Our guide to conveyancing pricing is designed to help you better understand the fees associated with this complex process. We strive to offer clear and simple advice for our clients and we take this approach with our fees, advising you along the way so there are no unexpected surprises.
Buying or selling a property is likely to be the single biggest financial transaction that you are ever likely to carry out. The basic processes are the same, but in every case, you will come across problems that have to be solved. You are about to engage in a highly complex legal and financial transaction.
Every house move is unique and every title to every property is different. To keep our fees fair and competitive, our conveyancing pricing varies depending on whether the property is freehold or leasehold, whether there are any third parties involved, such as a management company, and also the price or value of the property. We will always strive to be as completely transparent and open about the potential costs involved with your house move or remortgage. However, it is sometimes the case that the true complexity of your house move or remortgage isn’t always known at the point you instruct us. When we provide you with a cost estimate, we will send you examples of the instances where an additional fee may become payable and what that fee may be.
As every property transaction is different, we are only able to give you an indication of the averages of our fees, which vary depending on the value of the property. We have set out the averages below. VAT is to be added to these fees at the prevailing rate, which is currently 20%:
| SALE | PURCHASE | |||
| Price Bracket | Average Fee | Price Bracket | Average Fee | |
| £0-249,999 | £905 | £0-249,999 | £1,027 | |
| £249,999 – 499,999 | £910 | £249,999 – 499,999 | £1,137 | |
| £500,000 – 749,999 | £1,152 | £500,000 – 749,999 | £1,348 | |
| £750,000 – 999,999 | £1,382 | £750,000 – 999,999 | £1,948 | |
| £1m + | £2,745 | £1m + | £3,935 | |
To give you some example scenarios, if you are buying or selling a freehold property without a mortgage or any third party involvement, your fee is likely to be lower than average. If you are buying a leasehold property with a mortgage and a gifted deposit your legal fee may be above average.
Our fees for dealing with a typical mortgage or remortgage of a residential property can vary depending on whether your property is freehold or leasehold, how complex the mortgage lender’s requirements are and whether or not the owner is a company or an individual. Our average private mortgage fee is £788 and our average company mortgage fee is £1,035.
The average fees quoted above include bank transfer fees, ID verification fees, the costs involved in acting for lender or discharging an existing mortgage, acting as Stamp Duty Land Tax Agent, use of our online, interactive portal, and, where appropriate, the payment of a referral fee to an Introducer, which may not always apply.
The average fees quoted above do not include disbursements, i.e. fees which are paid by us to third parties as part of the conveyancing process. These include fees for Searches – enquiries made with the local, water and coal authorities and with the environment agencies (prices of search packs vary according to the location and type of property but average around £300 plus VAT at the prevailing rate, which is currently 20%), and fees payable to the Land Registry, either to download title documents or to register your ownership (details of current Land Registry charges can be found here).
The average fees quoted above also do not include any stamp duty. Stamp duty is a complicated tax and special rules and rates apply to individual circumstances. Reliefs may also be available. We always recommend that you get independent tax advice from a tax specialist, accountant or financial advisor.
Additional conveyancing costs
It is really important that you have a good idea of the total cost of conveyancing before you start. There is nothing more frustrating than buying a service that appears to be value for money and then finding that you have to pay for other items that you didn’t expect. We cannot explain every possibility, and whilst we will provide you with a quotation of definitive costs which are payable in all transactions, there may be occasions when additional work needs to be carried out on your behalf which may only become apparent as your matter progresses.
We have listed in the document below the most common incidences when additional fees may be incurred (please note all costs are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate, which is currently 20%). The rates are discretionary as we are unable to say at the outset how complex and therefore how time-consuming any particular incidence may be, but any additional fees will be agreed with you beforehand. Please do read this guide carefully as it is designed to help you avoid any unpleasant surprises in relation to our fees as we approach a completion date.
There are occasions when it may be prudent for some of the purchase/sale monies to be retained, for example, until up-to-date service charge accounts are available on a leasehold flat, or a road adoption agreement is available on a new build property. In these cases we reserve the right to charge for any additional work involved depending upon the length of time the monies are retained and the additional enquiries we have to make before attending to the release of the funds.
There may also be occasions when additional work needs to be carried out on your behalf which may only become apparent as your matter progresses. We have listed below the most common incidences when additional fees may be incurred (please note all costs are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate, which is currently 20%):
