Freehold Purchase Fees

Purchase Of A Freehold Residential Property

Our fees cover all of the work required 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. VAT will be payable on our fees and some disbursements, currently 20%, and we will clearly confirm which disbursements carry VAT in our formal quotation or as we advise you to incur them.

Our Fees

Purchase Price	Our Fees	VAT	Total
Up to £200,000	£1,100.00	£220.00	£1,320.00
£200,001 to £250,000	£1,150.00	£230.00	£1,380.00
£250,001 to £300,000	£1,200.00	£240.00	£1,440.00
£300,001 to £400,000	£1,300.00	£260.00	£1,560.00
£400,001 to £500,000	£1,400.00	£280.00	£1,680.00
£500,001 to £600,000	£1,500.00	£300.00	£1,800.00
£600,001 to £700,000	£1,600.00	£320.00	£1,920.00
£700,001 to £800,000	£1,700.00	£340.00	£2,040.00
£800,001 to £1,000,000	£2,100.00	£420.00	£2,520.00
£1,000,001 to £1,250,000	£2,600.00	£520.00	£3,120.00
£1,250,001 and above	Please use our calculator or contact us

Fee Calculator for £1,250,001 Plus Transactions.

Below we detail what services are covered in our standard fee.

Stamp Duty applies to most property purchase transactions. We will advise you of the stamp duty applicable to your matter, and you can visit the HMRC website for more information (see below)
We will charge the sum of £45.00 plus VAT (£54.00 inc. VAT) for electronic money transfers.

If, at any stage, our fees change, we will notify you and discuss the reason for any changes. This would typically occur if you change your instructions or your case involves an unforeseen complexity.

Our fee assumes that:

This is a standard transaction and no unforeseen matters arise, including for example, (but not limited to) a defect in title that requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction.
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. If indemnity policies are required, we charge an additional £50.00+VAT (£60.00 inc. VAT) per policy.

Other factors that may affect your legal fees

Additional legal fees apply in the following cases:

New Builds – £375.00 +VAT (£450.00 inc. VAT)
Freehold with Management Company – £250.00 +VAT (£300.00 inc. VAT)
Help to Buy Redemption £250.00 +VAT (£300.00 inc. VAT)

Help To Buy ISA Bonuses

We charge an additional fee of £50 plus VAT (£60.00) per ISA bonus that needs to be redeemed.

Disbursements

In addition to our fees, you will also incur costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, known as disbursements. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Details of the disbursements you are likely to incur are detailed below and include VAT where applicable.

Search fees: These vary from council to council but would cost approximately £300 plus VAT (£360 inc. VAT) to supply the following reports:

Local land charges search.
Enquiries of the local authority.
Environment search.
Planning Search.
Chancel repair liability indemnity.
Water and Drainage search.

Other typical disbursements will include: –

HM Land Registry Searches £32.20 (this figure is based upon two people purchasing a property and can be reduced to £24.40 if it is just one person).

HM Land Registry fee. The fees chargeable by the land registry can be found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees

Land Charges search fees £7.80 per search (£9.36 inc. VAT).
Bankruptcy search fees £7.80 per person (£9.36 inc. VAT).
Office copies of title deeds £8.80 per deed (£10.56 inc. VAT).
Mortgage Panel Portal Fee £50.00+VAT (£60.00 inc. VAT).
Our administration fee for SDLT and AP1 submissions £20.00 + VAT (£24.00 inc. VAT)

You will be provided with a full list of disbursements in our formal quotation. If you need to incur any further disbursements during your case, you will be notified in advance of the reason and the amount.

Where the firm is required to undertake an Anti-Money Laundering search as part of our Client Due Diligence Process, the firm will charge:

£18.00 + VAT (£21.60 inc. VAT) for an individual based in the UK.
£25.00 + VAT (£30.00 inc. VAT) for an individual based overseas or a Corporate Entity.

Stamp Duty Or Land Tax

The amount of Stamp Duty or Land Tax payable depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HM Revenue & Custom’s online calculator or, if the property is located in Wales, by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s online calculator.

Land Registry Fees

Land Registry fees also depend on the purchase price of your property, if the property has been previously registered and if we are able to submit your application electronically. You can calculate your fees using HM Land Registry’s online calculator. Select ‘Transfer of Whole for Value’ from the drop-down list, insert your purchase price when prompted and then click ‘Check Fee’ to see how much you will need to pay.

Engrossment Fees

If you are purchasing a new-build property, the company acting for the developer may charge an engrossment fee. This fee can range from £90.00 to £300.00 for providing engrossment of the Transfer.

How Long Will Your Purchase Take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move into your new home will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 10 to 16 weeks, but it can be quicker or slower, depending on the other parties and if there is a chain.

It can be quicker or slower, depending on a number of factors, and we will notify you if we believe your transaction may take longer than average or if something occurs in your case to extend the transaction time, we will inform you.

If you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this can take longer. In such a situation, additional charges would apply, and we will notify you of the additional charges and time estimate when we have engaged the landlord to discuss the extension.

What Are The Different Stages Of Your Purchase?

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, examples of key stages that we will help you through may include:

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 the seller’s solicitor.
Give you advice on all documents and information received.
Go through the conditions of the mortgage offer with you.
Advise you on joint ownership.
Send final contract to you for signature.
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 the lender and you.
Complete purchase.
Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax.
Deal with application for registration at Land Registry.

Other Factors

Other Factors to consider which may affect your Legal Fees and disbursements are:

Notice of Transfer fee – This fee, if chargeable, is set out in the lease.
Notice of Charge fee (if the property is to be mortgaged) – This fee is set out in the lease.
Deed of Covenant fee – This fee is provided by the management company for the property and can be difficult to estimate.
Certificate of Compliance fee for leasehold matters.
Value of the property.
First-time buyer.
New build.
First registration of title.
Islamic mortgage.
In purchase cases, whether primary residence, buy to let or second/holiday home.
Multiple owners.
Shared ownership scheme.
Using a help-to-buy scheme, and whether it is an equity loan or ISA.
Purchase under right to buy.
Purchase at auction.
Property has been repossessed.

These fees vary from property to property and can occasionally be significantly more than the ranges given above. We can give you an accurate figure once we have sight of your specific documents.

You should also be aware that for a leasehold property, ground rent and service charges are likely to apply throughout your ownership of the property. We will confirm the ground rent and the anticipated service charge as soon as we receive this information.