Pricing

Pricing

Introduction

Following 6 December 2018, the SRA transparency rules require all regulated law firms to publish their price and service information on their websites.

Our Professional Fees for acting on your behalf in purchase of a residential property

Our average professional fee for a simple freehold purchase is approximately £1,250 with no mortgage, and for a leasehold property of 1 million with a mortgage (where we act for the lender also) is generally between £2,000 – £3,500.

Please note that our fees are exclusive of VAT and disbursements.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs which we pay to other organisation or third parties as part of a property transaction. At Burgess Okoh Saunders, we pride ourselves on being as transparent as possible in this regard during the conveyancing process.

Below are the most common disbursements which you can expect to pay in a standard conveyancing transaction:

  • Search fees: approximately £350 plus VAT
  • Land Registry fee: £20 – £910
  • Official Copy entries and filed plan: £3.00 (per copy)
  • Chaps Charge: £25.00
  • Lawyer Checker: 12.00
  • Priority Search: £3.00 per search
  • Land Charges (Bankruptcy) search: £2.00 per search
  • AML checks on a Client (an individual): £8.00
  • Indemnity Policies: quotes depend on the purchase price and the nature of indemnity policy
  • Notice of Charge/ transfer (leasehold only) : £50 – £250
Searches

When you buy a property or remortgage your existing property, we undertake certain searches on the property, including Local Authority Search, Environmental Search, Water and Drainage search. These searches reveal information about property and land. Other common searches in England and Wales which we undertake are chancel repair checks and mining searches.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

SDLT is a tax levied by the HMRC on the purchase of residential and commercial property or land. The tax amount is dependent on the purchase price. You can find out more about this tax, how much it will cost you using HMRC calculator on the website.

Land Registry Fee

Every land or property transaction in England and Wales must be registered at HM Land Registry. The HM Land Registry charges a mandatory registration fee to register a change of ownership, with the fee applied on a sliding scale depending on the price of the transaction or level of the mortgage. Please check the Land Registry website for more information on fees.

Once we complete on a purchase transaction, we duly submit a registration application to the Land Registry together with the supporting documents.

Land Charges (bankruptcy) search

We carry out searches against the name of all buyers and/or borrowers in the Land Charges register. This search will determine if anyone involved in the purchase is bankrupt, or is about to be made bankrupt in a pending court action.

Official copy entries and filed plan

As standard practice, a solicitor acting for a seller provides an official copy of the title register and title plan to a purchaser’s solicitor at the outset of the transaction. We obtain these documents online using the Land Registry portal.

Conveyancing process

The key stages are set out below:

  • Take instruction from you depending on a transaction, sale or purchase;
  • Send our engagement letter for your signature;
  • Carry our AML checks as required by Anti Money Laundering Regulation 2017;
  • Contact lender’s solicitors if needed;
  • Request money on account and commission searches;
  • Raise necessary enquiries to seller’s solicitors
  • Provide you with our advice on all documents and information received and prepare a report on title;
  • Give you advice on condition of mortgage offer (if any)
  • Send final contract for your execution or seek express to sign contract on your behalf;
  • Agree a completion date;
  • Exchange contracts and notify you the same;
  • Draft the transfer and arrange for your execution prior to completion;
  • Send you completion statement detailing funds required to complete;
  • Obtain pre-completion searches from seller’s solicitors;
  • Arrange funds that needs to be received from you and/or lender;
  • Completion;
  • Deal with post-completion stage including making SDLT payment to HMRC; and
  • Deal with application for registration at HM Land Registry.