Residential Property Prices & Costs
Property (Buying or Selling your home or other property)
The list of our usual legal fees below are charged for a straight-forward sale or purchase of your home. Our proposal for our legal fees generally covers the taking of your instructions for that property through to completion of your matter; and when purchasing a property, the registration of that purchase at the Land Registry, to include the administrative work in payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (‘Stamp Duty’) if the property that you intend to buy is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (‘Land Tax’) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.
Legal Fees Freehold Purchase
| Value of Property on Purchase | Usual Fee | Total (inc. VAT at 20%) |
| £0 – £200,000 | £950 | £1,140 |
| £200,001 -£300,000 | £1,050 | £1,260 |
| £300,001 -£400,000 | £1,150 | £1,380 |
| £400,001 -£500,000 | £1,350 | £1,620 |
| £500,001 -£600,000 | £1,450 | £1,740 |
| £600,001 -£750,000 | £1,550 | £1,860 |
| £750,001 and over | £1,650 or variable – dependent upon complexity | £1,980 or over |
If you are buying a new-build property, we charge additionally £250 + VAT (£300.00 Total) to cover the additional work involved in reviewing the planning documentation associated with the development.
Legal Fees Freehold Sale
| Value of Property on Purchase | Usual Fee | Total (inc. VAT at 20%) |
| £0 – £200,000 | £950 | £1,140 |
| £200,001 -£300,000 | £1,000 | £1,200 |
| £300,001 -£400,000 | £1,100 | £1,320 |
| £400,001 -£500,000 | £1,300 | £1,560 |
| £500,001 -£600,000 | £1,400 | £1,680 |
| £600,001 -£750,000 | £1,500 | £1,800 |
| £750,001 and over | £1,550 or variable – dependent upon complexity | £1,860 or over |
*If you are buying a Leasehold property, there will usually be an extra charge. This will normally be £250 + VAT (£300.00 Total) to cover the extra work involved in reviewing the freehold title, the management company information pack and the subsequent notification of the Freeholder of your ownership.
**Additional charges may be higher or lower, dependent upon your particular circumstances. For example, in leasehold property purchases, there may be no additional documentation to review, so that the extra charge may be lower.
Remortgage
| Legal Fees | Usual Fee | Total (inc. VAT at 20%) |
| UP to £450,000 | £850 | £1,020 |
| £450,001 – £500,000 | £950 | £2,040 |
| £500,000 and over | £1,300 or variable dependent upon complexity | £1,560 or over |
Remortgage and Transfer of Equity
| Legal Fees | Usual Fee | Total (inc. VAT at 20%) |
| Up to £450,000 | £1,000 | £1,200 |
| £450,001 and over | £1,300 or variable dependent upon complexity | £1,560 or over |
Transfer of Equity
| Legal Fees | Usual Fee | Total (inc. VAT at 20%) |
| Up to £250,000 | £850 | £1,020 |
| £250,001 and over | £950 or variable dependent upon complexity | £1,140 or over |
Disbursements and Additional Charges
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees and search fees. We will manage the payment of the disbursements on your behalf.
Charge for Money Laundering / ID Checks £17.50 + VAT per person on the title (£21 Total)
A Sale
As part of your sale, the disbursements will include:
Title Information Documentation : £ 3 per document
Completion Fee: £35 (TOTAL = £42.00 inc. VAT )
A Leasehold Sale – you may be required to obtain a Leasehold Information Pack from the Landlord or Management Company. You should check with the freeholder or management company for the cost for them to provide this information.
