Residential Conveyancing Fees

Our fees for a purchase matter include the costs of considering the contract documentation, raising appropriate enquires, carrying out the necessary searches, reporting to you on Title, acting on behalf of your Lender, completing the matter following an exchange of contracts including registering your Title to the property at HM Land Registry and also completing the Inland Revenue Return form on your behalf in respect of Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Stamp Duty Land Tax may be payable on your purchase. We are not Stamp Duty experts and if your purchase transaction is not straightforward, we may have to refer the calculation to our Stamp Duty Expert.

For an idea of the rate of Stamp Duty payable on your purchase, please refer to the HMRC Online Stamp Duty calculator https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro

If you are purchasing a property in Wales, you will need to use the following link https://gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-calculator

There will also be a HM Land Registry Registration Fee. HM Land Registry base this fee on the value of the transaction. If you would like a formal quote, we can provide you with an estimate of this.

Please note that is you are selling a Leasehold Property, the managing agent or Landlord will charge a fee to provide the Leasehold Information Pack which is required for the transaction.

There is no set fee for the Leasehold Management Pack and so we will only be able to confirm this once we have contacted the managing agent or Landlord directly.

If you are purchasing a Leasehold Property, there will be additional disbursements due on completion. These can include the following fees; Notice of Transfer, Notice of Charge, Deed of Covenant, and/or Certificate of Compliance fee. Details of these additional disbursements will be contained in the Leasehold Management Pack so we will only be able to confirm these with you once we have received this from the Seller solicitors. You should also be aware that ground rent and service charge are likely to apply throughout your ownership of the property. We will confirm the ground rent and the anticipated service charge as soon as this we receive this information.

The above fee estimates are based on a straightforward transaction and will be subject to change in circumstances where the legal title is defective or part of the property is unregistered. Please note that we will be able to provide you with a more accurate quote if you contact us directly.*

Please note that the duration of a transaction will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 8-12 weeks. It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain.

The precise stages involved in residential conveyancing vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages:

• 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 of seller's solicitor
• Give you advice on all documents and information received
• 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 payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
• Deal with application for registration at Land Registry

* 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 complication 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.

In some cases it may be necessary to obtain copies of documents from the Land Registry, other than the usual copies of the title. The Land Registry charges for copies on a size basis and in those cases where we need to obtain copies of other documents we reserve the right to charge an additional figure for these.

If the work is not completed, we will charge you a fee for our abortive work. This will be calculated on the amount of work undertaken at the time the matter has fallen through and will be a proportion of the initial quotation fee.

We will inform you if any unforeseen extra work becomes necessary – for example, due to unexpected difficulties or if your requirements or the circumstances change significantly during the matter. We will also inform you in writing of the estimated cost of the extra work before incurring extra costs. We will attempt to agree an amended charge with you. If we cannot reach agreement, we will do no further work and charge you on an abortive basis.

We would also ask you to note that the conveyancing process can take many months to complete. We will keep you updated throughout the transaction with progress as and when appropriate.

You will be required to provide us with clear, timely and accurate instructions and supply us with all documentation necessary to complete the transaction in a timely manner.

We will send you a bill for our charges and expenses in good time for payment by completion.

Payment of the bill is due on or before completion and we will usually deduct this from the sale proceeds. We would however ask you to note that if completion is delayed beyond three months from the date of exchange, we will submit an interim invoice for settlement after exchange of contracts. If the matter is abortive payment is due within 28 days of the date of the bill and we will charge interest on it at 10% per year on a daily basis from the date on which payment of our bill is due.

If you have any query about the bill, you should contact us straightaway.

You have the right to object to the bill and apply for assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.

Our practice’s policy is to only accept cash up to £500. If you try to avoid this policy by depositing cash directly with our bank, we may decide to charge you for any additional checks we decide are necessary to prove the source of the funds.

We accept CHAPS and BACS payments to our client account (details set out below), but should be most grateful if you could notify the fee earner of the method and amount sent. We apologise, but we do not have the facilities to take debit card or credit card payments.

Any monies that we receive from you will be placed either in a general client account, or a designated client account with our bank, which is currently Lloyds Bank and as such will be fully protected.

Where we have to pay money to you, it will be paid by cheque or bank transfer. It will not be paid in cash or to a third party.

Would you please note that we will only use the above account and the account details that you have given to us for the transfer of funds (in or out) and will not under any circumstances provide, confirm or accept any change in, or re-advice of, these account details unless, in the case of a change in your account details, we have you in person for this purpose, or where we have satisfied our own security requirements. We will not change our own bank account.

The Law Society of England and Wales is designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. The Legal Complaints Service is the independent complaints-handling arm of the Law Society. If you are unhappy with any investment advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with either of these bodies.

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