A sale of your property will involve transferring its ownership to somebody else, paying off any mortgage and other linked expenses and giving you the proceeds of the sale.
What can I expect to pay?
Legal fees for residential sales are generally dependent on the sale price of the property. In some cases, where sale is particularly complex the overall cost may be higher than the estimates listed below. The lawyer dealing with your sale will advise you in writing if they anticipate the costs being higher.
VAT is charged at 20%.
| Sale Price | Average Legal Fees |
| Up to £200,000 | £ 1,200.00 plus VAT |
| £200,001 to £300,000 | £ 1,300.00 plus VAT |
| £300,001 to £400,000 | £ 1,400.00 plus VAT |
| £400,001 to £450,000 | £ 1,500.00 plus VAT |
| £450,001 to £500,000 | £ 1,600.00 plus VAT |
| £500,001 to £600,000 | £ 1,800.00 plus VAT |
| £600,001 to £700,000 | £ 1,900.00 plus VAT |
| £700,001 to £800,000 | £ 2,000.00 plus VAT |
| £800,001 to £900,000 | £ 2,100.00 plus VAT |
| £900,001 to £1,000,000 | £ 2,200.00 plus VAT |
| £1million – £1.25million | £ 2,900.00 plus VAT |
| £1.25million to £1.5million | £ 3,200.00 plus VAT |
| £1.5million to £1.75million | £ 3,500.00 plus VAT |
| £1.75million to £2million | £ 3,750.00 plus VAT |
| £2million to £2.5million | £ 4,000.00 plus VAT |
| £3million to £4million | £ 5,000.00 plus VAT |
| £4million and above | price on application |
Certain types of property sales do not fall into the above fee scale:-
| Leasehold property | An additional £800 plus VAT (subject to complexities in respect of the Building Safety Act 2022) |
| Shared Ownership/First Homes Scheme property | £1,700 plus VAT minimum (please see the for more information) |
Are there any hidden costs or disbursements?
We will always be upfront with our fees at the start of a transaction. Disbursements are not always known at the outset. For example, you may require an indemnity policy to cover alterations to the property, the exact cost of which will not be known at the outset. However, common disbursements you can expect to pay include:-
| Disbursement | Average Cost |
| Copies of documents from HM Land Registry (e.g. title registers, title plans etc) | £3.00 per document |
| Search of Index Map at HM Land Registry | £4.00 per search |
| Bank Transfer fees (e.g. to repay a mortgage or transfer sale proceeds) | £30.00 plus VAT per transfer |
| ID checks (required under the Anti Money Laundering Regulations)
|
£25.00 plus VAT per person
|
What work is included in those costs?
Each sale is different but, in general, you can expect our services to include:-
- Taking your instructions and talking to you about such aspects as taxation, timescales etc.
- Obtaining the title documents, guarantees, planning permissions and the like, as well as dealing with the completion of the standard information provided on a sale
- Drafting the Contract
- Sending out the Contract papers to the buyer’s lawyer
- Answering any questions they may have about the property
- Agreeing the contract, seeing to its signature and exchanging contracts
- Gathering together financial information about the sale including the sum to pay off any mortgage and agreeing a financial statement with you
- Agreeing a Transfer document and arranging for its signature
- Completing the sale, paying off any mortgage and distributing the proceeds.
Inevitably this is a simplification and there will be many other tasks. For example, if the property is leasehold we will need to obtain an information pack from the Landlord and deal with rent and service charge apportionments.
Is there anything not included?
Our costs include all work that is usually required to complete the sale of a residential property. However, other elements of selling property (such as arranging for removals or the marketing of your property) are not included in our services.
Should you require additional legal services (e.g. reclaiming Stamp Duty Land Tax) these will be charged separately. You can find information about the other legal services we offer in connection with residential property here.
How long will the transaction take?
Many factors will dictate speed including the chain of buyers and sellers. Six weeks to exchange and two weeks between exchange and completion could be taken as an average, but again may be misleading. The shorter the chain of buyers and sellers, the shorter the transaction is likely to take.
