Solicitor's Costs

pamplem0use

We've just got the estimate of costs for buying and selling from our family solicitor and to be frank they look extortionate.

Excluding disbursements these amount to:

£625 + VAT for the sale

£625 + VAT for the purchase

Plus:

£300 Search Fees

£280 Land Registry Fees

£2250 Stamp Duty

£125 for Mortgage Arrangement

£50 Tax Return relating to Stamp Duty

I have no issue with any of the 'Plus' Costs as I was fully expecting them but £1350 + VAT seems like a hell of a lot for the Conveyancing, especially since it's a Conveyancer rather than a Solicitor....

Can someone advise?

BitterAndTwisted

If you're not happy with those figures I think you should see a couple of other firms and get quotes from them, so you have something to compare the prices to. Those basic fees of £625 don't seem excessive to me.

Gonzo33

I think that fee is quite reasonable.

Louise.H

£625 was a average figure I got when comparing though my situation was a little different the prices ranged from £800 to £350 (all of these were plus vat). If you live in a expensive area then you could try solicitors in cheaper areas. For instance I found Bournemouth solicitor prices far higher than those in Yeovil.

Doozergirl

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If you're not happy with those figures I think you should see a couple of other firms and get quotes from them, so you have something to compare the prices to. Those basic fees of £625 don't seem excessive to me.

I think they are when there's an additional mortgage arrangement fee.

And it's not a solicitor? That's a silly price for 'not a solicitor'.

The Land Registry fee is high as well. Searches always depend on the local authority, so there's not much you can do about that.

I'd look elsewhere.

pamplem0use

We'll have a look elsewhere I think. We're in Beds....
I wouldn't mind if we were talking about hugely expensive houses but both are 200k ish and we don't have any of the complications of leasehold or anything....

Richard_Webster

The Land Registry fee is high as well.

£280 Land Registry Fees

£2250 Stamp Duty

If the SDLT is £2250 then the price must be £225K so the applicable
LR fee is £280, which is the standard fee for £200,001 to £500,000 purchases.

An effective £800 + VAT for a £225K freehold purchase does look a little heavy to me.

GAH

OP, you said they are a family solicitor, so they have obv been well reccommended.

I don't think the prices look to bad at all. Get a couple more quotes in, but a good solicitor/conveyancer is def worth there money.

poppysarah

Ring round a few more to get quotes.

Bear in mind how well they deal with your enquiries too.

big5

Very similar to what we've been quoted (although we're paying a lot more in stamp duty, oh joy).

AlexSnow

In my experience as a conveyancer, the £625 is a little high but made worse by these extras which are actually just an extra fee charged by the solicitor

£125 for Mortgage Arrangement
£50 Tax Return relating to Stamp Duty

Which makes their fee on the purchase, £625 + £125 + £50 = £800 as Richard said. That is unusually high, firms in my area charge around £550 - £600 plus disbursements (which are charged at cost otherwise they are not a disbursement).

Dealing with the mortgage and preparing the stamp duty land tax return is part of doing conveyancing, it frustrates me when competitor firms won't quote a single figure and list all of the disbursements at cost price but rather break down their fee into tiny chunks (I've seen a contribution towards the firm's compulsory professional indemnity insurance and "photocopying and postage" listed on quotes or worse hidden in T&Cs before! This is particularly prevalent in the conveyancing factories and online providers I have noticed so do check the small print carefully. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is!!

The LR fee is correct though.