Selling Property

Our Fees

The precise stages involved in the process of selling residential property vary according to the circumstances.

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including dealing with the registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

The precise stages involved in the process of selling residential property, included in your fixed fee, are:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Obtaining evidence of each buyer’s evidence of identity and address;
• One telegraphic transfer fee of £25.00 + VAT (£5.00) Total £30.00
• Draft and advise on contract documents
• Obtain further planning documentation if required
• Respond to the enquiries raised by the seller’s solicitor
• Give you advice on all documents and information received
• Send final contract to you for signature
• Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
• Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
• Complete purchase
• Send any proceeds of sale to you

Potential Additional Fees

The fixed fees we have outlined above is based on a standard freehold sale transaction.  Occasionally, due to the nature of the transaction or unexpected complexities, it is necessary for us to charge an additional fixed fee to cover the extra work involved.  This may include one or more of the following:

Leasehold House

£50.00 + VAT (£10.00) Total £60.00 – this will cover the additional work involved in communicating with your landlord, the management company or their agents.

Leasehold flats

£150.00 + VAT (£30.00) Total £180.00 – this will cover the additional work involved in communicating with your landlord, the management company or their agents.

Unregistered Title

£50.00 + VAT (£10.00) Total £60.00 – It is a requirement that all property sale or re-mortgages are registered with HM Land Registry.  If the property you are selling or mortgaging has not previously been registered, we charge an additional fee for this.

Voluntary First Registration – £350.00 + VAT (£70.00) Total £420.00.

Help to Buy ISA

£50.00 + VAT (£10.00) Total £60.00 – where there is an existing or new Help to Buy ISA we charge an additional fee to cover the work involved in communicating with the Help to Buy Agency.

Help to Buy Scheme

£175.00 + VAT (£35.00) Total £210.00 – where there is an existing or proposed loan using the Help to Buy Scheme we charge an additional fee to cover the work involved in communicating with the Help to Buy Agency.

Lifetime ISA

£75.00 + VAT (£15.00) Total £90.00 – where there is an existing or new Lifetime ISA we charge an additional fee to cover the work involved in communicating with the lender

Shared Ownership

£275.00 + VAT (£55.00) Total £330.00 – if the property you are selling is part of a shared ownership scheme we charge an additional fee to cover our communications with the Housing Association or their solicitors.

Declaration of Trust (non-bespoke)

£75.00 + VAT (£15.00) Total £90.00 – Where you require an agreement to protect your interest or share in a property we charge an additional fee to prepare, complete and register the documentation.  There may also be an additional Land Registry fee to pay as outlined below.

Declaration of Trust (bespoke)

£400.00 + VAT (£80.00) Total £480.00 – Where you require a bespoke agreement to protect your interest or share in a property, we charge an additional fee to prepare, complete and register the documentation.  There may also be an additional Land Registry fee to pay as outlined below.

Insurance Indemnity Policy

£50.00 + VAT (£10.00) Total £60.00 – If a policy is required we charge an additional fee to obtain and advise you on the terms of the policy.  This cost is in addition to the cost of the policy premium.

Mortgage Administration fee

£25.00 + VAT (£5.00) Total £30.00 – this is to cover the additional work involved in liaising with your lender and obtaining the mortgage offer through the lender’s portal.

Assumptions

Our fees highlighted above are based on the following assumptions:

– This is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction.

– In relation to a leasehold sale, it is in relation to the assignment of an existing lease and is not the grant of a new lease.

– The transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complications arise.

– All parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation.

– No indemnity policies are required. The additional fees outline above will apply if indemnity policies are required.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as search fees.

These can cover:

Indemnity Policy Premium

If a risk has been identified with the property, you may need to obtain an indemnity policy if the buyer doesn’t accept responsibility for payment.  The premiums vary according to the type and extent of the risk involved.  We will obtain a quote and advise you separately regarding this.

Leasehold

If you are selling a leasehold property, there will be additional third-party costs which are set out in the lease.  We have highlighted the usual fees below but please note that this list is not exhaustive and will depend on the terms of the lease.  The fees vary from property to property and can, on occasion, be significantly more than the ranges given below.  Once we have seen the lease documents, we will advise you of the specific costs involved

Notice of Transfer fee – estimated at between £50.00 – £250.00 exc VAT. In total £60.00 – £300.00 inc VAT.

Notice of Charge fee (if the property is to be mortgaged) – estimated at between £50.00 – £200.00 exc VAT. In total £60.00 – £240.00 inc VAT.

Deed of Covenant fee – this is a fee that is set by the management company.  It is usually between £50 – £300 exc VAT. In total £60.00 – £360.00 inc VAT.

Certificate of Compliance fee – this is required on completion and is usually between £50 – £200 exc VAT. In total £60.00 – £240.00 inc VAT.

You should also be aware that ground rent and service charges are likely to apply throughout the period of your ownership of the property.  We will confirm the ground rent and the anticipated service charge as soon as we receive this information.

Our Legal Fees for other types of Property Sale

The fees outlined above are for atypical freehold or leasehold sale.  Sometimes, there are different circumstances which would necessitate a different fee depending on the nature of the transaction.

Referral fees

Sometimes a referral fee is paid to a third party for instance, an estate agent, for introducing your business to us.  The fees are usually between £100.00 – £150.00 + VAT.  This is not treated as an additional cost to you and we do not require you to pay us this additional amount.

Probate Sale

Our fees for this will be based on our standard fee scale above.

Example of the Total Cost of a Typical Freehold Sale

The following is an example of a typical freehold sale of £180,000:

Legal fee: £745.00

Online Identity fee: £24.00

VAT: £153.80

Disbursements

Official copies: £6.00

VAT: £1.20

Total: £930.00

How long will my house sale take?

How long it will take from you accepting an offer and moving out of your property will depend on a number of of factors. The average process takes between 8-12 weeks. It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain and the circumstances e.g. whether it is leasehold.

Overview of the process – Key stages

The stages of the sale of a property can vary according to the circumstances of the transaction.  Our leaflet provides you with further details and can be accessed below:

The legal process of selling a property?