We’re being charged over £3k for solicitors!??

Nb5123

We’re about to complete on a 1 bedroom flat this Friday, we just received the quote from our solicitors and we have been quoted £3330 which has literally made my jaw drop. We don’t understand why or HOW it’s so high, it was a standard process of searches and not any point did we get told how much it would cost. We were recommended this solicitors by our estate agents as it’s one they work closely with and when he sent the rough estimate it should have been around £2,000 which we were fine with but this ?? Also we paid for searches is this something that should have been deducted as it wasn’t in the final balance?

The extra money that we wanted to use for furniture we now have to use for solicitors and be left with little to buy furniture with. This is soul crushing! Has anyone ever paid so much? Can’t help feeling like we have been scammed

Zerforax

I presume you mean you've received the completion statement which shows the solicitors cost? Have they sent you the breakdown of their fees and disbursements?

Also why did you not request the estimate from the solicitors at the start? Might be worth checking old post/emails as usually they provide this with the introductory information.

Flugelhorn

Oh dear - next time don't go for one that the EA suggests, they probably get commission.

Property will be leasehold and that can add to the costs, what sort of things have they quoted - there should be a full breakdown ie professional fees, searches, transfers, ID checks, etc etc 

Nb5123

Flugelhorn said:

Oh dear - next time don't go for one that the EA suggests, they probably get commission.

Property will be leasehold and that can add to the costs, what sort of things have they quoted - there should be a full breakdown ie professional fees, searches, transfers, ID checks, etc etc 

This is the breakdown of costs:

Conveyancing fee	949.00	189.80	20.00%
Electronic Money Transfer Fee	80.00	16.00	20.00%
Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Fee	100.00	20.00	20.00%
Electronic ID Check	50.00	10.00	20.00%
Preparation of Chancel Search Policy	36.00	7.20	20.00%
Mortgage Admin Fee	249.00	49.80	20.00%
Leasehold Fee	399.00	79.80	20.00%
Notice of transfer	35.00	7.00	20.00%
Notice of Charge	35.00	7.00	20.00%
Preparing compliance certificate	50.00	10.00	20.00%
Retention	50.00	10.00	20.00%
Source Of Funds	75.00	15.00	20.00%
Indemnity Insurance	75.00	15.00	20.00%
Dealing with Licence to Assign	150.00	30.00	20.00%
Deed of Variation	150.00	30.00	20.00%
	0.00	0.00
Taxable Expenses
Initial Searches	287.67	57.53	20.00%
Final Searches	7.00	1.40	20.00%
	0.00	0.00
	0.00	0.00
Non-Taxable Expenses
	0.00
Total Charges and Expenses	2777.67
Total VAT	555.53
TOTAL AMOUNT due: 3333.20

eddddy

Nb5123 said:

We were recommended this solicitors by our estate agents as it’s one they work closely with...

On this specific point - I suspect the estate agent referred you to these solicitors, because these solicitors pay a big referral fee.

i.e. £500 or £600 or more of the fee you paid to the solicitor goes to the estate agent, as a 'reward' for giving the solicitors your name and details.

So when an estate agent refers you to a solicitor, it isn't generally because the solicitor is particularly good, it's because they pay the biggest referral fee. 

eddddy

Nb5123 said:

This is the breakdown of costs:

Conveyancing fee	949.00	189.80	20.00%
<snip>

What was the wording and breakdown of your original quote?

Grizebeck

oh dear another person stung by a referal

Flugelhorn

I suspect the 2K you were quoted has gone up because of some of the extras related to it being a leasehold flat with a management company.  eg leasehold, deed of variation, assignment charge, notice of transfer, notice of charge etc 

For comparison here is a statement from my solicitors for a leashold flat one year ago (no mortgage so that can make a difference)

Our Professional Costs £820.00

VAT on our charges above (20%) £164.00

Bank Transfer administration fee £25.00

VAT on our charges above (20%) £5.00

Lawyer Checker £18.00

Land Registry Search £3.00

Local/ Drainage/ Mining Searches £168.36

Land Registry Fee £135.00

Lessors Registration Fee £72.00

Apportionment of Service Charge £59.33

eddddy

Flugelhorn said:

I suspect the 2K you were quoted has gone up because of some of the extras related to it being a leasehold flat with a management company.  eg leasehold, deed of variation, assignment charge, notice of transfer, notice of charge etc 

Yep - but apart from the deed of variation, all those things are pretty much standard and predictable for a leasehold purchase. 

I expect your solicitor did all those things, and included them in their £820 fee.

Which is why it would be interesting to see the wording and breakdown of the OP's original quote. 

If the OP told the solicitor it was a leasehold purchase, I'd have expected the solicitor to have listed those things in the original quote.

ArbitraryRandom

It's interesting to see the range of costs. 

My most recent purchase was freehold and in 2020, so there's probably been some impact of inflation, but the comparable costs seem to be (all inclusive of VAT): 

Legal fees (purchase): £750
Land registration fee: £95
Land registry searches: £15
Report on title, searches and Chancel indemnity: £180
ID checks: £3.50
Bank transfer fee: £36
Lawyer checker: £12

ThisIsWeird

Nb, when and how did the EA recommend this conveyancer? Verbally, or in a recorded manner - letter or email?

See if they mention the amount of commission they get should you go with their recommended conveyancer. If they are getting commission, but didn't mention it, they have broken their code, quite possibly the law.

If there is no mention of this, then ask both the conveyance and EA by email - 'did you receive/offer commission for this referral, and if so, how much?'

Not sure how much - if any - difference it could have made to your final bill, tbh, but you should have been told.

The last place we almost bought, the EA recommended a conveyancer across the road, which we were happy with. It was only when the conveyancer sent out their confirmation of charges (a perfectly reasonable sum) that we saw how much the EA were getting for this referral. The EA hadn't told us, so that breached their regs and we could have tackled them on this. What was surprising, tho', was that the sum was 'large' - a good few £undred - but the conveyancer's overall costs were perfectly reasonable. So for the luxury of these referrals, the conveyancer was handing over what looked like more than half their 'professional/legal' fee.