Residential Purchase Conveyancing Published Fees
Our fees are fixed, for a standard residential transaction and cover all 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 is in Wales.
We only handle residential transactions with a maximum purchase price of £1 million.
We do not act for mortgage lenders, so if you are purchasing with a mortgage, your lender will instruct their own solicitors and you will have to pay their fees (likely to be in the region of £400.00 plus vat of £80.00) as well as the fees shown here. We correspond with the lender’s solicitors on your behalf so your dealings would be with us alone. Some solicitors may be able to act for both you and for your lender and you may prefer to instruct solicitors who can act for both.
The costs of a transaction are made up of
1. Our fixed fees for the conveyancing work
2. Our fees for standard steps, to verify identity and address, arrange electronic bank transfers and to obtain protocol forms
3. Payments to third parties (‘disbursements’) for example, search fees, Land Registry fees and tax which may be payable.
Information about what is not included in the estimate is also given below, where specific situations or requirements may arise.
1. Our Fixed Fees |
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Purchase Price Freehold | Our fees | Vat on fees | Total |
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Freehold 0 to £199,999 | £899.00 | £179.80 | £1,078.80 |
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Freehold £200,000 to £300,000 | £920.00 | £184.00 | £1,104.00 |
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Freehold £300.0001 to £400,000 | £930.00 | £186.00 | £1,116.00 |
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Freehold £400,001 to £500,000 | £950.00 | £190.00 | £1,140.00 |
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Freehold £500,001 to £600,000 | £1,200.00 | £240.00 | £1,440.00 |
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Freehold £600,001 to £700,000 | £1,300.00 | £260.00 | £1,560.00 |
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Freehold £700,001 to £800,000 | £1,500.00 | £300.00 | £1,800.00 |
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Freehold £800,001 to £900,000 | £1,800.00 | £360.00 | £2,160.00 |
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£900,001 to £1million | £2,100.00 | £420.00 | £2,520.00 |
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Freehold over 1 million | n/a |
| n/a |
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Leasehold Purchase Price0 to £199,999 |
£980.00 |
£196.00 |
£1,176.00 |
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Leasehold £200,000 to £300,000 | £1,100.00 | £220.00 | £1,320.00 |
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Leasehold £300.001 to £400,000 | £1,200.00 | £240.00 | £1,440.00 |
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Leasehold £400,001 to £500,000 | £1,300.00 | £260.00 | £1,560.00 |
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Leasehold £500,001 to £600,000 | £1,400.00 | £280.00 | £1,680.00 |
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Leasehold £600,001 to £700,000 | £1,500.00 | £300.00 | £1,800.00 |
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Leasehold £700,001 to £800,000 | £1,600.00 | £320.00 | £1,920.00 |
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Leasehold £800,001 to £900,000 | £2,200.00 | £440.00 | £2,640.00 |
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Leasehold £900,001 to £1million | £2,230.00 | £446.00 | £2,676.00 |
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Leasehold over 1 million | n/a |
2. Other Fees Charged by us and Likely Disbursements (sums paid to third parties)
| IN ADDITION TO OUR FIXED FEE: | Cost | Vat | Total |
| Our fee to deal with an identity check to comply with due diligence and Anti-Money Laundering requirements (per person) when we take on a new client – payable if we are not able to verify and are, therefore, unable to continue to act) | £10.00 | £2.00 | £12.00 |
| Our fee to send funds by electronic bank transfer to the seller’s solicitors | £40.00 | £8.00 | £48.00 |
| Our fee to obtain Law Society copyright conveyancing protocol forms used in the transaction | £10.00 | £2.00 | £12.00 |
| Search Fees | |||
| The search bundle we obtain includes an Official Local Authority and Land Charges search. An Official Water Authority search. A Groundsure Homebuyers Report (contaminated land and environmental issues). A Terra Firma Search (information relating to mining and ground stability issues). This estimate includes the cost of searches for the Plymouth area. If you are purchasing in another area the Water Authority and Local Authority may charge different fees for their searches, but they are not likely to be substantially different from this estimate. We are required to charge vat on all of the searches obtained, even if the supplier does not charge Vat | £266.97 | £53.39 | £320.36 |
| Land Registry Fees | |||
| Bankruptcy search (per person) | £2.00 | £0.40 | £2.40 |
| Land Registry Priority search fee (to restrict anyone else from registering an interest before your transaction is registered) | £3.00 | £0.60 | £3.60 |
| Land Registration fee to change the register to show you as the new owners | |||
| The Land Registration fee varies on the purchase price, whether only part of land in a title is being purchased, whether a new lease is being registered and on whether the land is being registered at the Land Registry for the first time. | |||
| Purchase price: Whole title Part title or new lease/first registration | |||
| 0 to £80,000 £ 20.00 £ 45.00 | |||
| £80,001to £100,000 £ 40.00 £ 95.00 | |||
| £100,001 to £200,000 £100.00 £230.00 | |||
| £200,001 to £500,000 £150.00 £330.00 | |||
| £500,001 to £1,000,000 £295.00 £655.00 | |||
| EXAMPLE – ESTIMATE FOR PURCHASE OF A RESIDENTIAL FREEHOLD PROPERTY, NO OTHER PROPERTY OWNED BY THE BUYER, PURCHASE PRICE BETWEEN £200,000 AND £300,000, whole of land in Land Registry title being sold | |||
