Buyers from the Gulf are used to purchase costs of 4 to 6 per cent at home. In London a non-resident buying a second home pays closer to 14 per cent, and the figure is made of a dozen separate items. The full cost of buying a £1,000,000 London flat, for a buyer who lives in the Gulf and owns a home there, is itemised below at autumn 2026 figures, so the total is known before the offer.
Buying from abroad
The full cost of buying a £1,000,000 London flat: every fee itemised for an overseas buyer
Total cost of buying a £1,000,000 London flat overseas
A Gulf buyer who owns a home at home and is not UK resident pays about £135,000 to £160,000 on top of a £1,000,000 London flat, 13.5 to 16 per cent, or £123,000 to £136,000 without a buying agent. Stamp duty is £113,750 of it: £43,750 at standard rates, £50,000 for the additional 5 per cent and £20,000 for the 2 per cent non-resident surcharge. The catch: nothing reduces the stamp duty, and running costs of £12,000 to £25,000 a year start at completion.
Every item on a £1,000,000 leasehold flat, for a Gulf-resident buyer who owns a home at home:
Purchase costs on a £1,000,000 London flat, autumn 2026
| Item | Cost on a £1,000,000 flat |
|---|---|
| Stamp Duty Land Tax (standard, plus 5 per cent additional, plus 2 per cent non-resident) | £113,750 |
| Solicitor’s fee, leasehold purchase | £2,500 to £5,000 plus VAT |
| Searches (local authority, drainage, environmental, chancel) | £350 to £600 |
| Land Registry fee (electronic, whole title) | £295 |
| Bank transfer and identity verification fees | £100 to £300 |
| Survey, Level 2 or Level 3 | £900 to £2,000 |
| Leasehold information pack (paid to the freeholder or managing agent via the seller, sometimes passed on) | £0 to £600 |
| Notice of transfer and deed of covenant fees to the freeholder | £100 to £500 |
| Currency conversion on about £1,130,000 at 0.3 to 0.6 per cent | £3,400 to £6,800 |
| Buying agent, if used, 1 to 2 per cent plus VAT | £12,000 to £24,000 |
| Apportioned service charge and ground rent at completion | £1,000 to £4,000 |
| Buildings insurance (usually within the service charge) and contents | £300 to £1,000 |
| Total on top of the price | about £135,000 to £160,000, 13.5 to 16 per cent |
Source: GOV.UK Stamp Duty Land Tax rates and non-resident surcharge; HM Land Registry fee scale; firm’s indicative central London fees, October 2026.
Without a buying agent the range is £123,000 to £136,000. The one line that dwarfs the others is stamp duty, and nothing below changes it.
Stamp duty on a £1,000,000 London flat for non-residents
On £1,000,000 the standard rates produce £43,750; owning a home anywhere else in the world adds 5 per cent on every band, £50,000; not being UK resident in the year before completion adds 2 per cent, £20,000. The 2 per cent is reclaimable if the buyer spends 183 days in the UK in a twelve-month window around completion; the 5 per cent is not, unless the buyer is replacing a main residence, which a Gulf-resident buyer is not.
Filing the stamp duty return and the company rate
The return and the payment are due within 14 days of completion and the solicitor files them. Our guide on stamp duty for overseas buyers sets out the bands and the company rate, and the 17 per cent flat rate for a company above £500,000, plus the 2 per cent surcharge, would turn this line into £190,000.
London solicitor's legal fees for a leasehold flat purchase
A London solicitor charges £2,500 to £5,000 plus VAT for a leasehold flat at this price, more for a complicated lease, a share of freehold with a company to join, or a buyer who needs a power of attorney drawn and legalised abroad. The fee covers the title investigation, the lease review, the enquiries of the seller, the exchange, the completion, the stamp duty return and the registration.
What the London solicitor's legal fee does not cover
It does not cover the searches, the Land Registry fee, or the freeholder’s fees, which are disbursements charged at cost. A solicitor who quotes £1,200 for a £1,000,000 leasehold flat is not going to read the lease. Our guide on due diligence from abroad sets out what the solicitor and the surveyor should each be asked to do.
Property searches and Land Registry fees when buying in London
The local authority search (planning, road schemes, enforcement notices, including any short-let enforcement), the drainage and water search, an environmental search and a chancel repair search together cost £350 to £600 in the central boroughs, and take one to four weeks depending on the council. The Land Registry’s fee to register the buyer as owner is £295 for a transfer of a whole title worth £500,001 to £1,000,000 lodged electronically, and £500 above £1,000,000; the postal fee is more than double. The solicitor’s own anti-money-laundering identity checks on a buyer abroad cost £50 to £150 and are passed on.
Survey costs for a London flat: Level 2 or Level 3
A Level 2 (Homebuyer) survey on a flat costs £900 to £1,400 and a Level 3 (Building) survey £1,500 to £2,500 in central London. A lender’s valuation is separate and is for the lender. For a flat in a period conversion, a Level 3 is the better money; for a flat in a modern portered block, a Level 2 plus a specific question about the building’s cladding and safety status. The surveyor’s report is the document that most often changes the price, and the cost is recovered many times over in the one case in ten where it finds something.
