Conveyancing fees

We set out details of our typical fees (click here for fees) for dealing with residential conveyancing matters below and we believe these fees are competitive but we do not promise to be the cheapest but would remind you that given that your chosen conveyancer will be responsible for handling a significant financial transaction on your behalf, we would urge you to consider that the quality of the service you receive should be a greater factor than a potential small saving on fees incurred.

Our team has over seventy years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to conveyancing. We have been accredited under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Standard (https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-public/using-a-solicitor/quality-marks/conveyancing/) since the inception of that scheme in 2011. We have a five-member property team all of whom are fully qualified lawyers either solicitors or Legal Executives. Residential conveyancing work will be carried out by the lawyers listed below under the supervision of partners Helen Henson and Nick Hyman (see their profiles here) both of whom have wide and lengthy experience of dealing with residential and commercial property matters.

We would stress therefore that your property transactions will be handled by a qualified and experienced lawyer with the day to day assistance of his or her experienced secretary. We would point out that in many firms you will find the bulk of the residential conveyancing work is carried out by unqualified paralegals and whilst they may be supervised by qualified lawyers, your day to day dealings would be with the paralegals.

However, if you choose to instruct us to do your residential conveyancing you will deal directly with the qualified lawyer responsible for your matter.

Our conveyancing team

Ashleigh Lydford – Partner
Ashleigh qualified as a solicitor in July 2016 having also completed her training contract with us. She obtained her degree in law from the University of The West of England and completed the Legal Practice Course at Bournemouth University.
For the latter part of her training contract and since qualifying Ashleigh has specialised in residential and commercial property matters.

Trudy Wareham – Chartered Legal Executive
After raising her family, Trudy completed her legal training in 2002 and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives in 2004 and has specialised in residential conveyancing ever since, joining us in August 2014. Trudy is also based at our Wimborne Office

Our Fees for the Purchase, Sale and Re-Mortgage of Residential Properties

We set out details of our fees below firstly for Purchases and then for Sales

Click here if you are buying a property

Click here if you are selling a property

Click here for Re-Mortgages

The fees are different for the purchase of a leasehold property so please ensure you refer to the correct fees. If you are purchasing a flat or apartment, even though this may be described as “freehold”, in practice this only means that upon purchase of the flat itself you will acquire a share of the freehold and inevitably the flat or apartment itself will have a leasehold title and therefore the leasehold supplement will apply.)

The fees set out below are what you will be charged for the appropriate transaction assuming it is straightforward and proceeds in a normal manner. However, there are individual aspects to every transaction and whilst we have tried to cover some of these possibilities by detailing the supplements which may be applicable, for this reason these fees cannot be regarded as binding estimates. That said we would always be pleased to provide a written & specific fees quotation to you upon request so we may have chance to do so based upon the fullest possible and accurate information. If you like us to do so please click here (Insert link to fee quote request page)

In the fee tables below, we do use some terminology that relates to the conveyancing process and so if you are not familiar with the process, possibly because you have not bought or sold a property for some time or you are a first-time buyer, we would urge to read our Guide to Moving Home which may be found here (Insert link)

PURCHASE OF A FREEHOLD OR LEASEHOLD PROPERTY

Our fees cover the legal work detailed below in order 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 (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

THE PURCHASE PROCESS AND THE WORK WE SHALL DO FOR YOU

The precise stages and legal work involved in a purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances but will generally include:

taking your instructions,
investigating title to the property and making necessary enquiries through the Seller and the local authority,
conducting a search on the property through the local authority and the Land Registry if necessary,
agreeing a contract of sale with the Seller,
where applicable acting for any mortgagee, obtaining mortgage advance,
exchanging contracts,
completing the purchase,
Submitting the Stamp Duty Land Tax return on your behalf and paying any duty due on your behalf
Registering the purchase (and any mortgage) at the Land Registry
Dealing with any procedural requirements for notice of transfer etc. under any Lease,
all routine correspondence throughout with yourself, the seller's legal representative and any estate agents, the local authority and the land registry, and any freehold/management company.

We will not advise you upon planning matters or matters involving valuation or taxation. Such enquiries require specialist advice from a planning expert, surveyor/valuer, tax specialist or accountant.

We will also not advise you upon the state of repair and condition of the property and any queries in this regard need to be referred to your own independent surveyor

Our fee assumes that:

a. this is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction

b. the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complications arise

c. all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation

TBC = To be confirmed when we have specific instructions and sufficient information from you

Stamp Duty or Land Tax
This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC's website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority's website here..

All leases provide a number of formalities to be observed when the property changes hands but they vary in each transaction as do the fees charged by the Landlord or Agent.

The following are most likely, and the first (notice) is always required and we indicate what may be a typical fee. However, these fees will only be confirmed to us once the transaction is underway

Notice of new owner (and Mortgage if any) to landlord and Agent £75.00/£150.00 + Vat.
Entering into Separate Deed of Covenant £75.00/£150.00 + Vat
Transferring share if share of Freehold comes with flat £75/£125.00 + Vat

SALE OF A FREEHOLD OR LEASEHOLD PROPERTY

Our fees cover the legal work detailed below in order to complete the sale of your home.

