How much do I need to save to buy a £300k house

cmcco79.cm

Hi all, i'm saving to buy a house and was wondering other than the deposit and moving costs what else do I need to save for? I currently have £25k saved and looking to buy next year. Also, am I best keeping my savings in my Nationwide Savings Account? 

TroubledTarts

Depends what your salary is for the affordability calculator.

Presuming you earn enough to get a £270k mortgage then £30k would be nice to open up 90% ltv mortgages but the more the better in all honesty. The lower the ltv the better the rates.

To add to this as the doorbell rang and I hit save comment

£10k for solicitors, moving, new furniture, immediate repairs and stamp duty etc should see you through.

firsttimebuyer29rp

I would say:
£30k deposit (assuming you’re going for 10%)
£3k for conveyancing and similar costs (overcooking it a bit but being safe) 
£2-5k for renovations, but depends entirely on what condition the house is in and how quickly you’re looking to make your stamp on it
£1-2k to give you breathing space if first mortgage payment is higher than expected 

I think if you aimed for £40k you’d be fine. But realistically £33k should cover everything. 

You won’t need to pay stamp duty assuming you’re a FTB. 

We’re going through it all at the moment as FTB and really left ourselves short. Had the 10% deposit exactly and have had to find an extra £4.5k to cover conveyancing, £2k stamp duty and broker fees. This is without us having money left over to do anything to the house. 

MattMattMattUK

cmcco79.cm said:

Hi all, i'm saving to buy a house and was wondering other than the deposit and moving costs what else do I need to save for? I currently have £25k saved and looking to buy next year. Also, am I best keeping my savings in my Nationwide Savings Account? 

TroubledTarts said:

Depends what your salary is for the affordability calculator.

Presuming you earn enough to get a £270k mortgage then £30k would be nice to open up 90% ltv mortgages but the more the better in all honesty. The lower the ltv the better the rates

Although £30k deposit on a £300k house would in theory be a 90% LTV the buyer/OP also needs to account for potential stamp duty of £3,000 if they are not a total first time buyer (eg. they may have owned in the past and now rent), legal fees which would be £2,000-3,000 depending on the property, other potential fees if a leasehold, cost of moving, cost of furnishing etc. I would suggest that to be able to hit an 90% LTV on a £300k property they are realistically going to need a minimum of £40k. To be able to borrow £270k they would need to earn around £68k and have zero other debt. 

Exodi

cmcco79.cm said:

Hi all, i'm saving to buy a house and was wondering other than the deposit and moving costs what else do I need to save for? I currently have £25k saved and looking to buy next year. Also, am I best keeping my savings in my Nationwide Savings Account? 

Well I'd try to strive for 90% LTV (meaning you'd need to put down an initial £30k). 95% LTV deals do exist but are not as common and more expensive.

You haven't really touched on your financial situation, but if you did take out a mortgage at 90% LTV (aka £270k) you'd need to be earning £60k+ (as most lenders offer 4.5x gross salary as the maximum).

On top of this, as firsttimebuyer29rp says you'll need extra money to pay for conveyancing and to cushion the move in (such as repairing a leaking toilet that you uncover that the previous seller had presumably been mopping up before viewings!!).

I think they've gone a bit over the top with the costs/estimates, I think £5k would be more than enough.

cmcco79.cm said:

Also, am I best keeping my savings in my Nationwide Savings Account? 

Personally I'd look into a LISA if you're not buying for a year - you can put in £4k now (and the government puts in £1k) and then another £4k in a year (with the government putting in another £2k). If you're buying with someone they can do the same.

https://www.gov.uk/lifetime-isa

cmcco79.cm

Thanks all. I did own in the past and sold after separation and rented so will need to pay stamp duty. Earnings are over £100k per year. No credit history problems.

Albermarle

Very approx and assuming on a budget.
10% deposit - £30K
Buying/legal costs - £2.5K
 Stamp duty £5K
Repairs/updates/decorating house - £5K ( assuming it does not need much doing)
Furniture, bed, washing machine etc - £5K
Contingency - £5K

So call it £55K all in to be on the safer side.

You should save the money in an easy access savings account, with whoever is paying a good interest rate.
Assuming you are working, but not on a high salary, you will pay tax on any interest above £1000, which with interest rates up to 5% this is likely to happen.
So you should put at least some of the money in an easy access cash ISA, to protect it from tax.
If you have not added to an ISA so far this tax year, probably a good idea to put the max £20K in one quickly, as the tax year ends shortly.

Easy Access Cash ISAs | Up to 5.28% AER | March 2025

Or if you want to stay with Nationwide.
Compare Savings Accounts & ISAs | Nationwide

Or have a look at a LISA, as suggested , but again do not hang about.