Residential Conveyancing Pricing

Our fees cover all of the work* required to complete the purchase of your new home, including 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.

Fees are based on the value of your property. If you are buying or selling a property where the value is between £40,000.00 – £500,000.00 then our fees will range between £1,000.00 to £2,500.00 plus VAT.

Your additional purchase costs are as follows:

Searches – When purchasing a property you would usually be required to carry out a number of searches and these usually include a local authority search, drainage and water search, environmental search, flood search and ChancelCheck as well as coal mining search.

The price of your local authority search will depend on the price charged by the local authority and a coal search will only be undertaken where the property is in a coal mining area.

We do not generally ask for a retainer at the start but we reserve the right to do so.

Below is an example of our fees for a freehold purchase where the property in the Southend-on-Sea area being bought has a purchase price of £100,000.00:

Our Legal Costs £1,000.00
VAT at 20% £200.00
Mortgage Fee - see below
Search Pack consisting of:
Local Search 		£131.00
Drainage Search, Enviro Search, Flood Search and Chancel Check £156.30
Land Registry Search per title £3.00
Bankruptcy Search per person £2.00
Telegraphic Transfer Fee £25.00
VAT at 20% £5.00
Land Registration Fee £40.00
TOTAL £1,562.30

Below is an example of our fees for a freehold purchase where the property in the Southend-on-Sea area being bought has a purchase price of £450,000.00 is as follows:

Our Legal Costs £2,000.00
VAT at 20% $400.00
Mortgage Fee - see below
Search Pack consisting of:
Local Search 		£131.00
Drainage Search, Enviro Search, Flood Search and Chancel Check £156.30
Land Registry Search per title £3.00
Bankruptcy Search per person £2.00
Telegraphic Transfer Fee £25.00
VAT at 20% £5.00
Land Registration Fee £150.00
TOTAL £2,872.30

N.B. Our legal costs include ID check and completion of SDLT return for which some firms charge additional fees.

* 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. this is the assignment of an existing lease and is not the grant of a new lease
  3. the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complications arise
  4. all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation
  5. no indemnity policies are required. Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are required.

Leasehold Properties

If you are buying or selling a leasehold property then an additional £250.00 plus VAT will be added to our legal costs. This is to cover the additional work which must be carried out by us when a leasehold property is involved.

When you purchase a leasehold property there are a number of other disbursements which are payable by the buyer. The cost of these disbursement is usually confirmed in the lease or by the freeholder and we, as solicitors, do not set these charges. These charges are payable in addition to the quote given by your solicitor and will vary from property to property.

If you are purchasing a leasehold property then you can expect to pay the following range of charges which are typical for this type of transaction: –

  • Notice of Transfer £40 – £250.00
  • Notice of Charge £40 – £250.00
  • Deed of Covenant Fee £50.00 – £300.00
  • Certificate of Compliance Fee £50.00 – £150.00
  • If selling fee to Landlord or managing agent for supplying Leasehold information pack Fee £250.00 – £500.00
    The above charges are given as a guideline only and in some circumstances can exceed the ranges given above.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

The amount of stamp duty payable will depend on the purchase price of your property.

We do not charge any additional fee for completing and submitting the SDLT return on your behalf.

Mortgages

If we are not panel solicitors for your chosen lender – contact us. If we can act then there will be a fee of £100.00 – £200.00 plus VAT in addition to our standard charges as shown in the example given above.

Stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages that you may wish to include:

  • Take your instructions and give you initial advice
  • Check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender’s solicitors if needed
  • Receive and advise on contract documents
  • Carry out searches
  • Obtain further planning documentation if required
  • Make any necessary enquiries to seller’s solicitor
  • Give you advice on all documents and information received (this is called a Report on Title)
  • Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you
  • Send final contract to you for signature
  • Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
  • Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
  • Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
  • Complete purchase
  • Deal with SDLT return and payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
  • Deal with application for registration at Land Registry

How long will my house purchase take?

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 10-12 weeks for a freehold property and 12-14 weeks for a leasehold property. 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 in principle, it could take 4 weeks to exchange with completion taking place once the property is built. However, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this can take significantly longer, and can often be months instead of weeks. In such a situation additional charges would apply