A Purchase
As part of the usual search and investigations and completion of your purchase, the disbursements will include:
- Searches are around £335.00. Amounts may vary dependent upon the area in which you are buying
- Bankruptcy Fee: £ 6.00 per person
- Priority Search : £3.00
- Completion Fee : £35.00 + VAT (£42.00 Total)
- SDLT Submission Fee : £30.00 + VAT (£36.00 Total)
Legal Fees – Leasehold purchase
| Value of Property on Purchase | Usual Fee | Total (inc. VAT at 20%) |
| £0 – £199,000 | £1,100 | £1,320 |
| £199,001 -£299,000 | £1,200 | £1,440 |
| £299,001 -£399,000 | £1,300 | £1,560 |
| £399,001 -£499,000 | £1,400 | £1,680 |
| £499,001 -£599,000 | £1,500 | £1,800 |
| £599,001 -£749,000 | £1,600 | £1,920 |
| £749,001 and over | £1,700 or variable dependent upon complexity | £2,040 or over |
Legal Fees – Leasehold sale
| Value of Property on Purchase | Usual Fee | Total (inc. VAT at 20%) |
| Up to £200,000 | £ 950 | £1,140 |
| £200,001 -£300,000 | £1,050 | £1,260 |
| £300,001 -£400,000 | £1,200 | £1,440 |
| £400,001 -£500,000 | £1,300 | £1,560 |
| £500,001 -£600,000 | £1,550 | £1,860 |
| £600,001 -£750,000 | £1,600 | £1,920 |
| £750,001 and over | £1,650 or variable dependent upon complexity | £1,980 or over |
Disbursements may be payable to the Landlord or their representatives. These may vary significantly dependent upon the rates charged by the Landlord. You should please check with the agent before making any offer. Examples of potential disbursements include:
Notice of Transfer fee – Often set out in the lease and may be between £50 – £250.
Notice of Charge fee – for a mortgaged property.
Often set out in the lease and may be between £50 – £150.
Deed of Covenant fee – Provided by the management company for the property and is difficult to estimate. Often it is between £50 – £250.
Certificate of Compliance fee – Confirmed upon receipt of the lease, and may range between £10 – £150.
Land Registry fees are incurred on a valuation of the property as from £20-£40 for a property at £80,000 and upwards at increments of say, £910 for a property at £1million. Please ask for details.
Stamp Duty or Land Tax (on purchase only) – This depends upon the purchase price of your property. Please ask for details or check using the HMRC’s website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s website http://gov.wales/welsh-revenue-authority
Complex Transactions – Sometimes sales or purchases are complex and the work cannot be done on a fixed fee basis. Please contact us to discuss this and we can provide a clearer indication as to the costs involved.
How long will my house purchase take?
From offer through to moving in, the time to complete will depend upon a number of factors although a straight-forward or average process can take between 12 – 16 weeks with registration of that purchase to follow.
It may be faster or slower, dependent upon 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 may take 8 – 10 weeks. A leasehold property purchase with a need to extend the lease, may take as long as the landlord takes to respond to all of the enquiries and say, between 4 and 6 months to complete. In such a situation, extra or additional charges would apply.
Stages of the process
The precise stages involved in a sale or purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances.
Stage One
- We take your instructions and provide you with initial advice
- Check finances are in place to fund your purchase or obtain a redemption figure from your lender to ensure there is no negative equity
- Check title documentation to check property and seller details
- Submit or receive contract documents
- Carry out searches and submit enquiries to the seller’s solicitor / answer queries submitted by the purchaser’s solicitor
Stage Two
- We provide you with advice on all documents and information received
- As appropriate, discuss the conditions of mortgage offer with you / redemption statement for outstanding amounts
- Send final contract to you for signature
- Agree completion date (date from which you move out or move in)
Stage Three
- Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
- Arrange for all money needed to be received from your lender, or obtain a final redemption statement from your mortgage company
- Complete purchase or sale
On your purchase, manage the payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax and submit an application for registration at the Land Registry
On your sale, discharge any legal charge and provide you with payment of the remaining balance
Equity Release
We provide legal advice required by lifetime mortgage lenders and manage the subsequent documentation to enable the funds to be drawn down.
On your instruction we will:
- check the title to the property to ensure the correct parties are named on the deeds and on the lifetime mortgage documentation
- complete the documentation required as part of the application
- check for buildings insurance cover
- check the resulting title documentation post-completion.
Transfers of Equity
If you are transferring the ownership of a property where there is still a mortgage, you will need to get your mortgage lender’s permission for the change in ownership.
We will:
- Check the title to the property and its ownership
- Draft the appropriate Transfer Deed and ensure suitable provisions are included to protect the parties involved
- Liaise with any lender as appropriate
- Submit the SDLT application as appropriate
- Submit the Transfer Deed for registration purposes or if unregistered, collate all the deeds to submit them to the Land Registry for First Registration.
