Land transaction return

russ21282

We just got a breakdown of costs from the solicitor and they want £60 for a land transaction return.

As the house we are getting is only £77k is this form still needed as we don't need to pay stamp duty? Is there a fee to pay? I feel a bit ripped off if im paying him £60 for sending a letter off.

WillowCat

Are you sure it's not your land registry fee?

For a £77k house the correct sum to pay land registry is £60.

russ21282

they have said £100 for land registry fee, then a seperate bit says if we want them to return our land transaction form they charge £50+vat but we can do it ourselves but it is complicated, needs returning no later than 30 days after completion and you can get fined for doing it incorrectly

WillowCat

Sorry, sounds a bit dodgy to me.....I'd expect the 'set fee' for the purchase to cover all the form filling, and you would then pay disbursements (extra on top) for fees other parties, such as land registry charge.

How much are they charging you (excluding searches 'n' stuff)?

russ21282

That's what i thought, their quote is:

Legal fee £360 (includes £30 telegraphic transfer)
Vat £54

Land registry fee = £100 (its actually costing us £81k with 5% vendor deposit so thats correct)
bankruptcy search = £2
HMLR = £3
Enviro search = £26.45
chancel search = £10

Total £555.45

So if we need to send off this Transaction form, its another £57 and because we are getting the vendor deposit they want to charge another £100

Does this all seem right? on the quote it all seemed ok, but they sent through the forms to sign and there is this extra stuff

Ilian2008

Most firms do this. Prior to the govt introdi!!!! Stamp Duty Land Tax, you simply filled out a one page form to the Inland Revenue and had the Transfer Deed or the Lease stamped and returned. Then they introduced an 8 page form that needed to be filled out nearly everytime even if stamp duty wasnt payable. When they first came out they would take lawyers about 45 minutes to fill out then once you got the hang of it you could do it wuicker but its still a pain in the backside and most firms add it as an additional fee as standard.

Your legal costs of £360 including tt fee seems very very reasonable by the way.

I dont understand the charge re: the vendor deposit tho

Ilian2008

sorry i mistyped introducing in the first line for some reason

russ21282

Thanks, put my mind at ease, maybe its worth getting them to do it then if its going to take a while to do. i had a quick look at a sample for on the gov website, and i don't understand most of it.

I was a bit confused about the vendor deposit as well, surely all it takes is a bit of juggling, i can't see it costing £100. Maybe worth a phonecall to see what they are actually doing for my hard earned £100.

Thanks for the replies!

Richard_Webster

Even though you will not have to pay the tax the lengthy Land Transaction Return Form still has to be completed.

I don't charge separately for it but have set my fees at a level to include the cost as I would rather avoid whenever possible having people think the overall legal costs and disbursements of buying using my firm are less than they really are. I can't think of every possible thing that might cause extras but I try to do my best. If there is an extra I can see as quite likely in the particular case I will tell the potential client about it, even though that means my estimate gets higher. Having a separate item for this form suggests that somehow it is optional and you might not have to pay for it.

In this case it does look as if these solicitors did mention the SDLT form fee as OP is complaining about it. I wouldn't charge it,as I have said, but even with it added on, the overall fees being charged seem reasonable.

russ21282

Thanks Richard, My concern was really because i have never seen this before, so i'm guessing the other solicitors i have used have done it like you. if it's not unreasonable then i'm ok with it.

Looking at the sample it's a pretty confusing form, so trying to do it myself would probably be false economy as it would probably take me a day!

Do you think the £100 for sorting out the vendor deposit is reasonable? I wouldn't have thought it would have been a great deal of extra work for them.

Richard_Webster

I've never thought of charging extra for sorting out the vendor gifted deposit - but it could be a hassle. Solicitor has to send fax to lender explaining the position and asking for consent to proceed. Solicitor phones next day and asks for answer. "We haven't go the fax, can you send it again?" This is done and another phone call. "We'll have to refer it to the underwriter and you'll hear in a few days..." "Few days" pass, more phone calls etc etc. So it would be a hassle and the solicitor can't usually do any of this until he has his copy of the mortgage offer because before that the lender won't have a poper record of the matter, account number etc. So this means there is pressure to sort it all because people are wanting contarcts exchanged and therefore it has to be given priority....

So I'd say a £100 a little over the top - but frankly not much....