Reviewed 19 July 2026

Buying a £200,000 house: how much cash is needed?

Direct answer

The 10% deposit is £20,000. Under the calculator's England home-mover assumptions, total upfront cash is £26,055, while the nation-specific examples differ because property tax and registration rules are not uniform.

A £200,000 purchase is a useful example of why one UK-wide tax estimate is unreliable: the same home-mover price produces different tax results in England, Scotland and Wales.

The £200,000 tax split across Britain

An England or Northern Ireland home mover has £1,500 SDLT in this example. Scotland produces £1,100 LBTT and Wales produces £0 LTT.

Those figures come from the calculator's jurisdiction-specific bands; they are not a blended UK estimate.

The table below shows cash and property-tax examples at £200,000, with columns for Scenario, Property tax, and Estimated cash with 10% deposit.

Cash and property-tax examples at £200,000
ScenarioProperty taxEstimated cash with 10% deposit
England first-time buyer£0£24,555
England home mover£1,500£26,055
Northern Ireland home mover£1,500£26,296
Scotland home mover£1,100£25,823
Wales home mover£0£24,544

On smaller screens, scroll sideways to view every column clearly.

What another £50,000 does to the savings target

At a 10% deposit, moving from £150,000 to £200,000 adds £5,000 to the deposit. Moving from £200,000 to £250,000 adds the same amount again, but the tax difference is determined by progressive bands rather than a single flat percentage.

The England home-mover tax examples are £500, £1,500 and £2,500 at those three prices.

Deposit choices and the remaining mortgage

The deposit rises evenly with the percentage selected. Fees do not: some are estimates, while property tax follows the rules for the chosen nation and buyer status.

The table below shows deposit planning points on a £200,000 home, with columns for Deposit, Cash deposit, and Illustrative mortgage.

Deposit planning points on a £200,000 home
DepositCash depositIllustrative mortgage
5%£10,000£190,000
10%£20,000£180,000
15%£30,000£170,000
20%£40,000£160,000

On smaller screens, scroll sideways to view every column clearly.

Model your own £200,000 purchase

Use your actual nation, buyer status, deposit and quotations rather than treating a national example as a quote.

Go to the calculator

Compare nearby property prices

If you are budgeting around this price point, it can help to compare nearby price points because deposit size, tax treatment and total upfront cash can change quickly.

FAQ

Questions buyers usually ask

What is a 10% deposit on a £200,000 house?

It is £20,000. The worked England home-mover total is higher because it also includes tax and the stated cost assumptions.

Why can a Welsh £200,000 example be cheaper on tax?

The current calculator bands produce £0 LTT for the stated Welsh home-mover example, compared with £1,500 SDLT in England. Rules and eligibility should always be checked for the actual transaction.

How much is needed above the £20,000 deposit?

The calculator's England home-mover planning example places £6,055 above the deposit, including tax and its selected estimates and allowances.

Editorial record

Page reviewed
19 July 2026
Calculator data
2026.07.1

Official charges use linked public rules; quote-led figures remain planning assumptions until you replace them. Read the source and calculation method or report an error.