Our Charges for Residential Conveyancing

Our policy is to charge for conveyancing of residential property on a time spent basis. We will provide you with an estimate of the cost of your transaction once we have the full details of the transaction and know what work is likely to be involved. We will not usually fix the price in advance. If you require a fixed price, then you must ask us, and we will decide whether or not to offer one.

Our Rates

Our charge for time spent on conveyancing of residential property is £150 per hour plus VAT (£180 inclusive of VAT). The following are estimates of the average costs involved in a conveyancing transaction where the property is worth up to £1,000,000:

Freehold Purchase without Mortgage

Our Fee – £1,500 – £1,750
VAT – £300 – £350
Total – £1,800 – £2,100

Freehold Purchase with Mortgage

Our Fee – £1,750 – £1,950
VAT – £350 – £390
Total – £2,100 – £2,340

Freehold Sale with or without Mortgage

Our Fee – £1,500 – £1,750
VAT – £300 – £350
Total – £1,800 – £2,100

Freehold Re-Mortgage Alone

Our Fee – £1,250 – £1,500
VAT – £250 – £300
Total – £1,500 – £1,800

Leasehold Purchase without Mortgage

Our Fee – £1,750 – £1,950
VAT – £350 – £390
Total – £2,100 – £2,340

Leasehold Purchase with Mortgage

Our Fee – £1,750 – £2,250
VAT – £350– £450
Total – £2,100 – £2,700

Leasehold Sale with or without Mortgage

Our Fee – £1,750 – £2,250
VAT – £350 – £450
Total – £2,100 – £2,700

Leasehold Re-Mortgage Alone

Our Fee – £1,700 – £1,900
VAT – £340 – £380
Total – £2,040 – £2,280

Assumptions underlying our estimates

These estimates assume:

(a) a standard transaction with no unforeseen matters arising such as a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction.
(b) the assignment of an existing Lease rather than a grant of a new Lease
(c) the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arises
(d) all the parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation

(e) no indemnity policies are required. Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are required.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs and fees we have to pay out to third parties during the course of your transaction. They are payable in addition to our fees. They include:

(a) Due Diligence Pre-Contract Search Fees
(b) Land Registration Fees
(c) Stamp Duty Land Tax

Although strictly not a disbursement, we will also charge £40.00 plus VAT for effecting a CHAPS bank transfer on your behalf.

Due Diligence Search Fees

These are essential if you are purchasing or mortgaging your property. They vary according to the geographical location of the property. This is because different local authorities charge different fees and because the nature and type of searches we have to carry out depend upon where your property is located e.g. if it is in the country or town; if it is in a mining area and also because some searches are optional. We provide you with a detailed quote for the search fees once you instruct us but on average, search fees will be in the region of £400 inclusive of any VAT per property.

Land Registration Fees

These will vary according to the nature of the transaction and the value of the property. The fees can be viewed on HM Land Registry’s website.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

The amount of SDLT you will have to pay will depend upon the amount you are paying for your property and certain factors laid down by the Government. A guide to SDLT and calculator can be found on HMRC’s website.

What Do Our Fees Cover?

Our fees cover all the work required to complete your transaction including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax if the property is in England or Land Transaction Tax if the property is in Wales.

What Factors May Increase the Costs of Your Transaction?

A defect in title needing a legal indemnity policy or the drawing up of additional documentation
The preparation of a Declaration of Trust where two or more people are purchasing and contributing differentially to the purchase price
The transaction involves the grant of an extension of the term of a Lease or a variation of the terms of an existing Lease
A Buy to Let mortgage or any mortgage where it is necessary to ensure compliance with additional or special terms and conditions imposed by the Lender
The value of the property. For properties worth more than £1,000,000 we will add a charge of £400 plus VAT for each slice of £500,000 or part thereof to defray the cost of indemnity insurance and compensation fund premiums and to reflect the additional risks involved in higher value transactions
If you are a first-time buyer using a Help to Buy Scheme
A transaction involving a new build property
A transaction involving a Housing Association Shared Ownership Scheme
An auction purchase or sale

What Do Our Services Include?

Our prices cover all the work we need to carry out to complete your transaction and achieve your objective. A purchase will typically involve the following work:

Receiving and advising you upon the contract for acquisition of the subject property
Checking that the seller can show good legal title to the property and is legally entitled to transfer it to you
Advising you of any encumbrances on the title to the property that the property will remain subject to after completion and ensuring that the property is otherwise free of encumbrances
Carrying out the usual precontract property searches and any additional searches you require
Reporting to you upon the results of the searches
Obtaining the prescribed property information forms from the seller’s solicitors
Raising any relevant additional enquiries arising from the examination of the contract, title to the property, property information forms and search results
Agreeing a completion date and exchanging contracts – you will need to provide us with a deposit, usually 10% of the purchase price, at this stage
Preparing the legal documents to transfer the property to you
Transferring the completion monies to the seller’s solicitor on the completion date
After completion paying any Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
Registering you as the new proprietor of the property at the Land Registry
If you are buying with the assistance of a mortgage advance, ensuring that you are familiar with the terms of your mortgage offer and the terms and conditions of your mortgage deed and that the mortgage deed has been executed properly
Ensuring that the requirements of your lender have been met by the time the mortgage advance is drawn down and that the mortgage is registered at the Land Registry
If you are purchasing a leasehold property, examining and reporting to you upon the terms of the lease and what your obligations will be and what your landlord’s obligations will be, and any management company’s obligations will be after the lease has been transferred to you
Making sure that any requirements prescribed by the lease in order to put the lease in your name have been complied with

How Long Will Your Transaction Take?

A residential conveyancing transaction can take as a little time as a few days or as much as 3 months or more to complete. A typical purchase will take 6 weeks to exchange of contracts and a further 4 weeks to complete – total 10 weeks.

The following factors may affect the speed at which your transaction progresses:

If you are purchasing with the assistance of a mortgage advance, we cannot exchange contracts until your offer has been received and your lender has instructed us or another solicitor to act for them in ensuring their requirements are met.
If there is a chain of transactions – i.e. you have a related sale and your buyer also has a related sale – progress is likely to be determined by how fast the slowest transaction in the chain progresses.
Sometimes we identify a defect in the seller’s title to sell the property which needs to be sorted out before exchange of contracts can take place or there may be another problem such as some physical aspect of the property which your surveyor is concerned about. This can delay the speed at which your transaction can progress.

Experience and Qualifications of our Team

Please see the information regarding Our Team. Your transaction will be carried out and supervised by an experienced conveyancer.

Colin Roer heads up our conveyancing department and has over 40 years of experience as a conveyancer during which time he has completed an estimated 2,000 conveyancing related transactions. He spends approximately 30% of his time on conveyancing related matters.

Sandy Grover has over 20 years’ experience working as a conveyancer and, currently, she works full time as a residential conveyancer. She estimates that she has completed over 500 conveyancing transactions.

Martin Shreeves is a manager and supervises conveyancing transactions carried out in our practice. He has 40 years’ experience working in a solicitors practice and has been a partner in the firm of Barker Gooch & Swailes since 1981. He deals with problems arising during conveyancing transactions and provides a supervisory role.