Moving is a costly business, unless you are prepared to travel light just like Buck the dog did in the classic 80s kids series "The Littlest Hobo"!!

According to a new study by The Co-operative Bank, the average household in Britain spends £23,800 on the 'hidden' costs of moving house over their lifetime!!

These 'hidden' costs, (i.e. all expenses apart from the actual house price like solicitors fees, stamp duty, removal costs and estate agents fees) are often underestimated, despite the fact that collectively they add up to more than £10billion for the total population!

John Barker, Head of Mortgages at The Co-operative Bank, said: "As house prices have continued to increase it is important for people to look at the bigger picture in terms of costs. Hidden costs that are not budgeted for can soon mount up and by having a contingency fund in place it will enable people to be fully prepared for any eventuality".

"As moving house is such a complex process, it pays for buyers and sellers to do their research beforehand and make themselves aware of the various sources and organisations available for advice. Worryingly, despite all the hidden expenses involved with moving, only just over half of the people questioned by the bank had a contingency fund in place to meet these costs!

15% of us who are moving get ourselves into further debt trouble by taking out extra loans or borrowing on credit cards, while over 5% of us are still relying on our relatives for that extra help!

Despite the rising house prices, it seems that nearly two thirds of us are not prepared to make sacrifices in order to afford the house we want.

Where we are prepared to make sacrifices, over 25% of us go without holidays abroad while over 20% of us give up eating out or buying new clothes.

In addition, 1 in 10 of us are so determined to afford the property of our dreams that we make bigger personal sacrifices, such as changing careers, or putting off starting a family.

To try and help, The Co-operative Bank has launched a new website which aims to provide help and advice for those of us looking to move.

The new site contains the latest information and links on everything to do with moving house; such as mortgage rates and legal advice, to finding out how much your house is worth and where to find a local removal firm.

But whatever way you look at it, and irrelevant of how much money you do or don't have, moving house is a costly exercise!!

The question is, just how much is it going to cost you..?