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1st time buyer - solicitors fees. HELP!
jodievhughes
Posts: 6 Forumite
Hi,
I've just purchased a house with a friend. We were originally quoted £800 + disbursements by our solicitor which we chose to go ahead with.
We have now received the bill and it is £2000! We needed a Local Authority search as the one for our HIPS pack had expired and were told that it was the buyers resoponsibility to pay for a new one. It was £230.
After completion, the solicitor said he'd ended up putting in more work than expected and could we 'call it £1100 for his fee'. We refused this saying he should have advised during proceedings that he was doing more work than expected. He accepted this.
The main issue is that we have a charge on the bill for £500.00 for 'stamp duty' now given that we have paid £9000 for stamp duty - we werent expecting a 'fee' for it also. Is this normal?? Or is he just making up his extra fee with a £500 charge?
I dont want to contest it until I know if its standard, cant find anything on the net.
Any help appreciated!
Thanks
Jo
I've just purchased a house with a friend. We were originally quoted £800 + disbursements by our solicitor which we chose to go ahead with.
We have now received the bill and it is £2000! We needed a Local Authority search as the one for our HIPS pack had expired and were told that it was the buyers resoponsibility to pay for a new one. It was £230.
After completion, the solicitor said he'd ended up putting in more work than expected and could we 'call it £1100 for his fee'. We refused this saying he should have advised during proceedings that he was doing more work than expected. He accepted this.
The main issue is that we have a charge on the bill for £500.00 for 'stamp duty' now given that we have paid £9000 for stamp duty - we werent expecting a 'fee' for it also. Is this normal?? Or is he just making up his extra fee with a £500 charge?
I dont want to contest it until I know if its standard, cant find anything on the net.
Any help appreciated!
Thanks
Jo
0
Comments
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Could you possibly post the breakdown he has given you? There should be a full fee breakdown with what each cost is.Scar tissue that I wish you saw, sarcastic mister know it all, close your eyes and I'll kiss you cause with the birds I'll share this lonely view.0
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Sure - thanks for looking at this...
Fee: £800.00
Disbursements:
Land registry fees (priority & bankruptcy) £8.00
Payment SearchFlow: Location Plan upload £12.00
Payment SearchFlow: Offical local authority search - residential incl LLC1 £200.00
Payment SearchFlow: Offical local authority search - residential incl LLC1 £29.10
Stamp Duty - HMRC(+ref number) (Cheque paid to HMRC) £500.00
Land Registry fees £280.00
Admin fee - telegraphic trans £25.00
Costs + Disbursements £1854.10 + vat0 -
What was the purchase price? If stamp duty was £9000, it implies it was £270,000, is that correct?
Your solicitor's charges do sound excessive. Mine was £525 for his fee - which was a fixed rate, then with all the disbursements the total (not including stamp duty) was about £1200.For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.0 -
This isn't really my area of expertise, but there's a lot on here that will be able to offer more constructive advice. However, I would be asking what the stamp duty payment is for if you have already paid £9,000!Scar tissue that I wish you saw, sarcastic mister know it all, close your eyes and I'll kiss you cause with the birds I'll share this lonely view.0
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However, I would be asking what the stamp duty payment is for if you have already paid £9,000!
I agree - it doesn't make sense - either he includes the whole £9,000 in his figures and they are increased by that amount or he doesn't - and I can't see what £500 has to do with anything unless you paid £8,500 towards the SDLT and he paid the other £500. Is that what happened?RICHARD WEBSTER
As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.0 -
Not as far as i'm aware or have ever been told.
If thats the case then I will query it with him direct. £500 is a lot of money for nothing!
Thanks
J0
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