| Skilled Worker visa | £819 to £1,865 application fee |
| Health surcharge (IHS) | £1,035 a year, children £776 |
| Deposit | at most five weeks' rent (annual rent under £50,000) |
| Council tax | average Band D in England 2026-27: £2,392 a year |
| TV licence | £180 a year since 1 April 2026 |
| As of | November 2026 |
The short answer: what to budget for
The most expensive items fall due before you even arrive. The visa and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) are paid with the application, for the whole term up front. On a three-year visa the IHS alone comes to £3,105 per adult. Each child under 18 adds £776 a year.
Then come the costs of landing: deposit and first rent, furniture, council tax, gas and electricity, the TV licence. After that, everyday life, which we break down with official figures on our page on the cost of living in the UK.
The good news: nearly all of it can be planned. The fees are on gov.uk, the deposit is capped by law, and every council publishes its council tax. Nobody needs to be surprised.
Worked example: visa and IHS for three years
A three-year Skilled Worker visa, once for a single person and once with a partner and one child. Application fees for family members are left out because they depend on the case.
| Item | Single | Couple with one child |
|---|---|---|
| Main applicant's fee | £819 to £1,865 | £819 to £1,865 |
| IHS adults (£1,035 x 3 years) | £3,105 | £6,210 |
| IHS child (£776 x 3 years) | n/a | £2,328 |
| Proof of funds (still your money) | at least £1,270 | more, depending on the family |
GOV.UK, Skilled Worker visa and Immigration Health Surcharge, retrieved 2 November 2026; calculation St Matthew
Visa and health surcharge: the biggest block
For the Skilled Worker visa, gov.uk puts the application fee between £819 and £1,865. On top comes the IHS, usually £1,035 a year. It is why applications look so expensive for families, and it is also your ticket into the NHS.
There is a cheaper way for some: if you work in health or social care, you apply for the Health and Care Worker visa. It costs £324 for up to three years and £628 for longer, and there is no annual IHS. For doctors and nurses that is a difference of several thousand pounds. Which route fits you is covered in our section on visas and residence.
One item people forget: proof of funds. You usually need at least £1,270 in your account for 28 days in a row. It costs nothing, but it ties up money exactly when you need it for the move.
Your home: deposit, holding deposit and first rent
In England the deposit has been capped by law since 2019: five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, six weeks above that. To reserve a flat, the landlord may ask for a holding deposit of at most one week's rent, which is credited later. Many other fees that used to be common have been banned since 1 June 2019.
In practice, plan for about five weeks' rent as deposit plus the first month's rent when you move in. The landlord must protect the deposit in a government-backed scheme. Everything else about tenancies, Right to Rent and your rights is on our page on renting a home in the UK.
If you plan to buy, know the scale: in August 2026 the average property price in England was £294,000, much higher in London. Buying adds stamp duty; the details are in buying a house in England.
The hidden costs nobody has on their list
Council tax is the local tax every household pays, tenant or owner. The average for a Band D home in England in 2026-27 is £2,392 a year. Oddly, London's average is lower at £2,068. If you live alone you get 25 per cent off.
The TV licence has cost £180 a year since 1 April 2026. A prescription in England costs £9.90 per item; in Scotland it is free. And since Brexit, your household goods coming from an EU country are a customs matter, even if they usually stay duty-free.
Household goods: duty-free with Transfer of Residence
You can usually bring your furniture and personal belongings without customs duty or import VAT if you claim Transfer of Residence (ToR) relief. The conditions, according to gov.uk:
- You have lived outside the UK for at least 12 months in a row.
- You bring the goods in within 12 months of moving, in several shipments if you like.
- You have owned the items for at least 6 months and keep using them as before.
- Alcohol and tobacco are excluded.
- For 12 months the items may not be lent, pledged, hired out or passed on.
Is London expensive? Is the UK dearer than home?
For housing: yes, clearly. In August 2026 the average London price was about £15,000 below its peak of £569,000 in July 2025. In the most expensive borough, Kensington and Chelsea, it was £1.2 million. Even the cheapest London borough, Barking and Dagenham, sat above the England average at £370,000.
For other costs the picture is more mixed, and without official comparisons this quickly turns into pub talk. So we stick to what can be measured and show, on our cost of living page, what energy, local transport and council tax cost according to official sources. Life in the capital itself is covered in moving to London.
And the salary? Minimum wage and examples
Since April 2026 the legal minimum wage for everyone aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour. How UK pay compares with pay at home depends heavily on the job: a teacher with Qualified Teacher Status earns between £34,069 and £52,835 in England outside London, and up to £64,684 in Inner London.
Always compare take-home with take-home. UK income tax and National Insurance work differently from the system you know, and Scotland has its own income tax rates. How the sum works out for you is something we calculate in a consult.
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost to move from the EU to the UK?
For one person on a three-year work visa, the visa and health surcharge alone come to roughly £3,900 to £5,000, plus deposit, first rent and the removal firm. With a family, correspondingly more.
Is the health surcharge a form of health insurance?
It takes the place of insurance for the NHS. Once you have paid the IHS you use the NHS broadly like a resident; prescription charges still apply in England.
Do I pay customs duty on my furniture?
Usually not, if you claim Transfer of Residence relief and meet the conditions.
Sources: GOV.UK: Skilled Worker visa, how much it costs; GOV.UK: Health and Care Worker visa; GOV.UK: Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application; GOV.UK: How to rent, the checklist for renting in England; GOV.UK: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027; GOV.UK: Council Tax; GOV.UK: Cost of TV licence fee set for 2026/27; NHS: Prescription charges; GOV.UK: Transfer of residence to Great Britain; GOV.UK: UK House Price Index England, August 2026; GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates; Get Into Teaching (DfE): Teacher pay
