[sulam]

I don’t know UK laws, but you also get dinged in the US on property taxes (pay half a year), home insurance (can’t close without it), HOA fees ($500 selling our house this year despite our HOA being otherwise meaningless), warranty (not consistently required) and various local costs that are associated with the municipality or state — not to mention mortgages are deliberately designed to make their money even if you pay them early.

Again, I’ve never bought/sold in the UK, but in the US you could easily see $100K in costs on a transaction of ~$2M, and the percentages will go up as you move down market.