Legal costs for the purchase of Residential Property

Our standard fixed fee charges for the purchase of a residential property are detailed here, but please do call us or email us for a free quotation specific to you. We’re happy to provide you with as accurate a quotation as possible based upon the information you provide to us.

The steps involved in a residential purchase

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

considering all documents sent by the seller's solicitor/conveyancer. Raising pre-contract
Reaching agreement on the form of the Contract
raising relevant searches, checking results and notifying you of issues
preparation of a report on title, contract and enquiries relating to the property, for you.
reporting to you on your mortgage offer
sending the contract, mortgage deed and Stamp Duty form to you for signature.
Exchange of Contracts and completion including receipt of the deposit on
preparing the purchase deed in order to transfer ownership of the property to you and raising pre- completion searches and enquiries
the preparation of a completion statement for you
attending to all related correspondence, telephone calls, faxes and emails
attending to formalities relating to Stamp Duty Land Tax. Finally, registration of the transaction at the Land Registry

Our estimated fees and disbursements

Legal fees

Our standard fixed fees for a typical house purchase can be found here. These are fixed fees but are dependent on certain variables eg the property location or whether unregistered land is involved. Please do therefore call us for an accurate free quotation. Please note that VAT is charged on all fees at 20% and on all relevant disbursements at 20%. Not all disbursements attract VAT eg the pre-completion search is free of VAT

FREEHOLD -	Purchase Value:	Professional Fee:			Professional Fee:
Up to	£125,000	£595 (plus VAT)	£400,001 to	£500,000	£900 (plus VAT)
£125,001 to	£150,000	£650 (plus VAT)	£500,001 to	£600,000	£1000 (plus VAT)
£150,001 to	£175,000	£700 (plus VAT)	£600,001 to	£800,000	£1,100 (plus VAT)
£200,001 to	£300,000	£750 (plus VAT)	£800,001 to	£1,000,000	£1,200 (plus VAT)
£300,001 to	£400,000	£800 (plus VAT)	£1,000,000 and over		£1,500 (plus VAT)

LEASEHOLD -	Purchase Value:	Professional Fee:			Professional Fee:
Up to	£125,000	£695 (plus VAT)	£400,001 to	£500,000	£1000 (plus VAT)
£125,001 to	£150,000	£750 (plus VAT)	£500,001 to	£600,000	£1,100 (plus VAT)
£150,001 to	£175,000	£800 (plus VAT)	£600,001 to	£800,000	£1,200 (plus VAT)
£200,001 to	£300,000	£850 (plus VAT)	£800,001 to	£1,000,000	£1,300 (plus VAT)
£300,001 to	£400,000	£900 (plus VAT)	£1,000,000 and over		£1,600 (plus VAT)

As stated above, 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 own purchase. These could include some or all of the following:

· a ‘Help to Buy’ application regarding an ISA Bonus	£50	plus VAT
· an administrative charge if a ‘gifted deposit’ is involved	£75	plus VAT
· search fees (since these vary this is the most common amount)	£250	plus VAT
· an electronic money transfer fee	£44	plus VAT
· pre-completion searches approximately	£11

Stamp Duty tax (please use this link official calculator: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates)
The Land Registry fee (please use this link official calculator: http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/fees-calculator.html)

Additional anticipated disbursements on a leasehold purchase

Notice of Transfer fee

This fee can range from as little as £10 to as much as £350 or possibly more and is decided by the landlord. If it chargeable it is set out in the lease.

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

This fee is set out in the lease and decided by the Landlord.

Deed of Covenant fee

This fee is usually between £100 and £350 (plus VAT) but this can vary.

Certificate of Compliance fee

Usually between £50 and £150. We can confirm this with you upon receipt of the lease.

All of the above fees can vary quite significantly, and you should use the above as a guide only.

Please be aware that ground rent charges and service charges are likely to be applicable throughout your ownership of the property. We will confirm these with you when we are in receipt of details from the other side.

Our average fees

Presently our average residential conveyancing fee for a house purchase (ie before solicitor’s costs and disbursements) is approximately £750 plus VAT, with a range of fees between £595 and £800 plus VAT. Total fees including disbursements and solicitor’s costs range from £1100 to £1400 plus VAT.

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.

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.

A total bill – example of costs plus disbursements:

For purposes only - a purchase of a registered freehold residential property at £250,000 with no complications and no mortgage:-

1. pre-exchange searches £130.00	£156.0	inc. VAT
2. post exchange/pre-completion searches £11.00	£11.00
3. electronic bank transfer fee £44.00	£52.80	inc. VAT
4. admin fee re Stamp Duty return online £75.00	£90.00	inc. VAT
5. our professional fee £750.00	£900.00	inc. VAT
6. TOTAL SOLICITORS FEES & COSTS	£1,209.00
7. Stamp Duty Land Tax (in this example, 2%)	£5,000.00
8. Land Registry fee	£135.00
9. ESTIMATED TOTAL (INCLUDING DISBURSEMENTS)	£6,344.80

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:

matters regarding your survey and condition of the property
checking the identity of your seller and checks we may need to make regarding money laundering rules.
the validity of any guarantees relating to work done at the property
the affordability, suitability etc. of any mortgage or loan you are obtaining
aborted transactions: we reserve the right to charge a fee when a transaction fails to proceed.
a defective title
a long chain of transactions
the lack of planning documentation from the seller
a very short time between exchange and completion or a simultaneous exchange and completion
dealing with more than one registered title
buy to let property
dealing with third party lawyers
dealing with unregistered title
having to arrange conveyancing indemnity policies
acting on behalf of the mortgage lender
dealing with Deed of Variation of lease
purchase/transfer of freehold
advising an adult occupier required to sign a consent form for the lender
dealing with service charge retention

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 residential purchase?

The average transaction can take between 8 to 12 weeks. It may be a little quicker or slower than that depending on many variables in your particular purchase transaction.

A first-time buyer with a mortgage who is buying a new build property can expect it to take 8 weeks until completion whereas a complicated purchase of leasehold land may take as much as 12 to 16 weeks.