The fees for buying a home is the biggest scam known to man.

BridgetTheCat

Peter999_2 said:

It is very backward in the UK when it comes to buying a house.    

Not the uk - just England and Wales. It’s usually much faster and easier in Scotland. My parents’ house sale took 3 weeks from putting on the market to money in the bank.

dreaming

BridgetTheCat said:

Peter999_2 said:

It is very backward in the UK when it comes to buying a house.    

Not the uk - just England and Wales. It’s usually much faster and easier in Scotland. My parents’ house sale took 3 weeks from putting on the market to money in the bank.

I do agree that the system for property buying/selling needs some reform and do like the Scottish system. However the OP was complaining about the costs involved (and the length of time) and I believe the costs would be similar but borne by the seller rather than the buyer, and I'm sure these would then be reflected in the selling price. I'm happy for that to be shown to be incorrect as I only have knowledge if buying/selling in England. I am currently helping my daughter navigate her first purchase (hopefully exchange and completion will be in the next week or so) and it has been 3 months of stress and uncertainty, and major expense(!) but overall worth having searches and surveys and legal oversight for mitigting any major disaster post-purchase.

Tiglet2

The search fees are not a solicitor fee, they are paid to a third party to do the searches for you and are classed as a disbursement.  If you're obtaining a mortgage, it will be compulsory for you to buy the search pack.  If paying cash, you can choose not to obtain searches, but you will lose the ability to raise a complaint about something the searches would have revealed that you did not know about.

From your OP, it sounds as though the basic solicitor fee is quite low, but it is bumped up by lots of other fees that are applicable to your purchase.  Watch out for a file storage fee after completion.  Solicitors have to keep your file for a minimum of six years anyway, so don't agree to pay an extra storage fee for this.

Registering you as a new registered proprietor after completion will mean an HM Land Registry fee, which is set by the Land Registry, not by your solicitor and is paid as a disbursement to the Land Registry.

Extra fees for dealing with, for example, a Help to Buy ISA, or LISA, are now common as the solicitor has to liaise with the provider for the bonus etc.  There would be no extra fees if the client didn't have either of these schemes.

Some solicitor firms like to advertise a really competitive and cheaper fee than the majority of firms.  They then bump it up by additional fees charged for most of the processes you have to do anyway (ID verification, source of funds etc).

Just think, when you come to sell in the future, you will have two solicitor fees (sale and purchase), plus Estate Agent fees (generally 1% + VAT of the sale price).

Bigphil1474

Not sure arguing that you literally have to pay for every service you get from the solicitor you hire to do a job you voluntarily ask them to do, is a good whinge. Moving house is optional, the government don't ask you to move house, so not sure why they should contribute. If you're spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a property, you want it to legally be yours when you finish the process, and not have any nasty surprises either. I don't think the fees are extortionate. EA fees on the other hand... definitely room for improvement there. I reckon we might have got about £300 worth of service from them, plus a bit on top to cover their overheads. Not sure why we ended up paying them nearly £2k (We did all the viewings ourselves, we paid for photos separately).

Bonniepurple

OP, none of those checks and costs (bar Stamp Duty) are mandated by the government.  They are there for the owner’s information and protection-and that will usually involve a mortgage company.  If you are able to pay cash, aren’t worried about mine shafts/sink holes/contaminated land/proposals to build a new 6 lane motorway at the bottom of the garden/plans for 1000 home new estate next door - or to check that the current “owner” is the legal owner and has the legal right to sell the property-then you don’t need to do any checks.

FWIW my brother declined all of the above for a property.  His rationale (as he explained to the solicitor) was he already owned half the place via an inheritance and he was buying me out so he owned the whole house.

SneakySpectator

dreaming said:

 So you buy a property baed on the fact that the seller actually owns it (and is who they say they are), with a contract that a solicitor "whips up", and you hand over all that cash? What happens when you find the property is built on mining land and has the potential for major subsidence, or on a flood plain, or the seller heard about a proposed road being built through the back garden? 

Would my solicitor actually notify me about anything like this though? Because then they'd know I'd back out of the deal which means they have to refund a chunk of the money I paid them because I have a no deal no fee thing in place. 

Tiglet2

SneakySpectator said:

dreaming said:

 So you buy a property baed on the fact that the seller actually owns it (and is who they say they are), with a contract that a solicitor "whips up", and you hand over all that cash? What happens when you find the property is built on mining land and has the potential for major subsidence, or on a flood plain, or the seller heard about a proposed road being built through the back garden? 

Would my solicitor actually notify me about anything like this though? Because then they'd know I'd back out of the deal which means they have to refund a chunk of the money I paid them because I have a no deal no fee thing in place. 

Yes, they would tell you.  Their advice and knowledge about your purchase is what you are paying them for.  They also will send you a 'Report on Title' towards the end of the transaction which will advise you of everything they have found out about the property.

The no deal no fee will relate to their own fees only.  Any searches or other third party disbursements you have paid for will be lost.

HHarry

You think conveyancing fees are a rip off!  Wait until you see what Estate Agents charge.

theartfullodger

Who signed up for this apparently terrible scam?  Did they not check the fees before signing up?

Probably bought and sold 25+ properties in my 77 years

Hoenir

SneakySpectator said:

dreaming said:

 So you buy a property baed on the fact that the seller actually owns it (and is who they say they are), with a contract that a solicitor "whips up", and you hand over all that cash? What happens when you find the property is built on mining land and has the potential for major subsidence, or on a flood plain, or the seller heard about a proposed road being built through the back garden? 

Would my solicitor actually notify me about anything like this though? Because then they'd know I'd back out of the deal which means they have to refund a chunk of the money I paid them because I have a no deal no fee thing in place. 

Are intending on getting a mortgage?