We provide a high quality, personal service. Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including dealing with registration of your purchase at the Land Registry and dealing with payment of Land Transaction Stamp Duty (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.
Legal Fees
These will usually range between £1,450 – £1,950 plus VAT (currently 20%) and will be dependent on the type and value of property being sold. If there are any unforeseen or unusual circumstances the fees may be more. If the transaction involves a purchase/sale price in excess of £900,000, please contact us for a specific quote. In addition, there are always costs (known as disbursements) related to your purchase which have to be paid to third parties. We pay these on your behalf to ensure a smooth process. These include local authority search fees, land registry fees and fees for the electronic transfer of money and often, but not always, Stamp Duty Land Tax and we explain more about this below
Search Fees
The three main searches carried out for a purchase include:
| Service | Cost | VAT Applicable |
VAT Amount |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Authority Search | £100.00 – £400.00 | ✓* | £20.00 – £80.00 | £120.00 – £480.00 |
| Drainage and Water Search | £55.00 | ✓ | £11.00 | £66.00 |
| Environmental Search | £51.00 | ✓ | £10.20 | £61.20 |
* Search providers usually include VAT in their charges. However, in most circumstances where they do not, we must add VAT to these costs.
The above search fees payable to third parties may increase and we will let you know if they do. There are other searches such as a commons registration search, highways search, coal mining search, plan search and chancel searches which may apply depending on the location of the property. We will advise you of the cost if any of these searches are necessary.
HM Land Registry Fee
This is on a sliding scale and could cost between £20.00 -£455.00 depending on the value of the property where the application can be made electronically (£20.00 is payable for properties worth up to £80,000.00 and £455.00 is payable for properties worth £1,000,001.00 or over). If the property is a new build or involves a transfer of part or was previously un-registered at H M Land Registry, the fees will be on a sliding scale between £40.00 – £910.00 (£40.00 is payable for properties worth up to £80,000.00 and £955.00 is payable for properties worth £1,000,001.00 or more).
Stamp Duty or Land Tax (on purchase)
This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s website here. You must be aware of the potential additional 3% Stamp Duty for ownership of an additional residential property.
Referral Fees
We do not pay or receive any referral fees for any agents or third parties.
Payment on account
We will request a payment on account at the outset of the transaction, currently £500.00.
For the purchase of an existing freehold house (not a new build) with a purchase price of £460,000.00 in the London borough of Enfield with a mortgage, our fees and disbursements would be as follows:
| Service | Cost | VAT Applicable |
VAT Amount |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Fees | £1,250.00 | ✓ | £250.00 | £1,500.00 |
| Disbursements | ||||
| Local Authority Search | £196.50 | ✓* | £39.30 | £235.80 |
| Drainage and Water Search | £55.00 | ✓* | £11.00 | £66.00 |
| Environmental Search | £51.00 | ✓* | £10.20 | £61.20 |
| Land Registration fee | £135.00 | £135.00 | ||
| Land Registry Priority Search fee | £3.00 | £3.00 | ||
| Bankruptcy Search fee (£2 per name) | £2.00 | £2.00 | ||
| Bank Transfer Fee | £15.00 | ✓ | £3.00 | £18.00 |
| Anti Money Laundering Check fee (£9 + VAT per name) | £9.00 | ✓ | £1.80 | £10.80 |
| Lawyer Checker Fee | £12.00 | ✓ | £2.40 | £14.40 |
| Disbursements Total | £478.50 | ✓‡ | £67.70 | £546.20 |
| Final Total | £1,678.50 | ✓‡ | £317.70 | £1,996.20 |
* Search providers usually include VAT in their charges. However, in most circumstances where they do not, we must add VAT to these costs.
‡ VAT is charged on those items specified above.
Stamp Duty (estimated) for the above example (estimated) for a buyer who is an individual replacing their existing home (so not a first time buyer or an additional property) would be £13,000.00.
The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages:
The example set out above is on the assumption that:
The price will also be determined by a number of factors:
NB this list is not intended to be exhaustive.
How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors, which are often largely outside your control or ours. The average process may take between 8 to 16 weeks.
It can be quicker or slower, depending on the time taken to obtain any mortgage required and the parties in the chain. For example, if you are a first time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage in principle, it could take 8 weeks (on the basis that the property is already built and not “off-plan”).
Sale not proceeding
If, for any reason, we are unable to complete the purchase of your property, we will make a charge which will be a proportion of the fixed fee quoted relative to the time spent. Purchases that fail to complete often involve as much work as those which reach completion. Any charge made will not exceed the amount of the fixed fee we have given.
Please note that we will always provide you with individual costs information and a copy of our terms and conditions of business.