a freehold house for £95k with no chain and first time buyer = £1200 conveyancing?

Ash87

Hi all,

I just got a mortgage accepted on my first house costing £94.5k in Wellingborough and was recommended 'premier property lawyers' for the conveyancing and other bits.

As the title says I am a first time buyer and the house has no chain. I thought the legal fees would cost between £500-800 but here is the quote I was sent:

TENURE:
Freehold
PRICE :
£94,500.00
OUR LEGAL FEES:
Transfer of the legal ownership of the property
£499.00
Preparation of stamp Duty Land Tax Return
£75.00
Electronic Money Transfer (per CHAP'S Transaction)
£40.00

ANTICIPATED EXPENSES: (Rates believed correct today, but may vary depending on price, location and prevailing rates).

VAT on above fees
£122.80
Conveyancing Searches (incl VAT) under our "Purchase Search Pledge" *
£295.00
Allowance for Completion Searches (incl VAT)
£10.00
HM Land Registry Registration Fees
£120.00
HM Revenue and Customs Stamp Duty Land Tax ** (Not Applicable)
N/A£ 0.00
TOTAL CONVEYANCING FEES AND EXPENSES
£1,161.80

Additionally they go on to mention there may be further fees:

"If you are financing your purchase with a mortgage (or other forms of secured lending), where we are instructed by your lender and under the terms of your mortgage offer you are to be responsible for your lenders legal costs, our fees will be £150 plus VAT per mortgage or legal charge secured on the property

Our fees an electronic validation of identity are £10 plus VAT per name.

A charge of £29 + VAT will be made at completion to cover the cost of maintaining an archive of documents associated with your case"

I don't understand why it is mentioning fees for stamp duty as I didn't think that applied to me on a property this low value?

I read about others being a lot cheaper than this - but do they cost this much in the end with hidden costs or am I being ripped off here?

Thanks for reading

kingstreet

A fee of around £500 + VAT + disbursements, with a fee which includes acting for mortgage lender and completion of SDLT return is what I'd expect, given the purchase price.

Smaller, local firms offer better value than online warehouses, IMHO. Think about asking a firm one town over for a quote. It's amazing how the solicitors in your own town can charge within a five of each other.

angelsmomma

I paid £780 last year for the same price range. I used a local solicitor and he was the cheapest of 3 quotes. The most expensive was £900 so I think this is excessive

loubel

Ash87 wrote: »

I thought the legal fees would cost between £500-800

The total legal fees you've been quoted are £803 so at the top of what you'd expected. Add on the VAT and third party disbursements and you get the total cost to you of £1,389.

Call around some other firms for quotes. I am sure that you could get a cheaper price without compromising on the level of service. The important thing is that you get a conveyancer that you are happy with and you know what they are going to charge you.

Littleweedj

Seems very expensive for a 95K property. You are correct in that stamp duty not applicable unless property over 125K.

I have been advised, by my solicitor. their fee for electronic transfer for my payment will be £12 therefore £75 seems excessive.

angelsmomma

My electronic transfer fee was £35 so yes I too think £75 is excessive

loubel

Littleweedj wrote: »

£75 seems excessive.

angelsmomma wrote: »

My electronic transfer fee was £35 so yes I too think £75 is excessive

The CHAPS fee in the quote is £40 plus VAT. The formatting is just a bit off.

Catti

Even though you haven't got to pay stamp duty, your solicitor still has to undertake a full return because the price is over £40,000.00. However, we take the view that it is part of the process and included in the base fees, and don't charge for it separately. Get some more quotes - they are almost bound to be less!

Fire_Fox

When you are comparing make sure you are comparing a quote to a quote NOT a quote to an estimate.

Richard_Webster

It is more easily readable like this:

TENURE:
Freehold
PRICE :
£94,500.00
OUR LEGAL FEES:
Transfer of the legal ownership of the property £499.00

Preparation of stamp Duty Land Tax Return £75.00

Electronic Money Transfer (per CHAP'S Transaction) £40.00

ANTICIPATED EXPENSES: (Rates believed correct today, but may vary depending on price, location and prevailing rates).
VAT on above fees £122.80
Conveyancing Searches (incl VAT) under our "Purchase Search Pledge" *£295.00
Allowance for Completion Searches (incl VAT) £10.00
HM Land Registry Registration Fees £120.00
HM Revenue and Customs Stamp Duty Land Tax ** (Not Applicable)
N/A£ 0.00
TOTAL CONVEYANCING FEES AND EXPENSES
£1,161.80

Additionally they go on to mention there may be further fees:

"If you are financing your purchase with a mortgage (or other forms of secured lending), where we are instructed by your lender and under the terms of your mortgage offer you are to be responsible for your lenders legal costs, our fees will be £150 plus VAT per mortgage or legal charge secured on the property

Our fees an electronic validation of identity are £10 plus VAT per name.

Still expensive at £724 plus VAT plus CHAPS FEE

Pupnik

It looks about normal to me, we are buying in the same price range and got quite a few quotes from various solicitors and they were all roughly the same, although some charged more for one thing and less for another the quotes all came back within about £100 of each other. Remember that some of these fees are not directly the leal fees - things like surveys will need to be paid for whoever does them and the cost will depend on the area you live in.

One thing I will stress is that you should not just look at the price. Who recommended this company to you? The Estate Agent? Chances are they have a commission. Shop around local firms - the wrong solicitor can make a stressful situation unbearable. If you have friends or family who have bought in the last few years see if you can get recommendations.