Residential Property

Our aim is to make your move as stress free as possible allowing you to concentrate on the practical side of moving. We can help guide you through the confusion and complexity involved in buying and selling your house. Your home is possibly the biggest financial investment you will ever make. Our residential conveyancing service is efficient and offers value for money.

Our Conveyancing Department consists of Gavin Mills (Head of Conveyancing) who is a Solicitor with over 15 years of experience, Fiona Lamb, a Chartered Legal Executive, with over 30 years of experience and Amy Errington, a Trainee Licenced Conveyancer supervised by Fiona Lamb.

The average timescale for a straightforward sale transaction is around 2 – 3 months and for a purchase transaction is 3 – 4 months. The process can take much longer if certain factors arise. You will be provided with our estimated timescale at the outset.

Our fees for a standard transaction are listed below.  We will advise you should we become aware of any additional fees or disbursements becoming payable during the transaction (for example our fee for dealing with rectification of title on a sale or a further disbursement charged by the Freeholder in connection with receipting notice of assignment on a leasehold property)

FEES

Our fees depend largely on the purchase price or sale price of the property concerned but other factors are sometimes relevant. See below. For a full no obligation quote please use the conveyancing estimate button on our Home page.

RESIDENTIAL SALE FEES

Up to £59,000                                  £550.00 plus £110.00 VAT (£660.00 incl. VAT)

£60,000 – £149,999                          £600.00 plus £120.00 VAT (£720.00 incl. VAT)

£150,000 – £249,999                        £675.00 plus £135.00 VAT (£810.00 incl. VAT)

£250,000 – £349,999                        £725.00 plus £145.00 VAT (£870.00 incl. VAT)

£350,000 – £499,999                        £799.00 plus £159.80 VAT (£958.80 incl. VAT)

Over £500,000                                 No less than £900.00 plus £180.00 VAT (£1,080.00 incl. VAT)

VAT is currently 20%

Key stages involved (Sale)

  • Take instructions and give initial advice
  • Obtain official copies of the Land registry title
  • Supply the protocol documents to be completed by the vendor
  • Draft the contract and collate the documents for the contract pack
  • Send the contract and protocol documents to the buyer’s solicitor
  • Forward enquiries raised by the buyer to the client
  • Answer legal enquiries raised by the buyer
  • Obtain redemption statements
  • If required obtain indemnity Insurance quotation
  • Approve the transfer document
  • Obtain agents invoice
  • Draft completion statement and send to client
  • Send the transfer document and contract to client for signature
  • Agree completion date
  • Exchange contracts
  • Obtain agents invoice
  • Complete on sale
  • Redeem mortgage
  • Settle estate agents’ invoice
  • Forward property documents to buyer’s solicitor
  • Forward completion funds to client’s nominated account

RESIDENTIAL PURCHASE FEES

Up to £59,000                                £575.00 plus £115.00 VAT (£690.00 incl. VAT)

£60,000 – £149,999                        £650.00 plus £130.00 VAT (£780.00 incl. VAT)

£150,000 – £249,999                      £695.00 plus £139.00 VAT (£834.00 incl. VAT)

£250,000 – £349,999                      £750.00 plus £150.00 VAT (£900.00 incl. VAT)

£350,000 – £499,999                      £799.00 plus £159.80 VAT (£958.80 incl. VAT)

Over £500,000                                No less than £900.00 plus £180.00 VAT (£1,080.00 incl. VAT)

VAT is currently 20%

Key stages involved (Purchase)

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances:

  • Take your instructions and give you initial advice
  • Check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender’s solicitors if needed
  • Receive and advise on contract documents
  • Carry out searches
  • Obtain further planning documentation if required
  • Make any necessary enquiries of seller’s solicitor
  • Give you advice on all documents and information received
  • Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you
  • Send final contract to you for signature
  • Draft Transfer (if Leasehold purchase)
  • Advise you on joint ownership (if Leasehold purchase)
  • Obtain pre-completion searches (if Leasehold purchase)
  • Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
  • Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
  • Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
  • Complete purchase
  • Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
  • Deal with application for registration at Land Registry

Our fees assume that:

  • 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
  • This is the assignment of an existing lease and is not the grant of a new lease
  • The transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complications arise
  • All parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation
  • No indemnity policies are required. Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are required.

Factors that would typically increase the cost of the service

  • Legal title is defective, or part of the property is unregistered
  • If you discover building regulations or planning permission has not been obtained
  • If crucial documents we have previously requested from the client have not been provided

OTHER TRANSACTIONS

Transfer of Equity (no value limit)                              £535.00 plus £107.00 VAT (£642.00 incl. VAT)

Re-mortgage (no value limit)                                    £535.00 plus £107.00 VAT (£642.00 incl. VAT)

Council House Purchase (no value limit)                   £600.00 plus £120.00 VAT (£720.00 incl. VAT)

Lease Extension (no value limit)                                £600.00 plus £120.00 VAT (£720.00 incl. VAT)

VAT is currently 20%

Third party disbursements may be payable and could include some but not all the below, however we will calculate your disbursements and include these within your quote.

  • Stamp Duty Land Tax. This is payable on a purchase and may be payable on a transfer of equity.  The amount paid depends upon the purchase price/consideration being paid.  We will calculate this for you within our quotation, however you can calculate the amount to be paid by using the HMRC’s website.
  • Land Registry fee. This is payable upon registration of your purchase, re-mortgage or transfer of equity.  We will calculate this for you within our quotation, however you can calculate the amount to be paid using the Land Registry fees calculator via their website.
  • Lender fee, were appropriate. This is payable upon a purchase if you are obtaining a mortgage and is dependent upon which lender you have chosen.
  • Case Management fee. This is payable upon a sale, purchase, transfer of equity and re-mortgage transaction.  The amount payable is dependent upon the transaction type.
  • ID Fees. This is payable should we be required to carry out an electronic ID check.