We charge a fixed fee of £1,400 plus VAT (in total £1,680) for a straight forward house purchase.
There may be unforeseen issues in respect of the property which may require additional work that could make the matter more complex and may increase costs in you matter such as (but not limited to):
- Title Defects
- Restrictive covenants
- Lack of planning permission or building regulations
- Implementing indemnity insurance (e.g. in respect of an absence of evidence of Building Regulations compliance for work on the property)
In such an event we would be entitled to charge for our extra time incurred (at our hourly rate of £245 + VAT) and please be assured that should this happen, the problem and subsequent addition to the fixed fee would be fully discussed and approved by you before commencement of the additional work.
If you require a new mortgage to fund your proposed purchase then my firm also offer a fixed fee for the legal work required in order to take out and register this legal mortgage or charge over the property. This fee is fixed at £200 + VAT (in total £240).
For guidance purposes, aside from legal fees you will need to be aware of additional costs payable to third parties.
- Legal search fees payable to the search providers (e.g. Local Authority etc) as required by you/your lender - allow £370 (incl. VAT)
- Land Registry fees to be paid - £40 - 910 (no VAT) depending on the purchase price of your property to register the title in your name – we do not charge extra legal fees for doing this, this work is included in the fixed fee above.
- Pre-completion search fees- allow £9 £20 (no VAT).
- Stamp Duty Land Tax payable to HMRC– This figure depends on the purchase price and whether you own any other properties at the time of completion of your purchase. You can use the HMRC Stamp Duty Land Tax Calculator or you can telephone us and we can give this figure to you.
- Indemnity insurance policy premium(s) (if required, cost varies depending on the nature of the policy)
- Bank charges for the completion transfer when the final monies are transferred to the vendor’s solicitors upon completion - £15 (no VAT).
Timescales
A straightforward purchase transaction usually takes between 8 and 12 weeks from initial instructions to completion and can be done inline with a concurrent sale. The exact timescale will depend on matters such as the complexity of the transaction and the practical timescale requirements of other parties in the chain.