| Our fixed conveyancing fee £920.00 VAT £184.00 Additional Costs and Disbursements including searches and Land Registry fee £ 548.36 Total Costs vat and Disbursements £1,652.36 | |||
3. STAMP DUTY LAND TAX (SDLT)(ENGLAND) | |||
| The amount of tax varies depending on the sale price, whether any other property is owned, whether you are buying it as your only home and where the property is situated | |||
For most residential transactions purchased as your home and where no other property is owned, the purchase price has to be at least £225,000.00 (Wales) £250,000.00 (England) before the tax is currently payable. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay for your transaction using the HMRC For Properties in England Copy the following to a browser: Stamp Duty Land Tax Calculator For properties in Wales Copy the following to a browser: Calculate Land Transaction Tax | GOV.WALES | |||
Additional information | |||
| Disbursements These are expenses which other parties charge and because of this might change. If the land is being registered at the Land Registry for the first time, A Land Charges Search at £3.00 per person instead of a Priority Search might be required. | |||
Leasehold Properties: | |||
Freehold properties with leasehold garages or with obligations to contribute to a management company for maintenance and repair If you are buying a freehold property, but there is also a leasehold title which needs to be conveyed to you or we need to convey a share in a management company to you, we charge an additional £225.00 plus vat of £45.00 (total £270.00) to deal with that aspect of the matter. This might arise, for example, if the property is a new build or is on a relatively new estate and there are leasehold arrangements in place for the estate to cover maintenance and repair of the estate. We will advise you on receipt of the contract papers if this applies. This additional fee is to include reading the lease and advising you on the meaning and implications for you. Raising enquiries relating to the leasehold title and reading the responses, if required. Advising you on them. Arranging for you to sign a deed of covenant if that is required. Informing the landlord/lessor of your involvement in the transaction and obtaining consent, if necessary, to register you as an owner or shareholder. |
OTHER POTENTIAL CHARGES
In most cases, there are no further charges. However, there are situations when these can arise. We have set out below some examples in order to ensure that you have clear information. Where additional expenses arise, we will advise you before we proceed.
Statutory Declarations
These are additional legal documents which, sometimes, have to be prepared, such as to confirm that the buyer is not the person who is referred to in a bankruptcy search or to confirm that a buyer is solvent in matrimonial related transactions or transactions at undervalue. Our fees for the preparation of a Statutory Declaration are £112.50 plus vat of £22.50 (total £135.00)
Declarations of Trust
If two or more parties are buying, we are sometimes asked to prepare a declaration setting out their respective shares in the event of a sale. Our fees for preparation of this type of declaration are £112.50 plus vat of £22.50 (total £135.00) , if the declaration is limited to setting out the parties’ respective shares in the property. If a more complex document is required, then our fees will be higher, depending on what is required. Our hourly charging rate is £225.00 plus vat of £45.00 (total £270.00). We charge 1/10 of this rate for letters and for telephone calls up to 6 minutes. Longer telephone calls are charged based on time spent. This type of declaration might, for example, include setting out the circumstances in which the property can be sold, the procedure to be followed where one party is to have the ability to purchase the other party’s share or where there are to be changes in the shares owned if improvement works are later carried out by one party. We would give you our best written estimate of likely fees and vat as soon as we were aware of what was involved. The cost is likely to range from 1 to 3 hours work which equates to between £225.00 plus vat of £45.00 (total £270.00) to £675.00 plus vat of £135.00 (total £850.00).
Insurance
Sometimes there are missing documents which can be dealt with by taking out an insurance policy. We charge £50.00 plus vat of £10.00 (total £60.00) to arrange each insurance policy in these circumstances which is in addition to the cost of the policy itself. This fee includes obtaining an insurance quotation online. Sending the policy details to you or to the other party, if it is for the other party’s benefit. Placing the policy on cover on completion. Forwarding the policy documents to the relevant person on completion. We do not make enquiries of the whole of the insurance market. We only use one or two companies who specialise in this type of policy.
Abortive Transactions
If the transaction does not proceed to completion, for any reason, we charge for the work we have done, based on our hourly charging rate, but limited to a maximum of the agreed fixed fee plus disbursements plus the disbursements already incurred. If if the value of our work exceeds that sum. Our hourly charging rate is £225.00 plus vat of £45.00 (total £270.00). The hourly rate may be made up of time spent advising you, attending you and others, reading documents, preparing documents and in correspondence. Letters and telephone calls of up to 6 minutes are charged at 1/10 of the hourly rate. Longer telephone calls are charged according to the time spent on the call
STAMP DUTY LAND TAX AND LAND TRANSACTION TAX – LINKS To CALCULATORS
Copy the following into a browser: Stamp Duty Land Tax Calculator
Property in Wales
Copy the following to a browser: Calculate Land Transaction Tax | GOV.WALES