Residential Conveyancing Work Costs

Emily’s Experience

Emily will assist you with the work required to purchase your new home or to sell an existing property.

More information about Emily is on the ‘About me’ page therefore please take a look to find out more.

Emily qualified as a solicitor in 2009.

Emily is highly skilled and has helped hundreds of clients to buy and sell their properties, whether freehold or leasehold. Emily will guide you through each stage of the process.

Emily conducts a thorough investigation of your title and the searches and will make sure you know the legalities of your new home inside and out.

Costs: Buying and selling residential property

You can find full details of how we calculate my conveyancing charges below. There is a lot of information here, for a quote specifically tailored to your case please just drop us an email hello@celtic-law.co.uk and we can give you an exact quote.

My charges are made up of:

• my fees for the legal work;
• ‘disbursements’ – disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to other people, such as Land Registry fees. I handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process; and
• for property purchases, Stamp Duty Land Tax (see below).

Where VAT is referred to below please note that this will be charged at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%.

My legal fees

Our fees depend upon the value of the property you are buying or selling and are listed below:

Buying and selling

If you are buying and selling a property then the above charges would be made in respect of both the sale and the purchase separately.

Leasehold property

If you are buying, selling or re-mortgaging a ‘leasehold’ property (rather than a ‘freehold’) then there is an additional charge of £100 plus VAT (£20%).

VAT: Please note that VAT of 20% is also charged on all of our fees or legal work.

Disbursements

The ‘disbursements’ which you pay will depend upon whether you are buying or selling property or both, whether you are buying a freehold or leasehold property and the location and type of property concerned. Properties in certain locations for example need more searches and checks than others.

Normally all clients who are buying a ‘freehold’ property will need to pay the following disbursements:

• A standard search pack will cost £123.60 including VAT but we may decide further searches are required depending on the results of those searches or the area, for example coal mining or transport searches
• HM Land Registry fees range from £20 to £455*
• Land Registry application fee of £3.60
• Land Charges Search £2.90 per name.
• Land Registry Search £3.90 per title number
• Bank Transfer Fee of £12
• Anti Money Laundering search of £7.80 per name
• Stamp Duty – see below

* Fees to the land registry are on a sliding scale and begin at £20 for a property valued at £80,000, £40 for properties valued up to £100,000, £95 for properties valued up to £200,000, £135 for properties valued up to £500,000, £270 for properties valued up to £1m and £455 for properties worth over £1m. Properties which are not registered at the land registry will incur a higher fee because your purchase will trigger a first registration at land registry

Stamp Duty or Land Tax (on purchase)

If you are buying a property we will complete the HMRC stamp duty form on your behalf and submit it at the completion of the transaction. Please make sure you are aware of what stamp duty may apply because this is an important part of your budget.

This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s website. Please contact me if you need help.

When selling a property you will ordinarily need to pay the following disbursements:

• Land Registry Office Copy Entries and Title Plan £6 per title number. There may be additional title documents to obtain which cost £3 each, for example if the property is leasehold. I would allow a budget of between £20-30.
• Bank Transfer fees of £12 per payment, there could be two transfer fees if you have a mortgageto pay.

If the property is a ‘leasehold’ property then the disbursements will be different and normally consist of:

• Notice of Transfer fee – This fee if chargeable is set out in the lease. Often the fee is between £90-£200 plus VAT
• Notice of Charge fee (if the property is to be mortgaged) – This fee is set out in the lease. Often the fee is between £50-£150 plus VAT
• Deed of Covenant fee – This fee is provided by the management company for the property and can be difficult to estimate. Often it is between £150-£200 plus VAT
• Certificate of Compliance fee – To be confirmed upon receipt of the lease, as can range between £100-£200 plus VAT
• Leasehold Management Pack – This fee is chargeable when selling a leasehold property. Often it is between £150-£350 plus VAT

We will find out the above information when we obtain the paperwork and I will advise you.

Other costs to consider

If you have a mortgage on the property or have incurred an estate agent’s fee money we would also typically need to pay the money owed directly to your lender and agent as needed from the sale money we receive for you.

You should also be aware that if you are purchasing a leasehold property then ground rent and service charges 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.

I would let you know if there is anything unforeseen as we go along. Sometimes further work is required to make good any defects in your property title or lease, or you may need to extend a lease for example. There could be other out of pocket expenses such as taking out Conveyancing insurance policies to cover where documents or deeds are missing, or where a title is defective. I will always discuss this with you before incurring additional costs.

Examples of how the charges work

The table below is a typical example of what charges we would make to the client selling a freehold property for £300,000.00:

Whereas the table below is a typical example of what charges we would make to a client selling a property for £200,000.00 and buying a new property for £350,000.00:

How long will my house sale / purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted to completion will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 8 and 12 weeks.

It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the ‘chain’. For example, if you are a cash buyer and there is no chain, in principle and the transaction goes smoothly it could take as little as 6 weeks. However, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this can take significantly longer, between 3 and 6 months. In such, a situation additional charges would apply.

What legal work will I be doing for you?

The precise stages involved vary according to the circumstances. However typically in a property sale I need to do the following:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Receive and advise on sale contract documents where applicable
• Carry out searches on the property you are buying where appropriate
• Give you advice on all documents and information received
• 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
• Complete the transaction

In a property purchase we need to do the following:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Check finances are in place to fund purchase where applicable and contact lender’s solicitors if needed
• Carry out searches on the property you are buying where appropriate
  Obtain further planning documentation if required
• Make any necessary enquiries of seller’s solicitor where applicable
• 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 you
• Complete purchase
• Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
• Deal with application for registration at Land Registry

It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur other costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.

Our fee assumes that:

• 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
• this is the assignment of an existing lease and is not the grant of a new lease
• the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise
• all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation
• no indemnity policies are required. Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are required.