Welcome to the third part of our guide to conveyancing quotes. Give the first section a read for some useful general rules. The second section was about conveyancing quotes for sellers. In this section we cover what you should expect to find in a conveyancing quote for buyers.
Conveyancing Quotes – Fees for Buyers
The Basic Fee – £300 – £1,200 + VAT
This is the basic cost of the conveyancers’ time. Some conveyancers will implement a flat fee, some will charge per hour (and will almost certainly be the priciest) and most will work it out based on the property’s value. The basic fee will be calculated to cover the firm’s overheads so, if it has swanky offices or pays its conveyancers nice wages it will have a higher basic fee. It’s not uncommon to see differences between basic fees of £500.
If you are selling a leasehold, it’s not unreasonable for conveyancers to add £200 to their fee. There is plenty more work to be done when dealing with this type of property.
Below are the disbursements a conveyancing quote for buyers should contain. They are easy to predict so any company charging much more or less could be up to something.
Land Registry Office Copies – £5 – £10
Bankruptcy Search – £2 – £4
Your mortgage lender will want to make sure you haven’t recently gone bankrupt.
Local Authority Searches – £100 – £200
Costs vary between local authority, and good conveyancers will ask the address of the property before quoting so they can give you an accurate price.
Drainage Search – £30 – £40 + VAT
This makes sure the property is connected to fresh and foul water sewers.
Chancel Repair Liability Search – £10 + VAT
Some property owners are required to contribute to the upkeep of a parish church.
Environmental Search – £30 – £35 + VAT
Checking for land contamination on and around your property.
Location-Specific Local Searches – £45 – £70 + VAT per search
These are checks that a conveyancer will carry out in certain areas if they are affected by things like mining, for example. If the conveyancer is aware of this issue they should include it in the breakdown but if they don’t mention anything on your quote it is definitely worth making sure they won’t have to carry any out during the conveyancing process.
Land Registration Fee – £40 – £700
The fees are the scale below so conveyancers have no excuse for not quoting accurately.
£0 – £50,000: £40
£50,001 – £80,000: £60
£80,001 – £100,000: £100
£100,001 – £200,000: £150
£200,001 – £500,000: £220
£500,001 – £1,000,000: £420
£1,000,001 and up: £700
Telegraphic Transfer Fee – £20 – £30 + VAT
A fee charged by your bank to send money to the seller’s conveyancer.
Stamp Duty Land Tax – £TBC
This is a tax you pay on top of the property’s sale price. As you will see fromt he table below there’s almost no way around it so your conveyance should include it in the quote, and if you get a really low quote then make sure this is in it, as it will end up being a big sum. It’s based on the scale below.
£0 – £125,000 – 0%
£125,001 – £250,000 – 1%
£250,001 – £500,000 – 3%
£500,001 – £1,000,000 – 4%
£1,000,001 and up – 5%
Now click here for extras that cheeky conveyancers might put in their quotes that you should reject.