THE SALE PROCESS AND THE WORK WE SHALL DO FOR YOU

The precise stages and legal work involved in a sale of a residential property vary according to the circumstances but will generally include:

Taking your instructions,
obtaining the title deeds,
preparing the contract of sale,
providing information on the property to the purchaser,
dealing with their enquiries on the property,
exchanging contracts with the purchaser,
obtaining payment from the purchaser,
all routine correspondence throughout with yourself, the purchaser’s legal representative and any estate agent, the local authority and the Land Registry and any freeholder/ management company regarding any property maintenance.
where applicable redeeming any mortgage,

Our fee assumes that:

b. in the case of a leasehold sale that it is the sale of an existing lease and is not the creation/grant of a new lease

c. the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise

d. all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation

e. no indemnity policies are required. (Sometimes such policies are required by the buyer’s conveyancer to deal with a variety of matters including for example a possible defect in the title or missing documentation.) Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are required.

Disbursements are expenses related to your transaction that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. We reserve the right to ask for payment in advance to cover some disbursement which are incurred prior to exchange of contracts (This will primarily be the cost of the official copies of your title and for leasehold properties, the fee for the LPE management pack)

TBC = To be confirmed when we have specific instructions and sufficient information from you

Management Pack
This (LPE = Leasehold Property Enquiries) is a standard style pack of information relating to the flat, the service charge, repairs to the building and so on which the Seller has to supply to the Buyer. We will obtain this on your behalf from the managing Agent who will charge a fee for providing this. The estimated fee set out above of £240 including Vat is an average going rate for such fee but we will only be able to find out the actual fee charged ( be it lower or higher) once the transaction is underway)

Transfer Fee (% of sale price)
Where a leasehold flat is a retirement or sheltered property, the lease sometimes provides that the Freeholder is entitled to payment of a fee upon the transfer(sale) of the flat. This is usually expressed to be a percentage of the sale price as specified in the lease. As the fee will vary from block to block, we can only confirm this upon seeing the lease.

RE-MORTGAGE OF A FREEHOLD OR LEASEHOLD PROPERTY

Our fees cover the legal work detailed below in order to complete the re-mortgage of your property, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry.

THE RE-MORTGAGE PROCESS AND THE WORK WE SHALL DO FOR YOU

The precise stages and legal work involved in a re-mortgage of a residential property vary according to the instructions of the new lender but will generally include:

taking your instructions,
investigating title to the property conducting a search on the property through the local authority (if required by the Lender) and the Land Registry if necessary,
obtaining mortgage advance,
Confirming sum required to pay off existing mortgage
completing the re-mortgage and redeeming (paying off) the old mortgage,
Registering the new mortgage at the Land Registry
Dealing with any procedural requirements for notice of mortgage under any Lease,
all routine correspondence throughout with yourself, the Lender, the local authority and the land registry, and any freehold/management company.

We will not advise you upon matters involving valuation or whether the proposed mortgage is suitable or appropriate for your needs and circumstances. Such enquiries require specialist advice from a mortgage advisor, surveyor/valuer, tax specialist or accountant.

Our fee assumes that:

d. this is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction

e. the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complications arise

f. all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation

Disbursements are expenses related to your transaction that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. We reserve the right to ask for payment in advance to cover some disbursement which are incurred prior to exchange of contracts (This will primarily be the cost of the searches). Not all Lenders require such searches and accept Indemnity insurance instead. We can only clarify this for you upon receipt of mortgage instructions and if appropriate we can then confirm the cost of such insurance

TBC = To be confirmed when we have specific instructions and sufficient information

HOW LONG WILL MY HOUSE SALE OR PURCHASE TAKE?

Experience shows us that the average timescale to complete a residential sale or purchase is in the region of 2-3 months. Realistically we would expect to be in a position to exchange Contracts 4-6 weeks after we receive cleared funds to cover the cost of the necessary Searches on a purchase or in the case of a sale after we receive the necessary forms fully completed by you with supporting documentation – in either case assuming there are no particular complications or issues to resolve. Whether exchange and completion can be achieved within these timescales for you will very much depend on the nature and extent of the chain with which you are involved and your requirements and those of the other parties as to the completion date requirements. Sometimes, where appropriate or necessary, transactions can be completed quicker than set out above. However, in all cases we will regularly liaise with you and keep you informed as to the progress of your transaction(s).

The progress of any transaction towards exchange and completion is dependent upon the extent of the chain and primarily the slowest/least advanced link in that chain. For that reason, so that expectations as to timescale can be realistic it is essential that everyone in the chain offers full and frank information as to his, her or their position and realistic ability to proceed. We will know from your instructions if for example your ability to proceed is dependent upon any other transaction, event or payment. We appreciate this is personal information but because it is very relevant to the progress of your transaction unless we are instructed to the contrary in writing, we shall proceed on the basis that we are authorised to share that information with other Solicitors and agents involved not only in your transaction but in any linked transaction in your chain.

HOW LONG WILL MY RE-MORTGAGE TAKE?

Experience shows us that the average timescale to complete a re-mortgage is in the region of 4-6 weeks following receipt of mortgage instructions and cleared funds to cover the cost of the any necessary Searches - assuming there are no particular complications or issues to resolve. Sometimes, where appropriate or necessary, remortgages can be completed quicker than set out above. However, in all cases we will regularly liaise with you and keep you informed as to the progress of your transaction(s).