price limit.
What happens to ADS if I have not sold my old house yet?
You pay it, then reclaim it if you sell your previous main residence within the time limit set by Revenue Scotland. Speak to your solicitor early, because the money has to be found at settlement regardless.
How do I get a price for the removal?
Send the number of bedrooms at both addresses, the floor each property is on and whether there is a lift, your date of entry, and anything unusually large or fragile. Photographs of the rooms tell us more than a written list. Send it through the quote form and you will get a written price back.
For the process itself rather than the money, the Scottish moving checklist works through it from missives to date of entry.
Send us the addresses, the floors and your date of entry and we will come back with a written quote.
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