The proportion of home-buyers saying they experienced “unexpected costs” in their transactions has gone up by more than 50% this year, new research has found. However, buyers did not blame their conveyancers or estate agents, with 85% describing conveyancers’ fees as “transparent”, six percentage points higher than for estate agents’ fees. On costs, 95% said they had experienced unexpected costs, 64% “significant unexpected costs” and 47% costs which “could have been avoided”. Researchers commented: “Delays have become a structural feature of UK property transactions, driven by fragmented processes, repeated checks and disconnected organisations. Just over half (55%) of buyers aged 25-34 complained about stress, compared to all buyers aged over 55.