Legal costs on the sale of Residential Property

Our standard fixed fee charges can be found 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 basic steps involved in the sale of a Residential Property

The following is a guide to some of the various aspects of the work involved in selling your property:

• obtaining title documents to the property from the Land Registry, and other supporting papers and reviewing these documents.
• sending you the SPIF (the property information and fittings & contents forms) for completion and return
• preparation of the draft contract for you and issuing it to the buyer’s conveyancer
• liaising with the landlord/managing agents regarding enquiries and their requirements on the sale
• replying to any additional enquiries
• providing you with the contract for signature
• confirming your instructions ready for exchange of contracts and
• agreeing the Transfer Deed
• preparing a Completion Statement for you
• completing the sale of the property
• paying off the mortgage loan (if relevant) and paying the estate agents’ fees or commission
• attending to all correspondence, telephone calls, and emails

Estimated fees and disbursements

Legal fees

You can find our standard fixed fees for a typical house sale here, but these may vary due to many factors for example if the land is unregistered. Please note that VAT is charged on all fees at 20% and on all relevant disbursements at 20%. Not all disbursements attract VAT . For example the Land Registry charges for official copies of title documents is free of VAT.

The following fees may vary in cases with complications involved. The specific quotation we give you will take into account all the information available to us at the time we provide you with the estimate of our fees.

FREEHOLD 

LEASEHOLD 

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:

• Land Registry fee for title documentation, up to £20.00 plus VAT
• Electronic money transfer fee, per transaction £44.00 plus VAT

Additional anticipated disbursements for leasehold sales

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.

• Landlord’s sale pack fee

This fee often ranges from £100 to £300 and if it is chargeable, it is set out in the lease.

• Landlord’s fee for dealing with information form or enquiries

This fee if chargeable is set out in the lease. Often it is ranged between £100 & £350 (plus VAT)

• Deed of Covenant fee

This fee is often in the region of £50 to £350 (plus vat) and is provided by the management company for the property.

These example fees are a guide only as they can vary from property to property and can be significantly more than the ranges given above. We will give you an accurate figure once we have sight of the relevant documents involved.

Presently our average residential conveyancing fee for a house sale (before solicitor’s costs and disbursements) is roughly £725 (plus VAT), ranging from £675 to £825 (plus VAT). Total fees for a typical completed house sale, including disbursements and VAT, range from £900 to £1300.

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.

A total bill – example of costs plus disbursements:

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

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:

• division of sale proceeds between joint owners
• application of proceeds of sale for the purchase of another property which you may be buying with another person.
• a defective title
• a lengthy chain of transaction
• a lack of planning documentation in your possession
• a very short interval between exchange and completion or simultaneous exchange and completion
• corresponding with joint sellers individually
• drafting of each additional contract for a contract race
• drafting declaration of trust
• advising adult occupier required to sign consent form for lender
• acting on behalf of the mortgage lender
• shared ownership lease
• leasehold properties only
• deed of variation of lease
• sale/transfer of freehold
• deed of Covenant/License to Assign
• 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 sale?

The average transaction takes between 8 to 12 weeks.

It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain.

If you are selling to a first-time buyer for example, it could take 8 weeks.

If however you are selling say leasehold property which requires an extension of the lease, this could possibly take between 12 weeks and 16 weeks.