FTB - Solicitor Fees

brokensocialsteve

Hi All,

First time poster but long time lurker on here.

I am a First Time Buyer and have just had an offer accepted on a house and have a few questions about solicitor fees.

I was put in touch with the Estate Agent's recommended Solicitor - Simply Conveyancing - who have quoted me £514 for legal fees (fixed, no move no fee) and £2,331 for disbursements which they say would be the same for whatever solicitor I go to.

Does this sound right? I know it includes £1,560 for stamp duty but would the other disbursements really be that much?

Thanks in advance for any help at all!!

Steve

Dan-Dan

brokensocialsteve wrote: »

Hi All,

First time poster but long time lurker on here.

I am a First Time Buyer and have just had an offer accepted on a house and have a few questions about solicitor fees.

I was put in touch with the Estate Agent's recommended Solicitor - Simply Conveyancing - who have quoted me £514 for legal fees (fixed, no move no fee) and £2,331 for disbursements which they say would be the same for whatever solicitor I go to.

Does this sound right? I know it includes £1,560 for stamp duty but would the other disbursements really be that much?

Thanks in advance for any help at all!!

Steve

The very best thing you can do at this stage , is ask around for recommendations amongst friends and collegues , and use a solicitor with absolutley no ties to the estate agent

Somewhere you can pop your head in too as well , might suit you as a FTB but thats your choice , my solicitor is a couple of hours away but it works OK for me

brokensocialsteve

Dan-Dan wrote: »

The very best thing you can do at this stage , is ask around for recommendations amongst friends and collegues , and use a solicitor with absolutley no ties to the estate agent

Somewhere you can pop your head in too as well , might suit you as a FTB but thats your choice , my solicitor is a couple of hours away but it works OK for me

Thanks,

I've been asking around and been on CompareConveyancingQuotes.co.uk which has come back with some quotes nearly £900 cheaper! But that sounds too good to be true to me.

Dan-Dan

brokensocialsteve wrote: »

But that sounds too good to be true to me.

I`m sure you know the saying........:money:

brokensocialsteve

Yeah, you are right.

I'm unsure whether the statement that "the disbursement costs will be the same whatever Solicitor I go to " is true though. That seems to be where the quotes differ the most.

kingstreet

Disbursements are based on the property purchase price and location, so in principle they should be the same.

However, some solicitors loosely add fees like "completion of stamp duty return" and "acting for mortgage lender" down the page near the disbursements to try to make you think they aren't fees.

The better solicitors have headline fees which include these costs and don't charge for them separately. Make sure your comparisons reflect this.

Dan-Dan

brokensocialsteve wrote: »

Yeah, you are right.

I'm unsure whether the statement that "the disbursement costs will be the same whatever Solicitor I go to " is true though. That seems to be where the quotes differ the most.

I am no expert mate , but what i do know is the SD is obviously going to known in advance , and we paid £300 disbursments up front , seems to be the norm to get things going as those costs are incurred in real time by them

Kingstreet on here i think it is has excellent knowledge on what should be included in a quote , maybe do a search
Cheers

Dan-Dan

brokensocialsteve wrote: »

Yeah, you are right.

I'm unsure whether the statement that "the disbursement costs will be the same whatever Solicitor I go to " is true though. That seems to be where the quotes differ the most.

300 disbursments plus SD known already is normal mate

brokensocialsteve

Dan-Dan wrote: »

I am no expert mate , but what i do know is the SD is obviously going to known in advance , and we paid £300 disbursments up front , seems to be the norm to get things going as those costs are incurred in real time by them

Kingstreet on here i think it is has excellent knowledge on what should be included in a quote , maybe do a search
Cheers

So £2,331 for disbursements sounds a bit high then? I should be looking to pay around £1,800 - £1,900?

Richard_Webster

It would really help if we knew how much OP is paying for the property - then we can separate out the SDLT and Land Registry Fees and see what's left.

Also he should have a breakdown of what the disbursements are - if we see that then we can comment on the individual items as to whether they are reasonable or not.

brokensocialsteve

Richard_Webster wrote: »

It would really help if we knew how much OP is paying for the property - then we can separate out the SDLT and Land Registry Fees and see what's left.

Also he should have a breakdown of what the disbursements are - if we see that then we can comment on the individual items as to whether they are reasonable or not.

Hi,

I'm paying £156,000. The quote I've had emailed to me has this break down totaling £2,081.20 but was quoted over the phone at £2,331.

Stamp Duty Land Tax £1,560.00
Land Registry Registration Fee £190.00
Search Pack £311.20
Land Registry Search Fee £6.00
ID Verification (per name) £12.00
Bankruptcy Search (per name) £2.00
Total Disbursements £2,081.20

There is an extra page on the quote after the disbursements stating additional costs (in bold)

We assume the property is registered at H M Land Registry, we do not however make any further charge for
unregistered properties.

The Search Pack includes Personal Local Authority Search, Water and Drainage Search, Environmental and Land
Contamination Search and insurance to protect against liability for Chancel Repairs.

The Search Guarantee is restricted to one purchase only for buyers using Simply Conveyancing Property Lawyers
(SCPL) only. In the event that the buyer loses the first property having paid for the searches in the Search Pack
on that property as a result of the vendor withdrawing, then provided SCPL is acting on the second transaction, a
new set of searches will be provided free of charge.

If your Lawyer believes the property to be at potential risk from flooding then they will carry out a Flood Risk
Search on your behalf and an additional charge of £30.00 plus Vat will be incurred

If balance of funds is to be paid by electronic bank transfer an additional charge of £39.00 plus Vat will be incurred.

This quotation does not cover the cost of lease extensions.

For leasehold properties Management Companies and Freeholders may charge administration fees. Your Lawyer
will advise you of these costs as soon as they are known and you should therefore consider further possible costs
for leasehold properties.

If you are purchasing a New Build property the developers may charge an administration fee for the
documentation. Your Lawyer will advise you of these costs as soon as they are known and you should therefore
consider further possible costs for New Build properties.

If you are purchasing a New Build property any incentives or discounts from the developers are not included in this
quotation. Your Lawyer will provide you with updated information once the developers have confirmed any further
incentives or discounts.

If the property is Leasehold / Shared Ownership this will incur an additional charge of £150.00 plus Vat for the
further work involved.

If you are selling or purchasing with a mortgage this will incur an additional charge of £95.00 plus Vat for the
further work involved in acting for your lender and meeting their requirements.

Your Lawyer will complete the Stamp Duty Land Transaction (SDLT) Return Form on your behalf and submit it to
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and this will incur an additional charge of £75.00 plus Vat.

Please note that if Stamp Duty is payable it is quoted based on today’s rate. Stamp Duty liability can change if
Government amend legislation. Your Lawyer will advise you of any changes.

Following completion your file has to be stored for up to 12 years and therefore an additional charge of £29.00 plus
Vat will be incurred to cover the cost of storing and archiving your files and documents associated with your case.
You will not be charged at a later date should you require us to retrieve any documents.