Leasehold information pack and freeholder fees explained
The seller’s managing agent supplies the leasehold information pack: the service charge accounts for three years, the budget, the reserve fund, any planned major works, the insurance, the building safety information, and the freeholder’s requirements for consent. It costs the seller £200 to £600 and some sellers pass it on. The buyer then pays the freeholder’s fees for registering the transfer and, where the lease requires it, for a deed of covenant: £100 to £500. The pack is where the surprises live, and our guide on service charges, ground rent and building safety explains how to read it.
Currency exchange costs when buying London property from the Gulf
A buyer converting dirhams, riyals or dinars into about £1,130,000 for the price and costs pays the spread between the exchange rate and the rate the bank or broker gives. A Gulf bank’s retail rate can be 1 to 2 per cent from the interbank rate, £11,000 to £22,000; a specialist currency broker’s 0.3 to 0.6 per cent, £3,400 to £6,800. The difference pays for the survey and most of the solicitor. Our guide on moving money from the Gulf explains how to use a broker and a forward contract, and the proof-of-funds trail the solicitor needs whichever route is used.
London buying agent fee structure: retainer and success fee
The seller pays the selling agent. A buying agent, if the buyer uses one, charges a retainer of £2,000 to £5,000 and a success fee of 1 to 2 per cent of the price plus VAT, and in return searches off-market, negotiates and manages the purchase for a client who is abroad. On a £1,000,000 flat that is £12,000 to £24,000 and is justified when the agent saves more than that on the price or on a mistake avoided, which in the firm’s experience is most of the time for a buyer who cannot visit.
First-year costs
Three costs arrive after completion that were not in the completion statement. The service charge, £5,000 to £15,000 a year on a flat at this price in a portered block, with the first instalment due at completion; council tax, £1,600 to £4,400 a year, doubled if the flat is a second home in a borough with the premium, which our guide on council tax on a London second home explains; and, if the flat is let, the letting agent’s fee, the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme deduction and the compliance costs our guide on letting and managing from the Gulf sets out.
A family that will use the flat rather than let it should add £12,000 to £25,000 a year of running cost to the price before deciding whether the flat is the right size.
Sources: Stamp Duty Land Tax rates (GOV.UK) · HM Land Registry registration services fees (GOV.UK) · Stamp Duty Land Tax: non-UK residents (GOV.UK) · RICS home survey levels (RICS). Checked against GOV.UK on 14 October 2026: SDLT rates and surcharges, HM Land Registry’s fee scale in force since 9 December 2024. Professional fees are indicative ranges for central London at that date. General information, not legal or tax advice; the reader’s solicitor gives the figures for a particular purchase. Figures verified 14 October 2026.
Frequently Asked
Questions about the cost of buying a London flat
The currency cost, by using a broker; the agent, by not using one; the solicitor, a little, by choosing a conveyancer rather than a central London firm, at the cost of the lease being read less carefully. Stamp duty cannot be reduced by anything that survives a tax enquiry.
The selling agent’s fee, the energy certificate, and usually the lease pack. The buyer pays everything else.
The stamp duty is the same; the legal fee is a little lower for a freehold; there is no lease pack, no service charge and no freeholder’s fees; the survey should be Level 3 and costs more; and the council tax band is higher. Our guide on houses or flats for a Gulf family sets out the comparison.
£113,750. The standard rates produce £43,750; owning a home anywhere else in the world adds 5 per cent on every band, £50,000; not being UK resident in the year before completion adds 2 per cent, £20,000. The 2 per cent is reclaimable if the buyer spends 183 days in the UK in a twelve-month window around completion. The 5 per cent is not. The return and payment are due within 14 days of completion.
Far more. The 17 per cent flat rate for a company above £500,000, plus the 2 per cent non-resident surcharge, would turn the £113,750 stamp duty line into £190,000 on a £1,000,000 flat. Our guide on stamp duty for overseas buyers sets out the bands and the company rate.
£2,500 to £5,000 plus VAT for a leasehold flat at £1,000,000, more for a complicated lease, a share of freehold, or a power of attorney drawn and legalised abroad. The fee covers title investigation, lease review, enquiries, exchange, completion, the stamp duty return and registration. Searches, the Land Registry fee and the freeholder’s fees are charged at cost on top. A solicitor who quotes £1,200 is not going to read the lease.
On about £1,130,000 for the price and costs, a Gulf bank’s retail rate can be 1 to 2 per cent from the interbank rate, £11,000 to £22,000. A specialist currency broker’s spread is 0.3 to 0.6 per cent, £3,400 to £6,800. The difference pays for the survey and most of the solicitor. Our guide on moving money from the Gulf explains brokers and forward contracts.
A buying agent charges a retainer of £2,000 to £5,000 and a success fee of 1 to 2 per cent of the price plus VAT, £12,000 to £24,000 on a £1,000,000 flat. In return the agent searches off-market, negotiates and manages the purchase for a client abroad. The fee is justified when the agent saves more than that on the price or on a mistake avoided, which in the firm’s experience is most of the time for a buyer who cannot visit.
The service charge is £5,000 to £15,000 a year on a flat at this price in a portered block, with the first instalment due at completion. Council tax is £1,600 to £4,400 a year, doubled if the flat is a second home in a borough with the premium. A family that will use the flat rather than let it should add £12,000 to £25,000 a year of running cost before deciding whether the flat is the right size.
