Residential Conveyancing Fees and Services

Our residential conveyancing fees and the disbursements payable for a residential transaction depend on a number of factors, therefore we always provide our clients with a bespoke quote before accepting instructions to act in a sale or purchase. You can obtain your instant bespoke conveyancing quote here – Instant Conveyancing Quote.

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the sale or purchase of your property, including dealing with the mortgages on the property.

• Legal fees range between £540 and £2000 depending on the following factors:

• • Sale/purchase  price
  • Timescales required for the transaction
  • Mortgage requirements (and taking or repayment of any further secured loans or charges)
  • If the Property has been altered
  • Access issues
  • Issues with the legal title and with any leases
  • If leasehold, whether an extension or variation of the lease required
  • If leasehold, whether the property is part of a shared ownership scheme
• Electronic money transfer fee £30 per transfer (usually two transfers required per sale for a property with a mortgage)
• VAT is payable on all of the above at  20%

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your sale or purchase that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process and for your lender.

Disbursements on Sales

• HM Land Registry fee for office copy entries £6 (no VAT payable)

In some cases, additional Land Registry fees and other disbursements may be required, for example, because copies of registered title documents, building regulations consents or planning permission have to be obtained, due to the originals having been lost. Normally no VAT is payable on these disbursements.

There will also be disbursements which will be set out in the individual lease (and freehold in some cases) of the property you are selling. The disbursements which we anticipate will apply are set out separately below. This list is not exhaustive and other disbursements may apply depending on the terms of the lease. We will update you on the specific fees upon receipt and review of the lease and related documents.

• Management pack: typically, between £0 to £500
• License to Assign fee- between £150 to £500
• Deed of Covenant fee- between £75 to £150
• Share Transfer fee- between £40 to £100

These fees vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the ranges given above. In some cases VAT is payable on them but this depends on whether the freeholder or managing agents are VAT registered. We will give you an accurate figure once we have sight of your specific documents.

Disbursements on Purchase

General Disbursements

• Search fees for local, water and drainage, environmental and other reports: these depend entirely on where your property is located and on what you/your lender require. Often the fees are between £175 and £600.
• Companies House search fee if required of between £40 and £50.
• HM Land Registry search fee £3
• HM Land Charges Registry fee for bankruptcy search £2 per borrower
• HM Land Registry fee to register your purchase: this depends on the purchase price of your property, see http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/fees-calculator.html
•  Stamp Duty or Land Tax:  This depends on the purchase price of your property and other factors. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website or if the property is located in Wales at https://beta.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-calculator
•  VAT is payable at 20% on local search fees

Disbursements Relating to a Leasehold Purchase

• Notice of Transfer fee – This fee is required by the freeholder and / or the management company and can be difficult to estimate.  Sometimes the fee is set out in the Lease and sometimes it is set out in the management pack. Often the fee is between £50 and £150.
• Notice of Charge fee – (if the property is to be mortgaged) – This fee is required by the freeholder and / or the management company and can be difficult to estimate.  Sometimes the fee is set out in the lease and sometimes it is set out in the management pack. Often the fee is between £50 and £150.
• Deed of Covenant fee – If the Lease requires this Deed, this fee is required by the freeholder and / or the management company for the property and can be difficult to estimate. Often it is between £75 and £300.
• Fee for issuing new Share Certificate (where applicable) – this fee is required by the freehold company and can be difficult to estimate.  Often it is between £75 and £300.
• Certificate of Compliance fee (where applicable) – this fee is required by the freeholder and / or the management company and can be difficult to estimate.  Often it is between £75 and £300.

These fees vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the ranges given above. In some cases VAT is payable but this depends on whether the freeholder or managing agents are VAT registered. We will give you an accurate figure once we have sight of your specific documents.

You should also be aware that ground rent and service charge are likely to apply throughout your ownership of the property. We will confirm the ground rent and the anticipated service charge as soon as we receive this information.

Key stages

The exact stages involved in the sale or purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, a typical transaction involves the following stages, all of which would be covered by our fee set out above:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Verify that your sellers/purchaser’s solicitors are instructed
• check and verify the parties financial positions (ie: whether a mortgage is required, at what stage this is, or if cash purchase, verifying the funds are coming from a legitimate source).

ON SALES ONLY

•  Liaise with you about completion of Property Information and Fixtures & Fittings Forms
• Obtain evidence of your ownership (office copy entries)Obtain management information on your behalf
• Obtain planning, building regulations and guarantee documentation if required
• Prepare draft contract and supporting title and other documents and send them to purchaser’s solicitor
• Reply to pre-contract enquiries made by the purchaser’s solicitors

ON PURCHASES ONLY 

• Receive and advise on contract, lease, title documents and service charge and management information
• Carry out searches
• Consider survey of property
• Obtain planning, building regulations consents, guarantee and service charge  documentation if applicable
• Make any necessary enquiries of seller’s solicitor on the title, lease and service charge information
• Give you advice in writing on all documents and information received
• Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you

ON ALL TRANSACTIONS

• Agree final form of the draft contract and transfer deed with the seller’s/ purchaser’s solicitors
• Send final contract and transfer deed  ( and mortgage deed on purchase ) to you for signature with instructions
• Agree completion date (date on which the property changes hands)
• Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
• On sale – Obtain mortgage redemption statement
• On Purchase – request funds from your lender
• Complete the transaction
• on sale – Redeem mortgage on the property
• On sale – Pay your estate agent’s commission and any other third party costs
• On sale – Send net proceeds of sale to you or apply them to a related purchase
• Send Notification of sale/ purchase to freeholder/managing agents if required
• On Purchase – Deal with Stamp Duty
• On – purchase – deal with registration of title and legal charge ( if mortgaged)

 How long will my transaction take?

How long it will take from acceptance of offer until  the property changes hands will depend on a number of factors, such as

• Whether there is a chain, and if so, the readiness of the other parties in the chain to progress the transaction
• Whether any parties in the chain require a mortgage and how long they take to progress
• If the legal title to the property is defective or unregistered, or has other problems
• If leasehold – if the lease is defective or if it has to be extended or varied
• If there is more than one mortgage or charge of the property, or if the property is in negative equity
• If building regulations or planning consent have not been obtained
• If crucial documents needed to progress the transaction are not available
• If the property is a new build
• if the survey raises any queries which we need to resolve

The average process takes between 6 and 8 weeks.