Use current figures for your circumstances
Property taxes and transaction costs depend on location, price, ownership history, intended use, reliefs, lender, property, and timing. Rules and fees change. Obtain current figures from official calculators, written professional quotes, and your lender or broker. Viewing Ledger deliberately does not calculate tax or recommend a financial product.
Give every amount a source and date. “Surveyor quote, 29 August” is stronger than “survey estimate.” When no reliable figure exists, record unknown instead of zero. Zero means no cost; unknown means more work is needed before comparison.
Six lines are not enough for every buyer
Purchase and finance
Record deposit, current purchase-tax figure for your circumstances, lender product or arrangement fees, valuation charges, transfer costs, and any broker fee. Keep financed fees visible even when they are added to borrowing.
Legal and due diligence
Record conveyancing quote, searches, Land Registry or registration items, identity checks, survey, and any specialist inspection recommended for the property. State whether VAT and disbursements are included in quotes.
Moving and setup
Record removals, packing, storage, travel, cleaning, insurance, utilities, locks, basic furnishings, and connection or installation work relevant to your move. Avoid copying another buyer’s assumptions.
Immediate work and reserve
Separate essential work needed before occupation, work expected in the first year, optional improvements, and a buyer-chosen reserve. Link each amount to a quote, professional report, personal allowance, or unknown status.
Add categories that matter to your household: accessibility work, childcare changes, commuting, pet arrangements, leasehold charges, parking permits, electric charging, home-working equipment, or overlap between old and new homes. Exclude costs only after deciding they do not apply.
Separate cash timing from total cost
Record when money may be needed: before offer, on instruction, during conveyancing, at exchange, at completion, during the move, or after occupation. A cost financed over time affects borrowing and repayment; it is not the same as cash due now. Ask your lender, broker, and conveyancer to explain timing and conditions for your transaction.
Keep purchase cash and ongoing affordability as separate questions. Council tax, energy, insurance, maintenance, service charges, ground rent where applicable, transport, and mortgage payments can shape affordability but may not all be completion costs. Build a separate household budget with current evidence.
Connect work allowances to viewing evidence
Use your property viewing checklist to identify follow-ups, then update amounts when surveys, inspections, or quotations arrive. Keep cosmetic preferences apart from urgent safety, weatherproofing, habitability, lender, or insurance matters. Viewing impressions cannot establish scope or cost of work.
If a seller or agent provides an estimate, record it as reported, not verified. If a professional report identifies further investigation, leave the allowance open until appropriate evidence arrives. This protects comparison from false precision.
Compare at the same boundary
Choose one definition—such as purchase plus first-year buyer-controlled cash—and apply it to every shortlisted property. Do not include a cost for one property while hiding the equivalent unknown for another. Show purchase price, entered costs, reserve, and unresolved amounts separately before looking at a total.
Arithmetic can reveal that two similarly priced homes need different cash, but it cannot decide which home suits you or what offer to make. Recheck documents, condition, legal position, finance, and personal priorities. Use our viewing questions to close factual gaps.
Primary and public guidance
Last reviewed 29 August 2026. Confirm current rules and costs for your location and circumstances.