Costs information on purchases of residential freehold property

Introduction

We do not carry out work on fixed fee basis. We will give you a personal estimate at the outset but the costs will then be based on the time spent working for you and the hourly rate of the person(s) carrying out the work. Our hourly rates currently range from £265 to £275, plus VAT at 20%.

Before we start work for you, we will need to understand what you are seeking to achieve and supply you with a specific estimate based on your requirements and also taking into account the requirements of your lender, and the law.

One factor is whether the property is registered, but even then it can vary because of the terms of the deal which are usually prepared by the selling agents. We will ask you about your plans for the property and whether, for example, you have concerns about what is built nearby (as searches do not usually cover adjacent land).

What is our role?

If you engage us to buy a freehold property in England or Wales, we shall usually go through these steps:

  • Taking your instructions, which will include explaining our charges and some of the options you have, and investigating your funding arrangements;
  • Obtaining and reviewing the contract for purchase and the title deeds from the selling solicitors or conveyancers;
  • Explaining the choice of searches – some are more or less compulsory and some are optional depending on whether you are a “cash” buyer or someone obtaining a mortgage;
  • Raising some enquires with the sellers on matters like title issues, points arising from the result of searches and any specific enquires you want to raise;
  • If you are obtaining a mortgage, explaining the terms of the loan with you and the security that the lender wants to take;
  • Reporting to you on the terms of the contract, and usually obtaining a 10% deposit from you for the purchase;
  • Exchanging contracts and setting a completion date;
  • Organising the funds from you and from any lender in time for completion;
  • Carrying out pre-completion searches and final questions to protect you and your lender;
  • Carrying out completion and arranging for all monies to be transferred to the seller;
  • Assisting you to prepare a Land Transaction Return for Stamp Duty Land Tax purposes and once you have agreed that, filing it for you and arranging for the payment of any tax;
  • Once completion has taken place we prepare the papers for the Land Registry and deal with application to register your title;
  • We check and report to you and any lender once title is registered and then agree where the deeds (if there are any in paper form) are held.

The costs for this work do not include tax advice (including advice on the amount of Stamp Duty Land Tax you will have to pay, particularly where higher rates of tax, or reliefs, might apply) but we can separately give you advice if we agree that with you.

Costs

Where VAT applies to our costs or any expenses, this will be at the rate of 20%.

The cost of a freehold purchase is from £750 plus VAT. Where you are purchasing the property with a mortgage or similar the costs will be more; a mortgage will often increase the cost by up to £400 plus VAT and note that the lenders may well impose a requirement for more searches too.

Factors that may increase the cost include (but are not limited to):

  • If the title is not yet registered;
  • If the title is part of a larger area of title so that there is a split of ownership and ownership rights like drains or access;
  • New buildings, especially where there are new estate roads and new boundaries;
  • Shared ownership schemes, where you are receiving any grants, or you are buying a house where you are already a tenant;
  • Where you buy in joint names and need to agree terms for future sale or the basis on which each of you have contributed to the price;
  • Where there are any disputes affecting the property you are purchasing;
  • If the property you are buying is a special purpose property such as for the elderly with covenants about ownership and conditions on re-sale;
  • If your property is on an estate where there are shared charges for common areas such as private roads;
  • Where you have more than one lender, or some of the price is from a member of the family who is not going to be on the title to the house;
  • Where the searches reveal defects such as a much higher risk of flooding or historic contamination;
  • Where there are negotiations on the terms of the deal, such as when there are defects shown on a building survey;
  • If there are shared rights such as private drains;
  • High value transactions;
  • Where there is a deadline requiring urgency;
  • Contract races where more than one bidder is given a contract and the first to be ready secures the deal.

Where we have expenses to pay on your behalf these will be in addition to our costs:

  • Same day transfer of funds – £15 plus VAT for each transfer made;
  • Fees for searches with third parties, which typically include fees with the relevant local authority for enquires with them, a desktop (or mapping) environmental check and other searches such as for common land will vary between £300 to £400 plus VAT;
  • Land Registry fees. There is often a need to obtain details from the Land Registry of property adjacent or close to the property you are purchasing, typically at £6 plus VAT per property but with an additional £3 plus VAT for each other document obtained;
  • Pre-registration, there are further search fees, typically amounting to £6 plus VAT;
  • On registration, there is a fee to register the title which if a whole title will typically be either £135 or £270, depending on the value of the property. The fee scales can be found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees at Scale 1 and we will wherever possible apply for registration through the Land Registry portal, which reduces the fee payable;
  • Stamp Duty Land Tax. The level of tax depends on the purchase price of your property. Other factors include if this is a first time purchase or if you or a joint purchaser own other residential property (which adds a 3% surcharge). See the HMRC’s website https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro.

How long will this take?

We usually say 8 – 10 weeks for a straight forward purchase, but that will depend on (for example) whether there is any chain of transactions, any additional requirements imposed by your lender which can take time to resolve and the results arising from the searches, where queries then have to be resolved.