Explanation of conveyancing costs
Your quote will include a list of all the conveyancing costs that
you will incur based on the information that you have supplied to us. These costs
will not be familiar to everyone so we have included this explanation of what each
cost relates to on your conveyancing quote.
Key Information:
- Legal costs
- Third party expenses
Legal conveyancing costs
These are the legal conveyancing costs that we charge for the residential conveyancing work that we do on
your behalf. All the fees are subject to value added tax (VAT)
Conveyancing costs
These are the basic fees that we charge for doing a standard residential conveyance. This is
a fixed fee which covers the residential conveyancing work that we do and the time we spend ensuring that
your transaction proceeds smoothly and that your interests are protected.
Preparation of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) form
These are the fees that we charge for completing the "Stamp Duty Land Tax" form.
This form must be completed on every purchase of a home and must be completed within
30 days. The form is a complex form with 7 pages of information to provide. If the
form is not completed and sent to the Inland Revenue within 30 days of completing
the transaction there is a penalty fee of £100 payable. That penalty fee increases
to £200 if the form is not received by the Inland Revenue within 3 months of the
transaction completing. This form must be completed on every purchase even if there
is no stamp duty payable.
Leasehold supplement
These are the fees we charge for dealing with a leasehold home. Where the property
involved is leasehold, there is considerably more work to do. The lease, which is
often a 30 to 40 page document must be reviewed and enquiries will usually have
to be raised with the managing agent or landlord. Responses to those enquiries must
be considered and we will report to you on those responses to ensure that you are
happy with them. On completion of the transaction, we may also have to calculate
ground rents and service charges as well as serving notices of transfer on the landlord
or managing agent. The Leasehold Supplement is £100 + VAT.
Preparation of bank transfer/telegraphic transfer
When a transaction completes, money then moves between accounts usually in the form of an electronic or telegraphic transfer. In order to ensure that the money is
sent to the correct account, the transfer details are checked by 3 different people:
the person with conduct of your transaction will check the details and they are
then checked a second time by our accounts department. Before the money is actually
sent, the details are checked for a third time by a partner or other senior member
of staff in Simpson Millar LLP Solicitors. This charge will be applicable for every money
transfer that is required. The fee for this is £17.50 + VAT.
Shared ownership properties
Shared ownership properties usually refer to places that you co-buy with housing
associations and means that you pay rent on the equity share that the housing association
retains. If you are buying a shared ownership property then there will be additional
fees to pay to Simpson Millar LLP Solicitors over and above what we have quoted.
The additional costs will be £150 + VAT. There may also be additional third party
costs.
Shared equity arrangements
Shared equity arrangements mean that you buy a given equity share of the property,
while the developer and/or Government own the remaining share, you do not pay rent
on it. If you are buying an equity share their will be additional fees to pay Simpson
Millar LLP Solicitors over and above what we have quoted. The additional costs will
be £150 + VAT. There may also be additional third party costs.
Third party expenses
These are the fees that we incur on your behalf and which are paid to other people
or agencies during the residential conveyancing process.
Office copies
The only time that office copies are necessary is if you are selling your house. Office copies contain details of the Land Registers and are required to be sent to the buyer's solicitors so that their is official proof that the seller owns the property. The office copies will state the
owners name along with any charges that may be registered against the house.
Telegraphic/bank transfer
The bank will charge £12.50 for transferring the money electronically from one account
to another. This charge will apply for each money transfer required.
Stamp duty
Stamp duty is a government tax that is paid on all properties over the value of
£125,000. Stamp duty
is only payable on purchases. The amount of stamp duty that you will have to paid is based on the value of your house eg:
|
Value |
Stamp Duty |
|
Up to £125,000 |
0% of purchase price |
|
£125,001 up to £250,000 |
1% of purchase price |
|
£250,001 up to £500,000 |
3% of purchase price |
|
Over £500,001 |
4% of purchase price |
Land registry fee
The Land registry requires that you pay a fee in order to register the house in the new owner’s
names, to register any new charges and to remove the existing owner and details of
any existing charges. If you are purchasing a property you will have to pay a Land Registry fee. The amount
you will need to paid also depends on the value of the house.
|
Value |
Fee |
|
Up to £50,000 |
£50.00 |
|
£50,001 - £80,000 |
£80.00 |
|
£80,001 - £100,000 |
£130.00 |
|
£100,001 - £200,000 |
£200.00 |
|
£200,001 - £500,000 |
£280.00 |
|
£500,001 - £1,000,000 |
£550.00 |
|
Over £1,000,000 |
£920.00 |
Bankruptcy search fee
This is to check whether a buyer has been or is about to be declared bankrupt. It
only has to be done on purchases and remortgages. A search is done for each
of the names that will be on the mortgage. The cost is currently £2.00 per name.
Searches
We have negotiated a preferential flat rate from a national search provider for
our residential conveyancing clients for the chancel, environmental, drainage and the local search. These
only have to be done on purchases.
- The chancel search is a relatively new development. This type of search is carried out to make sure that
you are not buying a home where you will end up with heavy legal obligations to make payments towards the upkeep of a church. The need for this search has developed quite recently
following a high profile case where purchasers found themselves burdened with huge commitments
to contribute towards the maintenance of a church
- The environmental search will check if here are any environmental issues
affecting the house eg flooding, coal mining and
land fill issues. The drainage search will investigate whether the property is connected to mains
water and drainage and if there are any other issues relating to drainage/water
which will affect it
- The local search is made on behalf of the buyer or, in the case of a remortgage,
on behalf of the Lender. The search covers Local Authority issues relating to the
house. The search will either be sent to the Local Authority to answer and return
to the conveyancer or the conveyancer may use a Personal Search Agency or an Online
Search Provider to collect the information from the Local Authority. If a mortgage
is involved then Local Search is mandatory. This search only has to be done on purchases
and remortgages
- The coal search does not have to be done on all homes – it depends on location.
If we can avoid doing a coal search, then we will do so but if you need to have
such a search to make sure you are properly protected, then we will arrange for
that to be done. The search package with the coal search is increased by just £23.20
from £159.22 to £192.42, dependent on which local authority is involved
Land registry search
Upon exchange of contracts, but before completion we do a land registry search to make sure
that no additional charges have been registered against the house. This search
only has to be done on purchases.
Home information packs (HIP)
Some charges may not apply if you already have a Home Information Pack and your
conveyancing quote will reflect this. Please note Home Information Packs are no longer required to sell a property.
Conveyancing costs
We hope that the above information helps you understand the costs involved with
your residential conveyancing transaction. If you require any further information about our conveyancing
costs please do not hesitate to get in touch as set out below and we will happily talk you through it.
Our Residential Conveyancing Team can Help You!
Contact us now to discuss how we can help you with your residential conveyancing needs by completing
our, no obligation, online enquiry form
and we will call you back or you can call us directly on freephone: 0800 634 1628.
Or you can simply obtain an
online residential conveyancing quote.
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