We will guide you through each step of your transaction and where necessary can recommend other professionals such as Surveyors, Independent Financial Advisors, and property valuers.
We will keep you up-to-date with all of the relevant information so that you can make informed decisions and have confidence that every detail has been properly taken care of. All our conveyancing work is carried out by a professionally qualified conveyancer (Licensed Conveyancer or Solicitor) of many years experience, and is not delegated to “case handlers” which you may find elsewhere.
We are proud to hold the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation, issued by the Law Society. This involves the firm maintaining high levels of professional practice and client care.
Pricing
We typically work on a fixed fee basis, ensuring that you know what the fees will be for your transaction from the outset. If, during the transaction there is a new unexpected development which requires additional work by us we will discuss any change in our legal fees with you and agree a way forward.
Our legal fees:
Our legal fees cover all the work involved in completing your proposed purchase. We also attend to the submission of your Stamp Duty Land Tax return (in England) and the registration of your ownership of the property at the Land Registry post completion. Please telephone or email us so that we can take a few details from you in order to be able to give you an exact estimate within the range below. Please 'phone for an estimate for property values over £1 million.
Legal fees - for you Legal fees - for Lender (if any) | £1,250.00 - £1,650.00 + VAT (£20.00 - £330.00) £195.00 plus VAT (£39.00)5 |
Electronic transfer of funds File retention/storage Stamp Duty Land Tax submission Additional for 'new build' Additional for Government schemes | £40.00 plus VAT (£8.00) £25.00 plus VAT (£5.00) £65.00 plus VAT (£13.00) £500.00 plus VAT (£100.00) £500.00 plus VAT (£100.00) |
Disbursements are payable in addition, as dealt with below. Please 'phone us for a specific estimate for your transaction.
We do not enter into any “referral fee” payment arrangements with estate agents or anyone else.
Disbursements:
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. These disbursements are payable by you in addition to the above fees.
These disbursement costs are subject to change by the third parties, and may vary if further information is required specifically in relation to your matter.
The following are the typical disbursements involved with most purchase transactions:-
Local Authority search (NHDC) | LLC1 part - £20.00 CON29 part - £60.00 plus VAT (£12.00) |
Drainage and Water enquiries (Anglian Water region) | £42.50 plus VAT (£8.50) |
Environmental search | £51.00 plus VAT (£10.20) |
Land Registry search | £3.00 |
Bankruptcy search (if applicable) Lenders' management charge | £2.00 (per purchaser name) £25.00 plus VAT (£5.00) |
Stamp Duty Land Tax | This will depend on the purchase price of your property and some other factors. |
Land Registry registration fee | This will depend on the purchase price of the property and whether the title is ‘registered’ or not. |
Depending on the location of the property it may also be necessary for additional disbursements to be incurred. For example, if potential flooding may be an issue or if the property is situated in an area of past industrial/commercial activity then additional searches may be required.
Exclusions
We do not undertake mortgage or tax advice and we would recommend you seek advice from an independent mortgage broker or financial adviser. Further, we do not carry out property valuations.
Our legal fees are fixed at the time of estimate, however there may be factors which would typically increase our fees. Where there is likely to be any additional legal fees, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra fees will be provided.
Factors that may lead to an increase in our legal fees include:
- If a legal title is defective or part of the property is unregistered
- If we discover building regulations or planning permission have not been obtained
- If crucial documents have not been provided to us
- If there are a number of titles comprising the property
- If you require a Declaration of Trust document drawn up regulating joint ownership of the property
Time Scales
For any transaction, the timescales are subject to change depending on factors involved such as:
- Number of parties in the chain
- Whether you have a mortgage in place
- Whether you are buying a new build property
- Legal issues that the seller needs to resolve in order to provide you and any lender with a satisfactory title to the property.
A typical transaction will take between 8-10 weeks. However, if any of the above apply, or there are other factors we need to take into consideration, this may increase the time by a further 4-6 weeks. We will discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity so you always have a clear picture of how long things are likely to take.
Key Milestones
With every transaction there are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. They may be as follows:
- Taking your instructions and giving initial advice based on the information you have provided
- Checking finances are in place to fund the purchase and contacting the lender’s solicitors if needed
- Receiving and advising on the contract documents
- Undertaking searches
- Obtaining further planning documentation if required
- Making enquiries of the seller’s solicitor
- Providing advice on all documents and information received
- Advising you of the mortgage offer conditions
- Finalising the contract
- Agreeing a completion date (the date from which you will legally own the property)
- Exchanging contracts and notifying you that this has happened
- Ensuring all monies have been received from you and the lender(s)
- Completing the purchase
- Dealing with submitting the Stamp Duty Land Tax return
- Completing and submitting the application for registration of your ownership at the Land Registry
