YBS said they will pay our Solicitor fees.. but didnt know there was £500 other costs

Randy

YBS (Yorkshire Building society said they will pay our Solicitor fees.. but didnt tell us there was £500 other costs.

Land Registry fee £200
Search fee £250
Pre Completion search £6
VAT £50

We`ve already paid them £195 towards a £495 set-up fee.

If they say they`ll pay the`Solicitor fees` then what are the other fees?

hawk30

The 'fees' you quote are actually disbursements. They are not the solicitor's fees, but are instead money that has to be paid to other people (such as the land registry). I do think YBS should have made this clear in their correspondance with you (assuming they haven't).

cattie

If I was told solicitors fee was being paid, I'd assume they meant the actual legal fee for doing the work, but that the disbursements, which are pretty standard, would still have to be paid by me.
But if you are a FTB I can understand how confusing it may be to find out there are additional costs you have to meet.

You do realise you will have stamp duty to pay as well don't you? only I know some people, especially FTB's, often think that's included in the solicitor's legal charge too.

G_M

YBS are paying for our solicitor. Your solicitor is charging you nothing.

However, ther are other people (organisations) who are charging you for things, and for simplicity your solicitor is paying them on your behalf and then asking you to pay them back.

They could, of course, just tell you to pay the Land Registry, the Local Authority, HMRC (you haven't mentioned Stamp Duty!) yourself, but that would make the whole conveyancing process even more slow and complicated.

I'm afraid the bottom line is that house-buying is expensive - usually more so than people expect, unless they have fully researched all the costs (did you?) before they start.

Randy

Thanks for the replies.. yes I know about the Stamp Duty..

House buying/selling is a complete rip-off, If a private company was creating all these fees they`d get a visit from the guy on Watchdog :mad:

betmunch

Randy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.. yes I know about the Stamp Duty..

House buying/selling is a complete rip-off, If a private company was creating all these fees they`d get a visit from the guy on Watchdog :mad:

I dont understand, if you know you are being ripped off then dont buy anything.

Then you have no solicitors fees or disbursements to pay.

G_M

Randy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.. yes I know about the Stamp Duty..

House buying/selling is a complete rip-off, If a private company was creating all these fees they`d get a visit from the guy on Watchdog :mad:

Sorry for you, but really that is a misrepresentation of the process.

No one claims the onveyancing process is ideal (but compare it with the pre-Land registration days!), but solicitors do not 'create all these fees'.

You could, of course, choose to buy without doing a search, and take the associated risk but save yourself that fee (unless you're getting a mortgage - the lender will understandably insist on it). To do that, just instruct your solicitor accordingly.

He will rightly advise you of the risk and recommend strongly you do the search, but it's your decision. And your cost.

Before buying, you should have sorted your finances. Which means, amongst other things, knowing what costs you are going to incur.

If you were buying a new car, you'd check the cost of the road tax wouldn't you? And insurance? You'd probobly check the petrol consumption before signing the contract? And whether you got a 1, 3 or 5 year warranty? You'd ask if floor mats/sliding roof and blue-ray was included...?

Take a bit of personal responsibility! You're spending several £00,000. Stop blaming others for your own ignorance and lack of foresight.

Annisele

Randy wrote: »

House buying/selling is a complete rip-off, If a private company was creating all these fees they`d get a visit from the guy on Watchdog :mad:

Part of the point of the searches is to check that the seller does actually own the house you're buying. (I once came across a case where somebody's kitchen actually belonged to his next-door-neighbour; these things can get messy).

They also show whether a motorway is about to be built through your front room, that sort of stuff.

If you're spending tens of thousands of pounds on the house, then I think a few hundred to help ensure you're not getting ripped off on the house purchase is fair.

Richard_Webster

I think that if Yorkshire Building Society say they will pay the solicitor's fees they should explain clearly what is involved.

Although OP may have been naive in not realising that there would be disbursements involved which would increase the cost to him, people involved in the property buying an selling business (including mortgage lenders) do have a duty to explain things to the lay public.

It really depends on how clear the information was. Possibly OP may have a case to complain to YBS and they might then make their adverts clearer.