Residential Conveyancing Sales

General

We at Highcross Law Solicitors pride ourselves in being open and clear with our clients as to the overall costs involved when they instruct us to carry out conveyancing work for them.

Generally, the costs involved vary depending on a number of factors including (but not limited to) whether the property is:

– is freehold or leasehold title,

– a new build or already built (`second hand’)

– unregistered land (i.e. the title to the property has not yet been registered at HM Land Registry)

– transfer of a whole title or part (e.g. sale of part land)

– involves a mortgage existing lender

We will provide you with a detailed estimate of costs for your proposed transaction as early as we can. Wherever possible, this will be a fixed quote to assist you with budgeting. This is not always possible and we may have to (in limited circumstances) vary our fees once your matter progresses. We will keep you fully informed and only incur additional costs/disbursements with your agreement.

The information on this page will give you guidance of likely costs and disbursements for a normal sale transaction. We do however recommend you to contact us prior so that we can provide a bespoke quote tailored to your requirements.

Our Fees on Sale of Property

Our fees depend on the value of the sale property. As a rule of thumb, we charge a set percentage depending on value and complexity of transaction, with a set minimum applicable to all transactions.

Price Band Fee (exc. VAT)
Under £100,000.00

600.00

100,001.00 – 250,000.00

800.00

250,001.00 – 500,000.00

975.00

500,001.00 – 750,000.00

1700.00

£750,001.00 – £1,000,000.00

3000.00

£1million + Please enquire

Additional fees

In addition the above, you may also need to budget for the following legal costs (depending on your proposed transaction):

Acting for mortgage lender* (including Help to Buy)

as well as seller on the redemption of charge – (fee per lender) £250 plus VAT

If sale is leasehold or unregistered title £250 plus VAT

If sale is of a new-build property £250 plus VAT

Deed of Covenant preparation £250 plus VAT

Certificate of Compliance £200 plus VAT

Disbursements

Disbursements are expenses that are payable to third parties, such as land registry and estate agents etc.

We will collect these from you and deal with the payments on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. We do not charge extra for assisting with you with this.

Some of the likely disbursements you will have to pay are:

  • Land Registry fees – the amount varies on the documents to be obtained. As a standard, the Land Registry charges £3.00 per document. The total amount will depend on the number of documents we have to obtain. Typically, this will be about £6.00 for copy of registers and title plan.
  • Bank Transfer Fee to transfer sale monies following completion – £23.00 per transfer plus VAT
  • If you are selling a leasehold property, there will usually be a fee payable to obtain a sale document pack from the landlord or appointed management company. The fee charged varies depending on the Landlord or the Management Company. Amount to be confirmed once enquiry is made with relevant party.

 

What our fee includes for a sale

The work that we will undertake for you will include:

– Considering the ownership and title of the property

– Preparing the Sale Contract

– Dealing with such enquiries the Buyer’s Solicitor may raise

– If you have a mortgage, obtaining a mortgage redemption statement and subsequently dealing with its discharge

– Making enquiries with landlord/managing agent and any superior landlord (leasehold title)

– Corresponding with freeholder/managing agents (leasehold title)

– Submitting notice of transfer (and mortgage) (leasehold title)

– preparing a report on title;

– Confirming to you that it is in order for you to proceed with the sale

– Proceeding to effect an exchange of contracts and then complete the sale

– Transferring the balance of the funds to you

– archiving your file for storage for period of time stated in our closing letter to you. Please note there is an archive file retrieval fee payable if you require any documents after file closed.

How long will transaction take place?

This is dependent on a number of factors – most importantly on the parties themselves. We find that no transaction is the same as another and therefore timescales always vary. Here are some of the factors that may have an impact on the speed of progress and conclusion:

  • The position of the seller (e.g. if there is a related purchase/transaction, moving preferences)
  • The position of the buyer (e.g. if buyer is are relying on a related sale and/or mortgage finance)
  • Title investigation – speed of enquiries raised by purchaser’s solicitors and being responded to by, you, outside party (such as local authority)
  • Mortgage lender requirements on discharge of mortgage, obtaining statements
  • Searches – the speed and content of search results and how quickly any enquiries are raised by the purchaser’s solicitors.
  • Other stakeholders in the transaction – mortgage advisors, agents, other buyers/sellers in chain of transactions

Generally, we have found that on a stand-alone sale with no related transactions and the buyer’s mortgage finance being in place (if required), the process should take between 6-8 weeks from the time we dispatch contract documentation to the buyer’s solicitors. We have had transactions which completed quicker than these (such as auctions) and some which have taken much longer due to any one or more of the above factors.

We will of course keep you fully up to date as to the progress of your transaction and any possible delays.