RESIDENTIAL CONVEYANCING FEES

Our fees as listed below cover the work required to complete the purchase, sale or re-mortgage of your property.

(* Plus VAT and disbursements as below)

The following incur the further fees: –

SDLT Application: £75*

Buying with mortgage:
£150.00 (Individual Purchase) *
£250.00 (Company Purchase) *

Freehold with management company: £150.00 *

(* Plus VAT)

Leasehold title: £250*

New build: £250.00 *

Retirement Property: £295.00 *

(* Plus VAT and Disbursements)

(* Plus VAT and disbursements as below)

The following incur with further fees:- (Other fees may apply – you will be advised at the time of your quotation)

Sale of leasehold flat or freehold management company: £150.00*

Redeeming a mortgage : £75.00*

(* Plus VAT)

Please contact us for a competitive quote should your transaction involve any other non-standard aspects e.g. Shared ownership, Lenders represented by third party solicitors, etc.

The legal fees payable may increase if any unexpected issues arise during the transaction such as the legal title being defective or partly unregistered, or if any non-standard deeds or agreements need drafting.

We may pay referral fees out of the above fixed fees to an introducing agent or developer. Upon receipt of any referral, we will notify clients of any applicable referral fee in our initial Engagement Letter.

Please note there may be individual fixed fees applicable to developer or repeat clients.

DISBURSEMENTS FOR PURCHASES

Land Registry Search: £3

Bankruptcy Search (per ppn): £2

Bank Transfer Fee: £30*

Searches: £250 approx.

Anti-money laundering check (per ppn): £30*

Land Registry Fee: dependent on purchase price**

SDLT: dependent on purchase price and your circumstances*

***

(* Plus VAT)

There may be further disbursements payable if the property is leasehold such as Management Company costs and fees for Notices as required by the Lease.

DISBURSEMENTS FOR SALES 

Land Registry Official Copies: £25

Bank Transfer Fee: £30*

Anti-money laundering check (per ppn): £30*

(* Plus VAT)

The disbursements as listed above are largely costs payable to third parties, such as Land Registry and search fees. We make the payments of these amounts to the third parties on your behalf so as to ensure the process is faster and smoother.

Land Registry Fees

** We will complete the registration at Land Registry for you following completion of your purchase or re-mortgage. The fee payable to the Land Registry is dependent on how much the purchase price or mortgage amount is. Please use the link below to see the Land Registry fee scales for registration on completion (we do registrations using the portal so these lower fees are shown in the second column of the table).

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees#scale-1-fees

Stamp Duty Land Tax

*** Stamp Duty Land Tax is payable on property purchases and the amount payable depends on the purchase price. Please see the link to the Stamp Duty Land Tax Calculator for SDLT payable on a purchase (https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates ) where you can find out how much you will have to pay. If the property you are purchasing is in Wales then please use this link https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates.

How long will the process take?

The timings can vary for how long a property transaction can take, however generally speaking a standard freehold residential purchase or sale typically takes several weeks but can sometimes run longer if the unforeseen is encountered. This can be faster or slower depending on the parties in a chain and depending on other factors, including whether you are purchasing with a mortgage. If you are re-mortgaging, this can also often be carried out relatively quickly if all concerned parties are on-board with this. Alternatively, the purchase of a leasehold property that involves a management company who have to provide information/documents and/or that requires a lease extension can take several months. In such a situation where extra work is required, further charges may also apply.

What are the stages of the process?

The stages of any transaction vary according to the individual aspects of each matter. As a basic guide however, for the purchase of a residential property the typical stages we will complete are as follows: –

• Take your instrcutions and provide you with initial advice
• Review the mortgage offer from your lender (if applicable)
• Receive a draft contract and supporting documents from the seller’s solicitors to approve
• Upon receipt of £250 from you we will order searches (local, drainage and environmental to begin with)
• Raise enquiries with the seller’s solicitor and request further documents such as planning
• Send you a letter of advice in relation to your mortgage offer
• Report to you to advise you on all legal aspects of the property you are purchasing
• Send you the contract, transfer, SDLT form (if applicable) and any other relevant documents to sign in readiness for exchange of contracts (this can be done in a meeting if preferred)
• Agree a completion date and exchange contracts with the seller’s solicitor
• Send you a Completion Statement so you may send to us the deposit monies or remainder balance plus any SDLT payable to complete the purchase
• Report to the lender so they can pay the mortgage funds to us in time for completion

If the property you are purchasing is a leasehold property such as an apartment then there will be other stages involved, such as serving Notice of the transfer and charge on the Landlord. Usually there are further disbursements involved when the property is leasehold also as the Landlord charges administrative fees for receiving notices, deeds etc. You should also be aware that ground rent and service charges are likely to be applicable throughout the term of the Lease; the amounts will be confirmed on our receipt of the relevant documentation.

The time estimates and the fee estimates provided above are based on the following assumptions: –

• The transaction is a standard one and that no unforeseen complications arise which involve further work such as drafting additional documents or making applications to Land Registry
• For a leasehold property, no extension is required to the lease
• All parties involved are co-operative and act in a timely manner without causing delays
• No indemnity policies are required. If they are, additional disbursements and possibly increased fees will be payable.

Get In Touch 

The above advice and quotes are generic and will not apply to all transactions. If you have a purchase, sale or re-mortgage which is non-standard for whatever reason, please contact us on 0161 929 0121 or at dean.riding@blackstonesolicitorsltd.co.uk for an individual quote.