Legal costs for a Residential Property Remortgage

The steps involved in a residential remortgage

The following whilst not necessarily an all-inclusive list, should give you a good idea of the basic steps involved.

• obtaining Title to the property from the Land Registry and reviewing this and all supporting documents.
• raising relevant searches (if required by the lender). Checking results and highlighting issues.
• obtaining a redemption statement from any existing lender.
• preparing a report to you on the mortgage offer and the lender’s conditions
• sending the mortgage deed to you for signature
• confirming your instructions for completion
• preparing the completion statement
• paying off any existing mortgage
• completing the new mortgage
• registering the transaction at the Land Registry
• attending to all related correspondence, telephone calls, faxes and emails

Estimated fees and disbursements

Legal fees:

OUR AVERAGE FEES : Presently our average standard residential fee for a remortgage  (ie before solicitor’s costs and disbursements) is approximately £650, with a range of fees between £495 and £795. Total fees including disbursements and solicitor’s costs range from £595 to £895. Please note that VAT is charged on all fees at 20% and on all relevant disbursements at 20%. Not all disbursements attract VAT .

There may be an additional charge for us  dealing with a leasehold title ranging from £250 (plusVAT) to £350 (plusVAT) in addition to the standard fee (detailed above) and administration fees for submission to the Land Registry via the portal

The legal fees may vary where complexities or complications arise. We will therefore provide you with an individual cost estimate at the start of the transaction, which takes into account the actual specific details of your remortgage.  

These could include some or all of the following:

• approximate search fees (these vary from one local authority to another) £250
• electronic money transfer fee £44 (plus VAT), per item transferred
• pre-completion searches approximately £7
• Land Registry fee for title documentation £6 to £20
• Land Registry fee – see below

Referrals

The majority of our clients are recommended to us by one happy client to another. Occasionally however we pay a fee (known as a referral fee) to a third party (usually an estate agent) for referral of that business to us. This is something that if relevant in your case, will be notified to you at the outset of the transaction.

Additional anticipated disbursements for leasehold purchase

• Notice of Charge fee (the property is to be mortgaged)

This fee rages from £10 to £350 (plus vat) and is set by the landlord and will be set out in the lease.

• Certificate of Compliance Fee

This fee can be anywhere between £30 (plus VAT) and £150, plus VAT.

Please note that the above fees can vary quite significantly, and you should use the above as a guide only.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. For example, the Stamp Duty fees are a disbursement as are the Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of all disbursements for you as part of our service.

Stamp Duty (referred to above) or Land Tax (on purchase) is dependent on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC's website.

Land Registry registration fee - You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using Land Registry’s website.

Land registry registration fee

You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using Land Registry’s website:

www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registrations-services-fees#scale-2-fees.

A total bill – example of costs plus disbursements

For a mortgage of a registered freehold residential property at £250,000 with no complications see the following for example purposes only:-

Other factors

Additional fees may be charged for unforeseen complications which arise during the conveyance procedure. Obviously, these are not included in the estimates given above and we reserve the right to charge extra if the transaction becomes out of the ordinary and demands additional time to resolve any problems. Such complications may include things like:

• any taxation issues
• matters relating to the survey or the condition of the property
• division of mortgage proceeds between joint owners
• the validity of any guarantees relating to work done at the property
• a defective title
• a lack of planning documentation
• unregistered title
• more than one registered title
• arranging a conveyancing indemnity policy
• leasehold properties only - dealing with a variation of Lease

We will of course advise you if your transaction becomes out of the ordinary and we will notify you of the likely effects on the price of your fees before they are incurred.

What is the duration of the average re-mortgage?

The average process takes between 4 and 7 weeks.

It can be quicker if for example you are with a mainstream lender who only requires search indemnity insurance and it is registered freehold title. Such a transaction could be completed in as little as 3 to 5 weeks.

However, if you are mortgaging a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this could take much longer, at between 12 weeks and 16 weeks.