Our Costs – Residential Property Purchase

What does our service include?

Our services cover all of 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 (SDLT) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

The precise stages involved in a residential property purchase vary according to the circumstances. For example our service typically includes:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Check finances are in place to fund the purchase
• Receive and advise on contract documents
• Carry out searches
• Obtain further planning documentation if required
• Make any necessary enquiries of the seller’s Solicitor
• Give you advice on all documents and information received
• Go through the conditions of your mortgage offer with you
• Send final contract to you for signature
• Agree on completion date (the date from which you own the property)
• Exchange contracts
• Arrange for all monies needed to be received from the lender and you
• Complete purchase
• Deal with payment of SDLT
• Deal with applications for registration at the Land Registry

How long will your purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move into your new house will depend on a number of factors. The average standard transaction takes between 10 and 12 weeks. Examples of non-standard transactions include:

• New build properties
• Leasehold properties
• Unregistered properties

Other factors which may delay your purchase may include other people in your chain and the lender.

Who will act on your behalf?

Your matter will be undertaken by a member of our Residential Conveyancing team. You can view their profile pages by visiting our Meet the Team page. We welcome your request for a specific member of the Residential Conveyancing team to act on your behalf but please note this may not always be possible, (eg. we may decide another Solicitor has more appropriate skills for your matter).

How will your matter be supervised?

All of our Residential Conveyancing matters are supervised by Lucy McCallum who is our Head of Residential Property Conveyancing.

How much will we charge you?

We will charge you a fixed fee based on your transaction. We will assess this with you at the beginning of the matter based upon the below guidance:

Our Legal Fees

Our Fee is based on the Property Value:

Up to £200,000  Our total fee inc. VAT: £1,500 Total ex. VAT: £1,250

£200,001 to £300,000  Our total fee inc. VAT: £1,620 Total ex. VAT: £1,350

£300,001 to £400,000  Our total fee inc. VAT: £1,740 Total ex. VAT: £1,450

£400,001 to £500,000  Our total fee inc. VAT: £1,860 Total ex. VAT: £1,550

£500,001 to £750,000  Our total fee inc. VAT: £1,980 Total ex. VAT: £1,650

Over £750,000  Our total fee inc. VAT: £2,100 – £6,000 Total ex. VAT: £1,750 – £5,000

Please click here to get in touch for a tailored quote based on your circumstances and property value

You will also be required to pay Fees for the following:

• ID Search – Our total fee inc. VAT: £24 Total ex. VAT: £20
• SDLT administration fee if we are submitting your SDLT return on your behalf Total inc. VAT: £120 Total ex. VAT: £100
• Bank transfer fee for a three-day payment using BACs Total inc. VAT: £24 Total ex. VAT: £20
• Bank transfer fee for a same-day payment using CHAPs Total inc. VAT: £48 Total ex. VAT: £40
• Administration and Digital Storage Fee of £35 + VAT

Additional fees may be charged if your matter involves:

• Voluntary First Registration Total inc. VAT: £900-£1200 Total ex. VAT: £750-£1000
• A Leasehold Property Total inc. VAT: £420 Total ex. VAT: £350
• A Freehold Management Company Total inc. VAT £150 Total ex. VAT £125
• A Shared Ownership Leasehold Fee Total inc. VAT: £495 Total ex. VAT: £412.50
• Help to Buy Shared Equity Fee Total inc. VAT: £300 Total ex. VAT: £250
• New Build Property Fee Total Inc. VAT: £300 Total ex. VAT: £250
• Help to Buy ISA (per person) Total inc. VAT: £60 Total ex. VAT: £50
• Us liaising with your lender Total inc. VAT: £24 to £180 Total ex. VAT: £20-£150
• Us organising Indemnity Insurance Policy Total inc. VAT: £36 Total ex. VAT: £30
• Lawyer Check Total inc. VAT:  £12 Total ex. VAT: £10
• Drafting additional deeds or other documents required e.g. a Deed of Variation Total inc. VAT: £900-£1200 Total ex. VAT: £750-£1000
• Purchase by auction: By agreement

What will we pay to third parties on your behalf?

In the majority of purchases we expect to pay the below third-party expenses on your behalf. It is important you note we do not make any money from these payments.

Third-Party Payments

SDLT can be calculated here  Dependent VAT FREE

Search fees to check legal elements of the property you are purchasing e.g. if the property is connected to a highway  Approximately £350 

Land Registry fee to register the property in your name  £95 VAT FREE

Legal Marketing Services if used by your chosen bank  £10 VAT FREE

Will we pay referral fees for you instructing us?

Certain work introducers, such as Estate Agents, have agreed a referral fee with the firm. This means we make a payment to the referrer. It is important to note you only pay our Legal Fees and we in turn pay the agents from our Legal Fees.

What happens if your matter becomes abortive?

We charge all clients an abortive fee dependent on the percentage of the work we have completed (i.e. we will charge 75% of the fee if we have completed 75% of the work) plus any third-party payments incurred on your behalf.