is this solicitors fee reasonable?

bikeman17

Looking to purchase a property in London zone 2, here is a list of solicitors fee:
Solicitors fee: £550 + vat
Mortgage fee: £100 + vat
Charge for processing TT payment: £38 + vat
ID search fee: £12.50 + vat
Stamp duty land transaction return form fee: £85 + vat

Disbursements
Land registry fee: £270
Land registry search fee: £4
Land charges search: £4
Search fees estimated: £300

Any advise on this will be much appreciated.

ACG

You dont say the purchase price but it does look a little on the high side for the average mortgage around here, but your in london so its probably not a million miles out.

bikeman17

Sorry completly forgot to include the purchase price, which is £350k

ACG

Have you called round some other solicitors to get some comparison costs?

Its difficult for me to say as im not in your area but i dont think its extortionate.

bigadaj

Well considering there's ten grand on stamp duty, five hundred on the solicitor doesn't seem like a lot but as others say you can shop around.

Albert22

I think its enough i am paying about $200 to my solicitor and that is to much for me how you are paying as much money to your solicitor i think you find any online solicitor that will charge you less than that.If that services available in your area.

opinions4u

It looks steep, but prices can vary by area.

If you don't need a ace to face service try talking to a solicitor in a small town in the north of England, making sure that they're on the lender's panel.

zzzLazyDaisy

The solicitors fees are not over the top for the purchase of a house of that value. Obviously this depends on where you live, but you can get an idea of how the fees compare to other solicitors in the area, by making a few phone calls.

The disbursements are irrelevant as these are just the expenses that the solicitor pays out to third parties on your behalf and will be the same whichever solicitor deals with the conveyancing.

Personally I would not use an on-line conveyancer as I prefer to deal with a solicitor face to face in case there are problems (when I bought my house it transpired that there were problems over the access to the house which was over a neighbour's land and no formal right of way had been set up when the attached land was sold - my solicitor dealt with that very efficiently, but it involved several face to face meetings and a lot of delays, and I certainly would not have wanted to be trying to sort that out by e-mail only).

On-line conveyancers can work out cheaper. The only experience I have had with an on-line conveyancer was on the sale of a house with no onward purchase - we we experienced unbelievable delays and frustrations, and in my view the slight financial saving wasn't worth it. Having said that, other people will tell you that they have had good experiences with on-line conveyancers.

Yorkie1

Most solicitors don't list the SDLT separately, and that charge is high too.

Have you read the small print to check whether there are extra charges e.g. for photocopying, completion within 14 days of exchange?