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Cost of selling a house in Norfolk: agent, solicitor, EPC and removals
Selling an average-priced Norfolk house costs about £5,400 once the agent, solicitor, EPC and removals are paid. The agent's commission is roughly 70% of that.
Selling an average-priced Norfolk house costs about £5,400 once you have paid the estate agent, the solicitor, the EPC and a local removal firm. The agent’s commission is roughly 70% of that, and it is also the one cost you can negotiate much. The HomeOwners Alliance puts the UK figure at about £5,000 on a £290,000 sale; Norfolk’s average price is lower, so the commission is smaller, but the percentages are the same.
The main costs
| Cost | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Estate agent commission | 1.2% to 1.8% including VAT (sole agency) | Average 1.42% including VAT. Multi-agency 3% to 3.6%. |
| Conveyancing | £610 to £950 | Freehold. About £300 more for leasehold, about £50 more if there is a mortgage to pay off. |
| Energy Performance Certificate | £60 to £120 | Needed before you market the house. Valid 10 years. |
| Removals | £334 to £2,243 | By size and distance. A three-bed move within 20 miles is about £731. |
| Mortgage charges | Set by your lender | An exit fee, and an early repayment charge if you are inside a fixed or discounted deal. |
The Norfolk average price was £269,185 in July 2026, according to the HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, up 0.7% on a year earlier against 1.1% for England. At 1.42% the agent’s fee on that price is £3,822. Add £750 for conveyancing with a mortgage to redeem, £60 for an EPC and £731 to move a three-bedroom house within 20 miles, and the total is £5,363.
Estate agent commission
The average sole-agency fee is 1.42% including VAT, according to the HomeOwners Alliance, and the usual range is 1.2% to 1.8%. The Alliance suggests aiming for 1.2% or less. On the Norfolk average price, 1.2% instead of 1.42% saves £592. Each 0.1% is worth about £269.
Multi-agency, where several agents market the house and only the one who sells it is paid, typically costs 3% to 3.6% including VAT. It is a way to get more agents working on a house that is not selling, and it costs roughly twice the sole-agency rate or more.
Online and hybrid agents charge a fixed fee, which the HomeOwners Alliance puts at £0 to £999 for a basic package. Purplebricks advertises selling from £999 including VAT, and Yopa’s packages start at £999 and rise to £2,199, with more help with viewings at the higher levels. The fee is the same whatever the house sells for, so the saving is largest on dearer houses. With the basic packages you show buyers round and negotiate yourself, which matters more on an unusual house than on a Norwich terrace like its neighbours. Our guide to Norfolk estate agents lists local firms and what to ask them.
Before you sign, ask three things: the fee and whether it includes VAT, the length of the tie-in, and whether the contract is “no sale, no fee” or “ready, willing and able”. Under a ready, willing and able clause you can owe the fee once the agent finds a buyer prepared to proceed, even if the sale never completes. The HomeOwners Alliance says tie-ins typically run 4 to 12 weeks and anything longer is unnecessary.
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Conveyancing
Your solicitor or conveyancer drafts the contract, answers the buyer’s solicitor’s enquiries, pays off your mortgage and transfers the property at HM Land Registry. The HomeOwners Alliance puts the fee for a freehold sale at £610 to £950, a spread of £340 for broadly the same work.
A leasehold sale costs about £300 more, mostly because your solicitor has to get a leasehold management pack from the freeholder or managing agent and deal with it. The pack itself costs £300 to £800. In Norfolk that mostly means flats: 427 of the 1,602 standard sales in the Norwich council area in the year to June 2026 were flats.
Paying off a mortgage adds about £50. Get three quotes and compare them on the same basis: the fee, VAT and every disbursement, such as Land Registry copies and ID checks. A quote for the fee alone can look cheaper than it is. Our Norfolk conveyancing guide covers choosing a firm.
Energy Performance Certificate
You must order an EPC before you market the house, under the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, and you can be fined if you do not. A certificate lasts 10 years, so check the government register at find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk first; if yours is still valid, you do not need another.
A domestic energy assessor does the survey. Your agent can arrange one, or you can book an accredited assessor yourself through the government’s find-an-assessor service. The HomeOwners Alliance puts the cost at £60 to £120.
