Residential Property Costs

Legal Fees and Costs associated to Residential Property

Property transactions are never the same and our fees will reflect the particular requirements of your transaction. For example, the acquisition of a listed building may by reason of the added complexities, cost more than dealing with the acquisition of a freehold property. Please contact us for a detailed cost assessment.

Sales – Freehold

Our fees for a sale of a freehold property range from £695 to £2,500 plus VAT, a property with a value of more than £1M will fall outside this fee range. The average fee on a straight forward sale is £795 plus VAT. There is a bank charge fee of £35 plus VAT to redeem any mortgages or send monies to you on completion.

Our fees would include us providing the following: –

• Providing an initial quotation at the outset to ensure we know the particulars of your conveyance
• Taking your instructions and checking your identity for anti-money laundering compliance
• Providing forms for your completion so you can tell us about your property and enable to us draft contract documentation
• Download the Official Title from Land Registry and draft contract and forward to the buyers Solicitors
• Responding to any enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitors
• Agreeing a completion date with yourselves and any other parties in the chain
• Obtaining redemption figures for any charges over the property
• Complete the sale, redeem any or all charges and account to you on completion

Sales – Leasehold

Our fees for a sale of a leasehold property range from £750 to £2,500 plus VAT. If there are additional fees payable these will be provided for in our quotation.

If the sale property is a managed leasehold title there is every likelihood that you would be expected to provide a leasehold information pack. This is provided by the Management Company or Agent for Freeholder. The Management Company will charge you a fee of approximately £300 plus VAT. We would request the pack on your behalf following receipt of payment from you.

Disbursements relating to a sale of a property

Disbursements are fees that we pay to a third party on your behalf such as Land Registry or a search provider. For a sale the likely disbursements are: –

Title plan and register £6 (£3 each)

If leasehold an additional – £3 for the freehold register

Copy lease/conveyance – £3 per copy

Leasehold Information Pack – to be advised once known from the managing agents

How long will it take?

Dependent on the length of the chain in a property transaction a sale will usually take between six to twelve weeks. In order to proceed we would require your formal instructions and your I.D. as well as monies on account to purchase the leasehold information pack if the property being sold is leasehold.

Purchases – Freehold

Our base fees for a purchase start from £725 rising to £2,500 plus VAT. Purchases of above £1 million would be quoted for separately. A typical cost would be £825 plus VAT. There would also be an additional bank charge fee of £35 plus VAT to forward the purchase monies to the sellers’ solicitors on completion.

Our fees would include us providing the following: –

• Providing an initial quotation at the outset to ensure we know the particulars of your conveyance
• Taking your instructions and checking your identity for anti-money laundering compliance and the source of funds being used to purchase the property
• Checking the contract documentation and advising you of the same
• Carrying out any necessary searches on the property being purchased and raising enquiries resulting from those searches and the contract documentation received
• Advising you and liaising with you to sign the contract paperwork
• Agreeing a completion date with you and the rest of the chain and exchanging contracts
• Providing you with a completion statement to obtain any additional funds for completion
• Corresponding with your Mortgage lender if applicable to obtain mortgage funds
• Complete the purchase, complete and submit the Stamp Duty/Land Transaction Tax and registering the purchase and any mortgage with Land Registry.

Disbursements relating to the purchase of a property

The likely disbursements are: –

Searches £300-£350 dependent on the property address as some areas require additional searches.

Pre-completion searches £3 to carry out a priority completion search plus bankruptcy searches at £2 per person if there is a mortgage.

Registration fee £ – there is a scale of charges payable to Land Registry which is based on the purchase price please follow: www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees#scale-1-fees

Stamp Duty Land Tax £ the fee payable depends on the purchase price, if you are a first-time buyer or if the property being purchased is an additional home. To find out the fee payable please follow; www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro if the property is in Wales then Welsh Land Tax is payable, to calculate the fee payable please follow: https://beta.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-calculator

Purchases – Leasehold Properties

Our fees would include all those set out above in the purchase of a freehold property, however there would be fees payable on completion for the following: –

Advising the management company/agents for the Freeholder that you are now the new owners of the property and serving the required Notices as set out in the lease but usually to include a Notice of Mortgage.

There may be additional fees and disbursements to discharge such as: –

Notice of transfer/mortgage – variable but typically between £60 and £120 per notice

Certificate of Compliance fee – variable but typically between £100 and £200

And if required under the terms of the lease a shared transfer fee if relevant and registration fee for a Deed of Covenant

How long will it take?

The legal work for a purchase may take between six to twelve weeks, depending whether the property is leasehold or freehold and if there is a requirement for a mortgage. Exchange of contracts cannot take place until all enquires are satisfied and a mortgage offer is received. Where the property is leasehold or a new build it may take longer. In order to proceed we would require your formal instructions and your ID.

Re-Mortgage

Our fees in dealing with a re-mortgage start from £525 plus VAT. This will depend on how many existing charges over the property will to be discharged. There would be an additional bank charge fee of £35 plus VAT to redeem any existing mortgage charge.

Our fees would include providing the following: –

• An initial quotation at the outset
• Taking your instructions
• Carrying out any necessary searches on the property required by your lender
• Checking and advising you in relation to the mortgage offer and obtaining your signature
• Obtaining a redemption figure from your existing lender if applicable
• Obtain any additional funds for completion from you
• Corresponding with your Mortgage lender if applicable to obtain mortgage funds
• Complete the re-mortgage and registering the mortgage with Land Registry.

The likely disbursements are: –

Searches: £150 – £300 depending on your lender’s requirements.

Pre-completion searches £3 priority completion search, plus £2 per person bankruptcy search

Land Registry £3 to download your existing title setting out the current charge on the property. There would also be a registration fee payable to register the new mortgage charge. The fee is based on the value of the property set out on scale 2 charges by Land Registry, this can be found at: – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees#fee-reductions-when-using-scale-2

How long will it take?

A re-mortgage may take between four to eight weeks. Normally within two weeks once the mortgage documents are received from your mortgage lender. In order to proceed we would require your formal instructions and your ID.

A significant and majority of our fees are fixed, however should a conveyance become abortive the time spent on the file would be calculated on an hourly rate.

The hourly rates are as follows: –

Partner/Member £250 per hour

Associate Solicitor £225 per hour

Lead Conveyancer £200 per hour

Assistant Solicitor £180 per hour

Meet our conveyancing team