Should I Move House Now?

There is no universal answer — it depends on your equity, your current mortgage rate versus today's rates, the price gap to the home you want, and how much of your savings the move consumes. That is why this tool scores your situation rather than the market. A household on a low fixed rate with a stretched income multiple may do better waiting; a household with strong equity, an expiring deal and a small price gap may do better moving now.

Personal Move Readiness measures facts about your finances today: affordability of the new payment (including the 4.5× income cap), transaction costs against your available cash, your equity and new loan-to-value, your emergency fund, and situational factors like chains. Market Timing Outlook measures only assumptions: the rate gap, the estimated cost or benefit of waiting, how the three scenarios fall, and whether waiting genuinely improves affordability. Each component is shown with its contribution, so you can see exactly why you scored what you scored.

No. It applies the growth assumption you choose (defaulted to a long-run UK average of 3% a year) to both properties equally, and shows you the consequences of that assumption — alongside conservative and optimistic variants so no single guess decides the answer. You can set growth to zero or negative to stress-test the decision. Nothing on this page is a forecast.

An honesty device. A projection built on an estimated property value, a five-year horizon and assumed future rates deserves less trust than one built on short horizons and near-default assumptions. The meter estimates how much confidence the analysis deserves — high, medium or low — and lists exactly which factors reduced it, so you know how firmly to lean on the result.

For a typical home-mover the big items are stamp duty, estate agent fees (commonly 1–1.5% of the sale price including VAT), conveyancing (around £1,500–£2,500 for sale and purchase), removals, a survey, and mortgage fees. In the worked example on this page the total is £18,475 on a £390,000 purchase — money that leaves your deposit and never comes back. The tool itemises every line so you can replace estimates with real quotes.

In England and Northern Ireland (from 1 April 2025), home-movers pay 0% up to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5m and 12% above. Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) use different bands, which the tool applies when you pick your region. The calculator shows the band-by-band breakdown for your target price.

In England and Northern Ireland, first-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000 and 5% on the portion to £500,000; above £500,000 the relief disappears entirely. Scotland raises the LBTT nil band to £175,000 for first-time buyers. Wales has no first-time buyer relief, but its standard nil band is higher at £225,000. Select "first-time buyer" and the tool applies the right relief.

The net effect of delaying your move. Waiting grows your equity and lets your mortgage amortise — but the dearer property you want usually grows faster in pounds, and transaction costs rise with prices. The Cost of Waiting card nets these against each other, line by line, and states whether delaying is estimated to cost or benefit you on your assumptions.

LTV is your mortgage as a percentage of the property's value. It matters twice: lenders price their best rates for lower LTVs (typically under 75%, best under 60%), and a lower LTV means more equity cushioning you against price falls. The tool shows your current LTV and the LTV you would take on after moving.

There is no legal limit, but payment-to-income under about 28% is comfortable for most households, 28–36% is workable but tighter, and above 36% leaves little slack for rate rises or income shocks. Separately, FCA rules make lenders restrict how much lending they do above 4.5× income, so a loan-to-income multiple over 4.5 may simply not be available. The tool flags both.

Waiting for rates is a gamble the tool deliberately refuses to make for you. Instead it shows the mechanics under three scenarios, and you can set the "expected rate if you wait" lower or higher to see how much a rate change actually moves the answer compared with everything else. Often the price gap and transaction costs matter more than a fraction of a percent on the rate.

Set the growth assumption negative and see. Falling prices cut your equity but also cut the price of the home you want — and because the target home is dearer, an equal percentage fall narrows the gap in pounds, which helps a mover. The reverse is also true: rising markets widen the gap. This asymmetry is one of the most misunderstood parts of the move-or-wait decision, and the House Price Gap card makes it visible.

Sometimes — many mortgages are "portable", meaning you can carry the deal to the new property and top up with a second loan at current rates. The blended payment then sits between the tool's "current" and "new" figures. Porting is subject to affordability checks, and early repayment charges may apply if you cannot port. Ask your lender before treating your low rate as locked in — or as lost.

A chain increases the chance of delay and collapse (each link can fail), which costs money in re-arranged mortgage offers, repeated searches and expired surveys, and weakens your negotiating position. Chain-free movers and first-time buyers are more attractive to sellers and often secure better prices. The readiness score gives a small credit for being chain-free.

If your equity plus available savings, after keeping your emergency buffer, cannot cover the moving costs and any deposit, the tool flags that the move does not stack up yet and shows the shortfall. That is a cash-flow fact, not a judgement — the waiting table shows how quickly amortisation, growth and saving close the gap.

No. It is a decision-support estimate built from your own inputs and published assumptions. It does not know your credit history, your lender's criteria, or your life plans. Before acting, get a Decision in Principle from a lender or speak to a whole-of-market mortgage broker, and use MoneyHelper's free guidance. Nothing here guarantees any outcome.

No. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent to a server, stored, or shared. Refreshing the page clears it.

Treat it as a green light to do the real checks, in order: get an agent's valuation (or three) on your current home, ask your lender about porting and early repayment charges, get a Decision in Principle for the new borrowing, and collect real quotes for conveyancing and removals to replace the tool's estimates. If the numbers still hold with real figures, you are deciding on lifestyle, not affordability.