Anyone who has ever bought a property will know that that price you offer for your new home is only part of the overall price you have to pay.
Added costs such as Stamp Duty, house surveys, mortgage arrangement fees, estate agent fees if you have a property to sell, and legal costs can bump up your bill considerably, so it’s very important to go into any property search fully aware of what the fees are likely to be. Conveyancing costs are unavoidable, and can vary considerably.
Who can help me with conveyancing?
As conveyancing is the legal process which transfers a property from one owner to the other, it is essential that you have someone who knows what they are doing working on your case. Conveyancing is definitely not something you can scrimp on and try to do yourself.
Traditionally conveyancing was the preserve of lawyers, and most legal firms will still have a property law department. More recently however, specialist conveyancing firms have entered the market to give sellers and buyers another option.
Fees and Disbursements
There are two main elements in any charge for conveyancing, solicitor fees and disbursements.
Fees
The legal fees are the costs which the solicitor or the conveyancer charges for their time and effort working on your case.
You can expect to pay anything between £330 and £1,050 for legal fees, depending on the complexity of your case and the type of property. Remember that most conveyancing legal fees are quoted without VAT, so you’ll have to add on an additional 20%.
The legal fees for leasehold property are more expensive than for freehold property purchases, as the conveyancing process for leasehold properties includes an additional amount of work.
A number of conveyancing firms offer a No Sale No Fee option, whereby, if your property transaction falls through, you will not be charge for the legal fees. It should be noted, however, that No Sale No Fee agreements usually include a supplement in case of the transaction failing.
Disbursements
The second part of conveyancing costs is the charge for disbursements. Disbursements are third party costs which your solicitor will incur whilst dealing with your transaction.
The disbursement charges include the cost of the conveyancing searches your solicitor will undertake.
The conveyancing searches include:
Charges by the Land Registry for legally transferring ownership of the property, and checking that the person selling the property is legally entitled to do so
Water Authority searches to ensure the drains and sewerage is correct
Mining searches
Bankruptcy search
Environmental searches to assess risk of subsidence or flooding
Local Authority Search
The Local Authority Search will flag up any concerns around restrictions to the property or contaminated land.
The fees for all of these conveyancing searches are set by the body conducting the search and are standard at around £300 plus VAT. Your solicitor will usually ask for payment for the searches before starting any work and the additional costs are added to your final bill.
Agree fees up front
Most lawyers and conveyancers offer “fixed price” conveyancing, where you agree up front the charges for the searches and legal work up front. This is definitely the better option, so you are aware of the cost of all aspects of your conveyancing.