The cost of moving home has fallen by nearly a quarter in the past 10 years, research claimed.

People moving from a £150,000 home to a £200,000 one in England and Wales now spend an average of £5,523 on estate agents and solicitors fees, stamp duty and search costs, compared with around £7,378 in 1993, according to the Woolwich.

Andy Gray, head of mortgages at the Woolwich, said: "Contrary to popular perception the 25 per cent drop in house moving fees over the past 10 years is largely because estate agents have dropped their fees by around 45 per cent.

Competition

"With house price inflation set to slow markedly this year, this could lead to increased competition among estate agents and less activity in the property market.We would expect these fees to reduce yet further as we move into 2004."

During the past year the cost of moving has also reduced slightly, falling from £5,546 in 2002 due to a 6 per cent reduction in estate agents fees, which helped to offset a 7 per cent rise in solicitors' charges.

But the group added that the cost of moving varies widely across the UK, with people in northern regions getting cheaper deals than those in the south.

Unsurprisingly, the most expensive place to move from a £150,000 house to a £200,000 one is Greater London, where it costs an average of £6,249, followed by East Anglia at £5,884.

At the other end of the scale the cheapest place to move home is the North West at just £4,785, nearly £1,500 less than in London, followed by Yorkshire and Humberside at £4,869.

The research was based on data from 1,350 estate agents and solicitors who provided information on fees to the school of architecture and construction at the University of Greenwich.