Residential Conveyancing Pricing

Our fees will cover all of the work required to complete the sale or purchase of your new home. On a purchase this will include dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

No two transactions are the same and our fees will reflect this also the office at which the transaction the office is carried out and the experience and qualifications of the fee earner.

In all cases we will provide you with an estimate of fees and disbursements specific to your transaction. The fees below are a guide only.

Please always telephone for a personal estimate, in some circumstances we can agree to a lower basic fee or to consolidate the additional variable fee.

Basic Legal Fees

Additional Fixed Legal Fees (often incurred)

Expedition Fee applies if completion within 5 working days of exchange

Additional Variable Legal Fees (occasionally incurred)

• Defective Title
• Sub Prime Lender
• Lender Separately Represented
• Bespoke Indemnity Insurance
• Non Standard SDLT return
• Deed of Trust for Tenants in common
• Corporate Purchaser or Borrower
• Rentcharge on Freehold Property
• Gifted Deposit
• Building Safety Act Issues
• Estates where the Legal Structure is complex and/or defective*

*In Harlow these include The Gateway and Newhall Developments.

Variable legal fees will be charged generally by reference to fee earner hourly rates with a minimum additional charge of £250.00 plus VAT.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter 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.

Search Fees (purchase only)

A typical residential purchase search package will be the Local Authority, Water and Drainage and Environmental Search. Fees vary depending on location but average from £250.00 to £400.00. Part of the search fees are subject to VAT. Additional searches may be appropriate, other searches are at a client’s discretion.

Land Registry Fees for Registration (purchase only)

These are specified by the Land Registry.  Please refer to the link below.

http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/fees-calculator.html

Land Registry Fees for Copy Documents and Searches

These are specified by the Land Registry.  Please refer to the link below:-

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees

Land Registry Fees for Copy Documents and Searches

These will vary per transaction but will average between £10.00 to £20.00 plus VAT.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (purchase only) This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welch Governments Website. https://www.gov.wales/welsh-revenue-authority.

Leasehold Property Disbursements

A sale will usually require a leasehold management pack to be supplied by the landlord or managing agent. Fees vary between £150.00 to £400.00. VAT sometimes applies.

A purchase will usually require notices to be served and the fees of the landlord or managing agent for accepting the notices to be paid. These can vary between £75.00 – £200.00 per notice. VAT sometimes applies.

Mortgage or Remortgage of a Freehold or Leasehold Residential Property

Mortgage lenders generally require full legal due diligence including searches and property information forms. As there is no transaction element we are able to discount our basic fee by generally 40%. So for example the basic fee on a property up to £500,000.00 would be approximately £510.00 plus VAT.

Residential Property Time Frame

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 6-12 weeks.

It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain. For example, if you are a first time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage agreed in principle and the property is structurally complete it may take 6 weeks. However, if you are in a long or complex chain, or if the chain collapses the time frame can be very difficult to predict.

Stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the purchase or sale of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages.

• Take your instructions and provide initial advice
• Money laundering requirements
• Check finances are in place
• Prepare and/or advise on contract documents
• Consider searches
• Consider planning and building regulation documentation
• Make and or respond to pre-contract enquiries
• Report on all documents and information
• Review conditions of mortgage offer
• Send final contract to you for signature
• Agree completion date
• Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
• Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you (purchase only)
• Complete your transaction
• Repay existing mortgages (sale only)
• Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax (purchase only)
• Deal with application for registration at Land Registry (purchase only)* Our fee assumes that:
  1. This is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction
  2. the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise
  3. all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation
  4. fair presentation of the risk by you is provided