Our Fees: Property Purchase 

(Freehold & Leasehold)

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your property, including registration of your ownership at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

Our Fees

The table below sets out an estimate of our fees based on the average UK house price (£291,385).

fee quote

You can also use our fee quote tool by clicking here to obtain an estimated total cost of the transaction.  VAT will be charged on our fees at the prevailing rate, currently 20%.

Discounts

We are pleased to offer discounted rates for members of the emergency services (Blue Light Legal) and to members of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union and Community Union.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Details of anticipated disbursements are set out in the table above.  Whilst we have tried to include as many fees and disbursements as possible, contact us with the details of your transaction so we may provide a bespoke quote specific for your circumstances. 

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) (for English properties) or Land Transaction Tax (LTT) (for Welsh properties)

The amount of Tax that you pay on Completion depends on the purchase price of your property and how many properties/interest in properties each buyer will have at the end of the day of completion of the purchase.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collect SDLT and Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) collect LTT.

We shall pay on completion to HMRC or WRA, as applicable, the Tax accordingly to our calculations. However, please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that the correct amount of tax is being paid. If you wish for clarity or have any queries on the level of Tax, you should consult with a Tax Expert/Adviser in advance of exchange of contracts. We would refer you to the following websites for the relevant calculators for Tax:

• HMRC (English Properties): gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates or
• Welsh Revenue Authority (Welsh Properties): lttcalculator.wra.gov.wales

Land Registry Registration Fee

After completion of your purchase, we shall register your ownership and any mortgage at Land Registry.

The fee payable to Land Registry is applied on a sliding scale depending on the purchase price. Where the application is of a nature that can be submitted to Land Registry electronically, the fee will be reduced.

The reduced fee is in the range of £20.00 – £455.00 and we shall advise you more specifically one we have details of your matter.

Leasehold Properties

If your Property is leasehold, its Lease will set out whether any additional charges apply. These additional charges are due to the Freeholder and/or Management Company and are usually in the region of £300 – £500. This is not an exhaustive list and other disbursements may apply depending on the terms of the Lease for your Property.

Whilst we have provided an estimate of the costs, please note that they vary depending on the property and can be significantly less or significantly more than our estimates above. We shall provide you with clarity on these specific costs upon review of the Lease once received from the Seller’s Solicitors.

Be aware that Ground Rent and Service Charges will also be payable for the Property during your ownership as per the terms of the Lease. We shall confirm the costs of the same upon receipt of the Lease and Freeholder/Management Company Sale Pack.

How long will my property purchase take?

The length of time it will take from your offer being accepted until you collect the keys to the property, and move into your new house if applicable, will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes 10 – 12 weeks.

It can be shorter or longer, depending on factors such as, but by no means exclusively, the number of parties in the chain and their respective circumstances, if the property is Leasehold or requires a lease extension, there be a title defect, requirement of mortgage funding, surveys, searches, new builds. We shall endeavour to keep you apprised during the process.

Key stages of the process

Whilst the precise stages involved in a purchase transaction can vary accordingly to the circumstances of each transaction, the key stages of the process are as follows (please note the weekly timeline is a guide only):

Instructions (Weeks 1- 3)

• We receive your instructions to act on your behalf;
• Our Client Care Pack is sent out to you, explaining our Costs, Terms of Business, advising on joint ownership (if applicable), for you to consider, sign and return along with initial monies on account;
• We obtain from you evidence of source of funds and your proof of identity as part of our anti-money laundering checks;
• We carry out conflict of interest checks against all parties to the transaction;
• We receive Sales Particulars from the Estate Agents (if involved) and request Contract papers from the Seller’s solicitors.

Investigation of Title (Weeks 4-8)

• We receive Contract papers from the Seller’s Solicitors (including Freeholder/Management Company Sales Pack if Leasehold), review the same and report to you;
• We forward to you the Contract for signature and return;
• We raise necessary enquiries (if any) with the Seller’s Solicitor, review their replies once received and report to you on the same;
• We order relevant searches, report to you on the results once received and raise any necessary additional enquiries with the Seller’s Solicitors;
• We check that finances are in place to fund purchase i.e. cash or mortgage.
• If a mortgage is required, upon receipt of our copy Offer from your Lender, we review the same, report to you, satisfy the Lender’s requirements and forward the Mortgage Deed to you for signature and return.

Pre-Exchange – Exchange of Contracts (Week 9-10)

• Once Title, Searches and Mortgage (if any) are satisfactory and if you are happy to proceed we agree with the Seller a Completion Date (date from which you own the property);
• We forward you the Transfer Deed for signature and return;
• We provide you with our Completion Statement detailing the balance required from you to complete (including the Deposit) and await receipt of the same from you in cleared funds;
• We carry out our pre-completion searches, request mortgage funds (if any) and await from you your arranged Building Insurance Policy Schedule (unless Leasehold);
• After obtaining your Authority to Exchange and the Deposit, we exchange Contracts with the Seller’s Solicitors (legally binding both Buyer and Seller to the Contract and to complete on the agreed Completion Day) and notify you that this has happened.

Post-Exchange – Completion (Weeks 10-11)

• We receive the Seller’s Solicitors replies to Completion Information and carry out Lawyer Checker against their bank details;
• We await receipt of mortgage funds from your Lender (and yourself, if not provided in full already);
• On Completion Day, the purchase monies are sent to the Seller’s Solicitors. Once received, they confirm to us whereupon the property is yours and you can collect the keys to the house.

Post Completion (Week 12)

• We arrange for the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax/Land Transaction Tax (if any);
• If Leasehold, we submit the necessary documents to the Freeholder/Management Company;
• We apply to register your ownership of the property at Land Registry;
• We forward to you evidence of your ownership once received from Land Registry along with any deeds and other documents received from the Seller’s Solicitors.

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