Call Us
Email Us
Buying a Property
Residential Conveyancing
Meet the team
The work we do
The Ten Steps to Completion:
- Obtain Local Authority searches. A local search only deals with the subject property, so if there is any reason to investigate any adjoining property then this should be requested prior to exchange of contracts.
- Review contract. Receive and check the contract documentation prepared by the seller's solicitors.
- Pre-contract enquiries. relating to the contract documentation.
- Confirm finances. Ensure that your financial arrangements are in place to enable the purchase to proceed.
- Report on title. Go through the contract papers and the title deeds in detail with you. For example, we will check whether there are any obligations due to covenants which may affect the property, boundary rights, any complications regarding insurance (or similar) and when satisfied that everything is in order, proceed to an exchange of contracts.
- Exchange of contracts. Following exchange of contracts a purchaser is legally committed to complete the purchase of the property and the date for completion or moving date will then be agreed between you and the seller.
- Mortgage documents. Submit the Certificate of Title to the bank/building society (if applicable) to obtain mortgage funds and obtaining your signature to the mortgage deed.
- Transfer documents. Draft the transfer documentation dealing with the transfer of the property to you.
- Stamp Duty Land Tax. Organise submission of a land transaction return and deal with payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).
- Completion. Prepare purchase accounts and obtain any monies due from you so that the purchase can be completed. Register ownership of the property at HM Land Registry (this can take a number of months) and give notice of the transfer in the case of leasehold properties. Once registration is complete we will provide you with evidence that you are now the registered proprietor(s).
Meet the team
Our Fees
Our fees will generally cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home or property. This will include dealing with payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if the property is in England or Land Transaction Tax (LTT) if the property is in Wales and attending to registration of your title at HM Land Registry.
For an estimate of the likely fees and charges for a purchase transaction, please use our helpful Conveyancing Calculator. Please note, the estimates that our calculator produces are merely an indication of the likely costs based on a limited amount of information we have about your transaction.
Additional Charges
In addition to our legal fees, there are further payments which will need to be made as part of your purchase transaction. These are called disbursements and they are costs relating to your matter that are payable to third parties such as Stamp Duty (which is payable to HMRC) and HM Land Registry fees. We will handle payment of the disbursements on your behalf as part of our service.
Client Onboarding
Our client onboarding is carried out through our partner firm, InfoTrack. The cost of onboarding per person is £14.40 inclusive of VAT.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (or Land Transaction Tax in Wales)
The amount payable will depend on the purchase price of your property and whether you own any other residential property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s Stamp Duty Land Tax calculator or, if the property is located in Wales, by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s website.
Local Authority/Drainage/Environmental Searches
Our standard search pack includes a personal Local Authority Search, personal Drainage and Water search and an Environmental search. The cost of this search pack is £189.58 inclusive of VAT.
Should you require official searches by the Local Authority or direct Drainage and Water searches, we will be able to obtain these and can confirm costs upon request.
Pre-Completion Search Fees
Just before completion, we will need to undertake a Land Registry search against the property title and also a bankruptcy search for each purchaser.
The Land Registry search fee is currently £10.20 inclusive of VAT and the bankruptcy search fee per individual is £9.00 inclusive of VAT.
Land Registration Fee
This fee will depend on the purchase price of the property. The table below sets out the current Land Registration fees:
| Value or Amount | Registration Fee* |
|---|---|
| 0 to £80,000 | £20 |
| £80,001 to £100,000 | £40 |
| £100,001 to £200,000 | £100 |
| £200,001 to £500,000 | £150 |
| £500,001 to £1,000,000 | £295 |
| £1,000,001 and over | £500 |
*The Land Registry fees quoted above are stated on the basis of the reduced (50%) fee scale which applies where we are able to deal with the registration digitally through the Land Registry portal. Generally, this applies to the registration of transfers involving the whole of an existing registered title. Transactions which will be subject to the 100% fee will include purchases from developers of new build properties and purchases where the seller’s title is not already registered at HM Land Registry.
Additional Disbursements for Leasehold Properties*
In addition to the above disbursements for freehold properties, leasehold transactions will usually involve payment of the following further disbursements:
- Notice of Transfer/Charge fee: This fee is payable to the freeholder/management company following completion of the purchase. The cost can vary from £25 plus VAT for older leases but can rise to in excess of £100 plus VAT. We will advise you of the fee payable when we report to you on the lease.
- Deed of Covenant fee: Where the lease requires a new owner to enter into a deed of covenant with the freeholder/management company, a deed of covenant fee will be payable. The fee is charged by the management company which deals with the property and can be difficult to estimate. The fee is often in the region of £100 - £200 plus VAT. Again, we will confirm this with you once we receive confirmation from the management company.
- Certificate of Compliance fee: This fee is also charged by the freeholder/management company. The fee is often in the region of £75 - £100 plus VAT. We will confirm the fee to you, if applicable, when we report on the lease and receive the management company information.
*These fees vary from property to property and can occasionally be significantly more than the ranges given above. We will provide you with an accurate figure once we have had sight of your specific property documents and the information from the seller’s solicitor and the management company.
You should also be aware that ground rent and service charges are likely to apply throughout your ownership of a leasehold property. We will confirm the ground rent and anticipated service charge as soon as we receive this information.
PLEASE NOTE:
All payments to third parties included in any estimate are subject to change.
Estimates provided are an indication only of the likely costs. They are subject to confirmation via personal estimate provided by the branch you intend to use and also to our terms of business. Whilst the legal fees quoted should apply in most cases, these may be subject to change.
Our fees may also increase if your transaction involves any unforeseen issues or complications which result in extra work having to be carried out. Should this happen, an estimate of any further charges will be discussed with you at the earliest opportunity and where practicable, prior to the work being carried out.
There are few instances where the scope of the work proves to be greater than what was initially discussed. Examples of situations where costs will increase include where the legal title is defective, the title to the property or part of the property is unregistered or the property lacks certain necessary rights.