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Conveyancing Charges

 

This information relates to the sale and purchase of residential property. It does not apply to commercial property transactions

There are two main elements to the legal costs in conveyancing transactions:

  • our charges; and
  • expenses we may pay out of your behalf (called disbursements)
Our Charges

Our hourly rates for this service depend on the experience and seniority of the solicitor with conduct of the transaction.

Our hourly rates are: –

  • Partner   £350 plus VAT
  • Consultant Solicitor £350 plus VAT
  • Trainee Solicitor £200 plus VAT

In our experience, a straightforward conveyancing transaction should take no longer than between 5 to 6 hours for an experienced Solicitor, and between 6- 8 hours for a Trainee. It may take longer than this for a Trainee, but the lower hourly rate applies for a Trainee accounts for this.

For re-mortgages and transfers of equity, we charge an hourly rate, and the time can vary from between 2 – 4 or more hours of work.

The exact number of hours it will take depends on the circumstances of your case.

Whether a transaction is straightforward or not depends on several factors, including, but without limitation: –

  • the complexity of the title, such as the nature of the obligations and rights burdening the property and the existence of sufficient rights benefitting the property for its intended use;
  • the use to which the property has been put and any changes that may have been made to it since its original construction;
  • the environmental circumstances of the property, such as its proximity to potential source of flooding, its connection to mains services such as foul and surface water drainage;
  • public law matters, such as matters affecting the property which involve public institutions, for example the local planning authority.

We reserve the right to increase the hourly rates if the work done is particularly complex or urgent, or the nature of your instructions require us to work outside normal office hours.

We will review our hourly rates on a periodic basis. We will give you advance notice of any change to our hourly rates.

If a transaction takes more than the estimated time, the additional time will be charged at an hourly rate, as noted above. If there are issues affecting the title to the property, its marketability or potentially its market value, these are likely to cause our charges to increase.

Where we act for you and a lender, we may have to deal with these or otherwise cannot proceed to represent you in a transaction.

VAT: –

VAT is charged at the relevant rate set by central government. At present the VAT rate is 20%.

For example, on an hourly rate of £350, VAT is charged at £70, and so the total charge for 1 hour of time is £420.

Disbursements: –

These typically include: –

  • Title documents, £3.00 each, and typically a total of between £12 – £24 (No VAT)
  • ID checks £5.95 per person (including VAT)
  • Searches (Purchases Only) – cost varies depending on the exact searches ordered but typically these cost between £400 – £450 (including VAT)
  • HM Land Registry Fees (No VAT): –
  • Registration Fee (Purchases Only) – this is calculated based on the value of the transaction and varies. HMLR have an online calculator at https://fee-calculator.landregistry.gov.uk/ which may assist you. For example, a property purchased for between £200,001 and £500,00 would typically attract a fee of £150
  • Priority Search – £3.00 per legal title – this is to protect the legal title whilst we register your transaction by preventing adverse entries being made before you are registered as the owner.
  • Bankruptcy Search – £2.00 per person. This is to make sure that you are not subject to bankruptcy proceedings, and is mandatory when we are also acting for a mortgage lender.
  • Stamp Duty Land Tax – remember to factor in the cost of tax. This typically applies to purchase transactions, and varies depending on the value of the property and other circumstances. We will help you to calculate the tax due, but information on this tax may be found on the gov.uk website.

What’s included: –

For a typical sale we shall: –
  • investigate your legal title to the property
  • collate replies to standard enquiries for submission to the buyer
  • prepare and negotiate a draft contract
  • reply to enquiries raised by the buyer in consultation with you
  • approve the draft transfer deed
  • co-ordinate exchange and completion.
  • If required, we shall act on your behalf in redeeming any charge secured over the property.
For a typical purchase we shall : –
  • investigate the Seller’s legal title to the property
  • Review and where necessary negotiate the contract prepared by the Seller’s lawyer
  • Commission searches about the property and raise enquiries about the property with the Seller and, where necessary, other third parties.
  • Prepare a Transfer Deed effecting transfer of legal ownership on completion
  • Report to you on the above and where necessary any mortgagee or its legal representative
  • Conduct an exchange of contracts, if you are happy and able to proceed – Conduct pre-completion searches
  • Conduct completion
  • Complete the SDLT return and pay any tax due on your behalf from funds you have provided
  • Make application to HM Land Registry to register the transaction.
Tax : –

We are not tax advisors. You should take appropriate expert advice to confirm your tax liability in respect of a property transaction.

Likely timescale and key stages: –

A typical transaction takes between 8 to 14 weeks, from the point at which we are instructed or in the case of a purchase, or if later,  from the date on which the contract and all supporting papers are received. If there are complications the matter may take a longer. We will advise you if and when this occurs.

Most matters of this nature involve the following key stages:

  • Pre-Contract. During which the legal documents are drafted, reviewed and agreed. Investigations and enquiries are undertaken by each side of the transaction. Most of the work occurs at this stage and this consumes the majority of the time, anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks, but exceptionally longer.
  • Exchange of Contracts. This happens on a single day and is the point at which the transaction is binding on both sides and from which neither can withdraw.
  • Pre-Completion. This is the period between exchange and completion and is determined at the point of exchange. This can be a matter of hours, days, weeks or months.
  • Completion. At this point ownership passes from the Seller to the Buyer. This usually occurs on a single day over the course of hours. Following completing, the Buyer’s solicitor will register the transaction and deal with Stamp Duty Land Tax.

 

Rushford & McCarville LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Our SRA registration number is 623726.

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