Conveyancing Costs
Sam at our Crawley office and Tracey and Louise at our Ewell office will be pleased to assist you with your conveyancing transactions. They are assisted by administrative teams. Sam is the Head of Conveyancing and qualified as a Solicitor in 2005. Abigail is a Licensed Conveyancer and both Tracey and Louise are Legal Executives. They have more than 60 years’ experience in residential conveyancing between them.
Our charges consist of:
- Our fees for the legal work;
- ‘Disbursements’ – which are costs related to your matter that are payable to other people, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf.
Our Fees
Our fees depend upon the value of the property you are buying or selling and start from £945 + VAT (£189) for the sale and £995 + VAT (£199) for the purchase. Our fee scale appears here.
This fee scale does not apply to equity release/lifetime mortgages which have a significantly increased risk and workload and we will quote separately for these depending on the particular circumstances. For a tailored quote please email us for further details.
There are additional fees payable in certain circumstances and a copy of our additional fees can be found here.
Disbursements
The disbursements which you pay will depend upon whether you are buying or selling property whether you are buying a freehold or leasehold property and the location and type of property. A list of the Disbursements and Third Party Fees can be found here.
In addition, if you are buying a Property you will need to have a search pack which consists of a Local Search, a Water and Drainage Search and an Envirosearch. Our search packs start at £235. If you are buying a property without a mortgage then you do not have to have a search pack but it would be against our advice to proceed without one.
If the property is a leasehold property then additional disbursements will be payable and normally consist of:
- Notice of Transfer and Charge fee – This fee if chargeable is set out in the Lease or management information. Often the fee is between £50 – £300.
- Deed of Covenant fee – This fee is charged by the management company for the property and is usually between £100 and £200.
- Certificate of Compliance fee – To be confirmed upon receipt of the management pack and is usually approximately £150.
- Leasehold Management Pack – This fee is chargeable when selling a leasehold property and is usually approximately £150.
- If you are purchasing a leasehold property then ground rent and service charges are likely to apply throughout your ownership of the property.
| Examples | ||
| Purchase Price £495,000 | £ | £ |
| Our Fees (and VAT): | ||
| Lewis & Dick’s basic professional fee | 1270.00 | 254.00 |
| Mortgage administration fee | 150.00 | 30.00 |
| Fees in connection with completion SDLT Return | 75.00 | 15.00 |
| Fees in connection with a Telegraphic CHAPS Transfer (per transfer) | 35.00 | 7.00 |
| Fees in connection with AML Search (per person, per search) | 6.00 | 1.20 |
| Fees in connection with Land Registry Bankruptcy Search (per search) | 1.00 | 0.20 |
| Fees in connection with Land Registry Priority Search (per search) | 1.00 | 0.20 |
| Fees in connection with submitting SDLT Return | 5.00 | 1.00 |
| Fees in connection with Land Registry Registration Fee | 5.00 | 1.00 |
| Subtotal | 1548.00 | 309.60 |
| Total Costs | 1845.60 | |
| Expected third party expenses | ||
| Search Pack | 235.00 | (approx) |
| Land Registry Priority Search (per title) | 3.00 | |
| Land Registry Bankruptcy Search (per person, per search) | 2.00 | |
| Land Registry Fee | 150.00 | |
| Stamp Duty | TBC | |
| Total Expenses | 390.00 |
| Sale Price £495,000 | £ | £ |
| Our Fees: | ||
| Lewis & Dick’s basic professional fee | 1220.00 | 244.00 |
| Mortgage redemption fee | 150.00 | 30.00 |
| Fees in connection with a Telegraphic CHAPS Transfer (per transfer) | 35.00 | 7.00 |
| Fees in connection with AML Search (per person) | 6.00 | 1.20 |
| Fees in connection with obtaining Land Registry Title Deeds | 5.00 | 1.00 |
| Subtotal | 1416.00 | 283.20 |
| Total Costs | 1699.20 | |
| Expected third party expenses | ||
| Land Registry Office Copies (approx.) (£3 per document required) | 15.00 | |
| Total Expenses | 15.00 |
Stamp Duty Land Tax
If you are buying a property you will also need to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax. The amount which you need to pay to the Government depends on the price of the property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website.
The current SDLT threshold is £250,000 for residential properties and £150,000 for non residential land and properties. How much you will pay depends on whether the land or property is residential on non residential, whether you are a first time buyer and how many properties you own.
First time buyers can currently take advantage of relief meaning that they do not pay stamp duty for properties costing £425,000 or less. If the price is over £425,000 then stamp duty will be payable at 5% of the proportion of the property value up to £625,000. If you buy a property costing over £625,000 you cannot claim First Time Buyers relief.
If you are selling and buying your main residence, then the stamp duty rates set out in the below table will apply.
| Property or lease premium or transfer value | SDLT rate |
| Up to £250,000 | Zero |
| The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000) | 5% |
| The next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million) | 10% |
| The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million) | 12% |
If you are purchasing a second property, then you will need to pay an additional 3% stamp duty on top of the rates referred to above.
Please note that stamp duty rates can change at any time in accordance with legislation. Stamp Duty is a fairly complex calculation that is based on many criteria and so we strongly recommend that before proceeding with a transaction you check the rates payable using the governments website. Due to the complexity of the calculation we have not published worked examples of the calculations as they could be misleading but we are happy to talk you through the calculation over the phone where possible.
Timescales
We have found that the average transaction takes around 2-3 months but each case is different and there are many factors outside our control. It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the ‘chain’. For example, if you are a first time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage 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 We Will Do For You
The stages involved vary according to the individual transaction. However usually in a property sale, we need to do the following:
- Take your instructions and give you initial advice
- Obtain documents in order to prepare the draft contract package
- Receive and obtain your instructions on enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitors
- Send the contact to you for signature
- Agree completion date (date from which you no longer own the property)
- Exchange contacts and notify you that this has happened
- Complete the transaction and redeem any charges secured against the property
In a Property Purchase we will:
- Take your instructions and give you initial advice
- Check draft contract papers and raise enquiries
- Carry out searches on the property you are buying
- Give you advice on all documents and information received
- Send the contract to you for signature
- Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
- Exchange contacts and notify you that this has happened
- Arrange for all monies needed to be received from you and your lender
- Complete purchase
- Deal with payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax
- Deal with registration at the Land Registry
Get a Free Quote
Use our on-line service to get a free quote by clicking here