Residential Property
Buying or selling your home can become a stressful and expensive ordeal and it’s imperative to have the best person act in such legal matters. Our property department can help you with a variety of land and property transactions.
Our property department is accredited by the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) awarded for maintaining a high standard of work in residential transactions. You can expect a friendly and professional service from qualified solicitors and conveyancer trained in-house to a high standard with over 40 year of collective experience.
Our team provides a bespoke service to meet our clients’ needs, whether you are buying your dream home or developing your property business, we will guide you throughout the process with competitive fixed-fee service.
FAQs
We know the law can be confusing and complicated at times. We’re sure you have lots of questions and worries. Before you get in touch take a look at some of our most frequently asked questions below and see if we have the answers you’re looking for. Otherwise get in touch and see how we can help.
The timeframe on average for a typical conveyancing transaction is 8 to 12 weeks from when we receive your instructions. Whilst we will ensure that your transaction is completed at the earliest opportunity there are a number of factors which will affect the time taken, including funding arrangements, if the property is registered with the Land Registry or whether you also have a property to sell. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is adding further delays to our typical estimated timescale.
Our legal fees and disbursements cover the work involved in completing the conveyancing transaction*, including registering your purchase.
Our fees are based on the price or valuation of the property being bought or sold, please contact us for more information.
Sales, Purchases and Right to Buy:
Up to – Total / VAT / Fee
£100,000 – £714 / £119 / £595
£200,000 – £774/ £129 / £645
£300,000 – £973/ £139 / £695
£400,000 – £894 / £149 / £745
£500,000 – £954 / £159 / £795
£600,000 – £1074 / £179 / £895
over £600,000 –– Ask FE for quote
Additional Fees – Total / VAT / Fee
Stamp Duty Land Tax Form – £96 / £16 / £80
ISA Help to Buy Schem e- £90 / £15 / £75
Government Help to Buy Scheme – £180 / £30 / £150
Purchasing under Auction Terms – £180 / £30 / £150
Purchasing through a company / business with mortgage – £300 / £50 / £250
Shared Ownership – £180 / £30 / £150
Gifted deposits – £90 / £15 / £75
Purchase Leasehold property – £120 / £20 / £100
Extend an existing lease – £360 / £60 / £300
Witnessing mortgage consent form or ID – 1£60 / £10 / £50
Advice for personal guarantee or collateral security for bank or lender – £420 / £70 / £350
Related Conveyancing Fees: Total / VAT / Fee
Review auction pack – £420 / £70 / £350
Redeem Help to Buy- £180 / £30 / £150
Transfer of Equity – £480 / £80 / £400
Re-mortgage – £510 / £85 / £425
Transfer of Equity & Re-mortgage – £570 / £95 / £475
Deed of Trust if purchasing property & we are acting in purchase – £216 / £36 / £180
Deed of Trust if not purchasing a property – £300 / £50 / £250
Lifetime Trust / Settlement – £480 / £80 / £400
DISBURSEMENTS
Disbursements are further costs which are incidental to the conveyancing transaction, payable to third parties such as Land Registry fees or searches. We have listed the most common and frequently used disbursements, however further disbursements may apply depending on the terms of a lease or where the property is located e.g. differing management fees.
Please note, we do not charge VAT on third party disbursements. Where VAT is applicable, we will indicate below.
HM Land Registry fees
HM Land Registry fees for registration vary with the value of the property or the consideration provided. Their fees differ with the type of application being made and how it is made. Our firm utilises the HM Land Registry portal and submits registration documents online.
Fees to register the whole of a registered title refers to a registered title where the buyer will acquire the boundary edged in red on the title plan. Part of a registered title will usually relate to a new build property where a buyer will acquire a part of the original title. It is ‘carved out’ of the original title plan to attract a separate fee. There are also properties in the UK that remain unregistered. Where a freeholder intends on registering their property for the first time, the Land Registry offer a reduced voluntary registration fee for doing so. Those fees that are outlined below are not subject to VAT.
Purchase Price / Voluntary Registration / Part of a title / Whole of title /Post
0 to £80,000 – £45 / £20 / £45
£80,001 to £100,000 – £95 / £40 / £95
£100,001 to £200,000 – £230 / £100 / £230
£200,001 to £500,000 – £200 / £330 / £150 / £330
£500,001 to £1,000,000 – £400 / £665 / £295 / £665
£1,000,001 and over – £680 / £1105 / £500 / £1105
Pre-Completion Searches
An OS1 (official search of the whole of the land) or OS2 (official search of part of the land in the title) priority search is undertaken prior to exchange which should provide a certificate containing a statement that there have been no adverse entries since office copies were sent to us. It provides a period of priority to change the register and also prevents an application by a third party.
A bankruptcy search is required in purchasers were a lender is providing mortgage funds to determine whether the borrower is bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy.
OS1 Priority Search – £3
Bankruptcy Search (per person) – £2
Electronic Money Transfer fee
The charge levied by the practice to transfer the purchase monies and is subject to VAT.
Electronic Money Transfer Fee – £40
Searches
These costs are not fixed. Each search provider will charge a fee for their service and each local authority, water authority (etc.) will have their own fee scale. The current costs of searches on a residential purchase relate to purchases within North East England. We will advise on further costs at the outset of the transaction.
Further investigative searches may be undertaken depending on the results of the previous searches. For example, there may be a mine shaft within the boundary of the property causing potential ground movement. If you were obtaining mortgage funds, the lender may request an interpretive report to be conducted at the property. We will advise you on the implications of similar results and the cost consequences as soon as we become aware.
Basic Package – £123
(Local search, water and drainage search and coal search)
Additional Searches:
Environmental Search – £61.20
Chancel Search – £24.00
Radon Report – £12.00
Flood Report – £30.00
** Prices as of 23rd February 2021
Online Identification Fee (per person) – £10.00
Office Copy Register and Plan* – £6.00
*For leasehold properties, additional documents will cost £3 each.
Lawyer Checker Fee
A fee paid to check the existence and authenticity of the bank account to which the purchase monies have been requested to be sent, to mitigate against online fraud.
Stamp Duty Land Tax or Land Transaction Tax.
This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website.
Leasehold Property
Purchasing leasehold property may add some further disbursements which will depend on occasion and the prices may vary. However, we will inform you as soon as we become aware of a disbursement and the related cost.
For example, the following disbursements are common in leasehold property:
Certificate of compliance fee
Notice of Transfer
Notice of Charge (if you are mortgaging the property)
Deed of Covenant fee
License to Assign
*The work involved assumes that a transaction is:
A straightforward, standard transaction;
Free from any matters which may not have been foreseen at the outset of the transaction, for example; rectifying a title defect or enhanced due diligence regarding source of funds;
Without any unnecessary delays from the purchaser or vendor, including any third parties to the transaction.
If you would like make an enquiry on the above services, please complete our online enquiry service by using our contact form below to receive a bespoke estimate of services.
Costs
We aim to advise our clients on costs at the earliest possible opportunity. Please read our information on costs in the FAQ section above and contact us for more information.
CONTACT US
Contact our Solicitors
Get in touch with our team for expert legal advice and assistance
Visit Us
East – Newcastle upon Tyne
240a Chillingham Road,
Heaton,
NE6 5LP
West – Newcastle upon Tyne
29 West Road,
NE4 9PU