Conveyancing fees

megan17_2

Any ideas what would be a reasonable amount to pay for sale/purchase? I know it depends on several factors but discounting stamp duty whats a fair amount??

Thanks

bubblybee

I'm going through it right now, for a £167,000 house it's £770 covering fees, VAT, land registry charge, relevant searches.

I didn't shop around I just went with a recommendation.

megan17_2

Thanks for replying bubblybee. i've been getting quotes for between £900 to £1300 for the sale and purchase.

bubblybee

Hi Megan, I am not selling, just buying so can't compare that - sorry. Hopefully there'll be plenty of other people out there who can help you.

G_M

£400 to £1000

Leasehold is more than freehold
With a mortgage is more than cash

But more importantly, when comparing quotes be careful of 'extras'.

Read this first.

jenny_13

G_M is right the company we used when we tried to buy the first house charged £500 but searches were extra. The one we used when we got this house was £495 including searches.

Richard_Webster

Any ideas what would be a reasonable amount to pay for sale/purchase? I know it depends on several factors but discounting stamp duty whats a fair amount??

You can't just discount stamp duty (now SDLT). Land Registry Fees will vary with price of property and searches will vary a bit by area.

To make fair comparisons you've got to strip out all the genuine disbursements such as searches, Land Registry Fees and SDLT.

Then look at the fees themselves and VAT and add back the charges for completing the SDLT form, postages and photocopying, archive fee, professional indemnity contribution, acting for the lender, leasehold fee, expedition fee for completing in less than (whatever period - I have seen 3 weeks), and so on. These are all ways that some solicitors/conveyancers use to make an initial topline "Conveyancing Fees" figure look lower than it really is. You should probably also look at the cost of the TT Fee/Electronic transfer because this can vary slightly from firm to firm.

Hopejack

Agree with Richard - it's like comparing apples with pears looking at the whole amount.

I recently got quotes from 5 solicitors and their bank charge/TT fee ranged from £22 + VAT to a whopping £45 + VAT for effectively the same thing! I asked why one was v expensive and was told by the conveyancer that it is based on what their bank charges them....? Also things like 'office copies' always differ too - again £9 + VAT up to £20 + VAT or thereabouts - things like that can alter a solicitor's bill hugely imo.

Richard_Webster

Also things like 'office copies' always differ too - again £9 + VAT up to £20 + VAT or thereabouts

On-line an official copy of a register costs £4 and an official copy of a title plan £4. Filed documents (typically including a copy of the conveyance or transfer by the original builder) cost £6 a set for each title and leases normally cost £24.

There shouldn't be any VAT on them. I tell clients who are selling that it will normally cost £14 to get a set of official copies (it often only costs £8 and then they only get charged £8). Sometimes they have more than one title because they have bought some extra land or because the property was formerly a leasehold house and the owners now have both freehold and leasehold titles - but you can see that the amounts are not large here, so the figure for "official copies" can be a estimate liable to variation with the particular circumstances of the case.

However I don't know how they can ever come up with a combination that would cost £9 +VAT - and I have seen estimates by some on-line firms with unlikely amounts like this shown for official copies!

gem599

We're paying around £850 through local solicitor with good recommendations... I believe it's worth paying a bit more for better service. Wer're not selling, only buying at £135,000.

Squish_21

I got a quote for selling my leasehold flat and buying a house arounf £170k and it will cost £1500 by a local recommended solcitor.