Removals
The HomeOwners Alliance’s removal prices, including VAT, run from £334 for a one-bedroom move of up to 20 miles to £2,243 for five bedrooms over 100 miles. For a three-bedroom house the figures are £731 up to 20 miles, £814 for 20 to 50 miles, £1,009 for 50 to 100 miles and £1,446 beyond that.
Many moves within Norfolk fall in the first two bands. By road, Norwich is about 21 miles from Great Yarmouth, 24 from Cromer and 44 from King’s Lynn. Norwich is more than 100 miles from central London by road, so a move to London sits in the top band. Get three quotes and ask which include packing. Our guide to Norfolk removal companies lists local firms.
Costs that depend on your circumstances
Your lender may charge an exit fee for closing the mortgage account. The amount is in your mortgage offer.
If you are still inside a fixed or discounted deal, there may also be an early repayment charge, usually a percentage of the balance. A 4% charge on a £100,000 balance is £4,000. Read your offer before you put the house on the market: if the deal ends in a few months, waiting may be cheaper than paying the charge.
You do not usually pay Capital Gains Tax when you sell your own home. On a second home or a buy-to-let, gains above the £3,000 annual allowance are taxed at 18% within the basic-rate band and 24% above it.
The buyer’s solicitor may ask you for indemnity insurance if a document is missing, such as a planning permission or a building regulations certificate. It is a one-off premium and is often quicker than putting the paperwork right.
Worked examples
Each uses the 1.42% average commission, £750 for conveyancing with a mortgage to redeem, a £60 EPC and the HomeOwners Alliance removal prices.
A two-bedroom house in Great Yarmouth at the town’s median of £140,000, moving within 20 miles: commission £1,988, conveyancing £750, EPC £60, removals £487. Total £3,285.
A three-bedroom house at the Norfolk average of £269,185, moving within 20 miles: commission £3,822, conveyancing £750, EPC £60, removals £731. Total £5,363.
A four-bedroom house in Holt at the town’s median of £335,000, moving more than 100 miles: commission £4,757, conveyancing £750, EPC £60, removals £1,837. Total £7,404. At 1.2% commission the agent’s fee falls to £4,020, a saving of £737.
How long it takes
Rightmove’s figures for September 2026 put the average time from sale agreed to completion at 171 days in the East of England, against 154 days across Great Britain. That is more than five months, and a long chain or a leasehold pack that arrives late will add to it. A buyer with no house to sell usually shortens it.
How to cut costs
Negotiate the agent’s percentage before you sign, not after. On the Norfolk average price each 0.1% is about £269.
Compare conveyancing quotes like for like: fee, VAT and all disbursements.
Check the EPC register before you pay for a new certificate.
A fixed-fee online agent makes most sense on a conventional house in a street with plenty of recent sales. For a rural, listed, mixed-use or coastal property, a local agent’s valuation and viewings are worth more, and the commission is the price of them.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the average cost of selling a house in Norfolk?
About £5,400 on the July 2026 Norfolk average of £269,185: £3,822 in commission at 1.42%, £750 for conveyancing, £60 for an EPC and £731 for a local three-bedroom move. A cheaper house costs less, mainly because the commission is smaller.
Do I have to pay estate agent fees if my house doesn’t sell?
Not under a “no sale, no fee” contract. Under a “ready, willing and able” clause you can owe the fee once the agent finds a buyer prepared to proceed, even if the sale does not complete. Ask for no sale, no fee in writing.
Can I sell without an estate agent?
Rightmove and Zoopla only take listings from agents, so the practical route is a fixed-fee online agent such as Purplebricks or Yopa, from £999 including VAT. With a basic package you do the viewings and negotiating yourself.
Do I need an EPC to sell my house?
Yes, before you market it. A certificate lasts 10 years, so check find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk before paying for a new one.
How long does it take to sell a house in Norfolk?
Once a sale is agreed, Rightmove’s September 2026 figures put the average in the East of England at 171 days to completion, a little over five and a half months. Finding the buyer comes on top.
Sources
HomeOwners Alliance, Cost of Selling a House 2026: hoa.org.uk cost-selling-home, and its guide to estate agent fees. HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, July 2026, and Price Paid Data for town medians (12 months to June 2026). Gov.uk guidance on EPCs and Capital Gains Tax. Rightmove, September 2026. Purplebricks and Yopa fee pages, checked 24 September 2026. Road distances from OpenStreetMap routing.
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