Help with conveyencing fees... keep adding on??

jonnym8083

Yh that’s the problem none of this was outlined at the start and then reading contract this charge for this and that charge for that... feel like they have really tried to hide this stuff!!

davidmcn

jonnym8083 said:

£125+ vat document fee
£125+ vat engrossment fee
£195+ vat for them to act on behalf of lender
£90 + vat notice fee
£80 + vat fraud prevention with land registry...

Going with the developers' "tame" solicitors is always a bad idea. You want someone who is genuinely independent, not somebody who relies on referrals from the builders - they're not likely to rock the boat on your behalf, are they?

Document & engrossment fees are a cheeky contribution by you towards the builders' legal fees, and I expect they'd charge those no matter who you used for your conveyancing.

Charging an additional fee for acting on behalf of your lender is in theory justifiable as that does involve extra work, but if they gave a quote to a HTB buyer they should be taking it for granted that you'll have a mortgage, so shouldn't be appearing as a surprise extra charge.

Not sure what the notice fee is for.

Fraud prevention should be an optional fee for putting a restriction on your title (which in practice seems to cause more trouble than its worth, judging from other threads here).

So confused what are we actually paying the initial £1900 surveyor bill for if all these other costs?

I don't know - what are you paying £1900 to surveyors for? It's unlikely to be anything duplicated by what the solicitors are doing though.

Missy79

Nothing like that, acting on behalf of the mortgage lender was also included. I did a comparison and at the cheaper end they were all coming in around £2400 which included £1400 stamp duty and matches well with the quote I went with in the end and what I've received on a recent completion statement. Your extra charges do seem excessive although I'm not entirely sure what they're for! 

jonnym8083

Is it too late to change solicitors... it’s hard when first time buying as so many things u don’t ask as u simply don’t know about them to begin with...
I have emails off then clarifying it’s a fixed fee and that nothing else would be added as it’s a standard property purchase

jonnym8083

Is it potentially because it a new build with HTB however they knew that at the start

davidmcn

Just ditch them and find somebody else. I doubt they can charge you anything unless they've already told you what their fees are and what proportion of them you'd be paying if you uninstructed them now.

jonnym8083

Well we have paid £300 for the searches so far 

davidmcn

jonnym8083 said:

Well we have paid £300 for the searches so far 

You should get that back if they haven't actually spent it yet.

jonnym8083

Thanks all

mrsmsebastian

jonnym8083 said:

Well we were quoted £1900 which does include £600 stamp duty so £1300 which we were happy with but then these other costs have reared their ugly heads... have any of you guys had to pay these certain fees for acting on behalf of lender and document fees etc?

We recently used a solicitor to purchase a house. We are FTB so no stamp duty to pay. We were qouted close to £1400 and we were given a breakdown. I have been asked to pay £250 as a deposit to pay all searches then paid the rest of it a day before we complete. The charges qouted did not change at all.
I think you need to investigate which solicitor does not make hidden charges before you use them as some people I know used a solicitor wherein they qoute a figure then increased after. Not all solicitors are the same.