Conveyancing Fees

How much do solicitors charge for conveyancing? Understanding conveyancing solicitor fees is crucial when buying, selling, or remortgaging a property. If you are buying or selling a property, it’s important to understand the fees of your conveyancing solicitor. At Osbornes Law, we provide transparent information about our solicitors fees for conveyancing, ensuring you have a clear picture of the expenses involved in your property transaction. Our conveyancing fees for buying and selling are competitively priced, offering excellent value for clients across the capital. Because we are based in London with offices in Camden and Hampstead, we have a strong understanding of the local property market. However, we extend our conveyancing services across the UK, assisting clients nationwide with their property transactions.

Our solicitors’ fees for buying a house

If you’re wondering how much do solicitors charge to buy a house, you can use these fees to know what to expect. Our conveyancing solicitors in London handle all aspects of your property purchase, ensuring competitive conveyancing fees if you’re buying in London or elsewhere in the UK.
Whether you’re purchasing a freehold or leasehold property, the solicitor fees for buying a house outlined below apply to both cases.

Our fixed conveyancing fees cover all of the work required when buying a freehold property, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

Conveyancing Legal fee

Our conveyancing legal fees will depend on the value of the freehold property you are purchasing and will range from £950.00 to £2,850.00 plus VAT

Conveyancing Search fees

Land Registry Priority Search fee – £3.60

Bankruptcy Search fee (if obtaining a mortgage) – £2.40 per name

Search fees (includes Local Authority, drainage, environmental, Chancel, flood and planning searches) – £450.00 approximately

HM Land Registry fee:

This mandatory cost is set by the Land Registry and depends on the value of the freehold property you are purchasing. The fee will range from £20.00 to £910.00.

Electronic Money Transfer fee:

£18 plus VAT per payment.

VAT:

You will only pay VAT on our legal fees and the cost to make an electronic money transfer.

Referral fees

For some transactions, we do pay referral fees. The amount of any referral fee will be disclosed to you at the commencement of the transaction. To be clear, these referral fees are paid by us to third parties and not by you.

*Our fee assumes that:
Your property purchase is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction. The maximum fee shown is for a purchase price of a freehold property between £1,400,000.00 and £1,500,000.00. Please contact us for a quote if the purchase price is above £1,500,000.00

What are disbursements in relation to buying a leasehold property?

These are costs related to your house purchase that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure there is no delay in your purchase.

When buying a leasehold property, you should be aware that there may be certain additional disbursements which will be out in the individual Lease relating to the property.

The additional disbursements which we anticipate may possibly apply are set out below. Your property lawyer will update you on additional disbursements fees that you may incur upon receipt and review of the Lease from the Seller’s lawyer.

1. Notice of Transfer.
2. Notice of Charge fee – This fee applies if the property is to be mortgaged.
3. Deed of Covenant fee.
4. Certificate of Compliance fee.

You should also be aware that ground rent and service charges are likely to apply throughout your ownership of the property. We will confirm the ground rent and the anticipated service charge as soon as we receive this information.

*Our fee assumes that:

This is the standard transaction and no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction. The maximum fee shown is for a purchase price of a leasehold property between £1,400,000.00 and £1,500,000.00. Please contact us for a quote if the purchase price is above £1,500,000.00

1. This is the assignment of an existing Lease and is not the grant of a new Lease.
2. The transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise.
3. All parties to the transaction are co-operative, and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation.
4. No indemnity policies are required. Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are required.

Our solicitors’ fees for selling a house

Our solicitors’ fees for selling a house are transparent and competitive, ensuring you know exactly what to expect when navigating the legal aspects of your property sale. The solicitor fee for selling a house will depend on the value of the property and whether it is freehold or leasehold, ranging from £950.00 to £2,225.00 plus VAT.

Sale disbursements:

VAT:

You will only pay VAT on our legal fees and the cost to make an electronic money transfer.

Referral fees:

For some transactions, we do pay referral fees. The amount of any referral fee will be disclosed to you at the commencement of the transaction. To be clear, these referral fees are paid by us to third parties and not by you.

What are disbursements related to selling a property?

These are costs related to your house or flat sale purchase that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure there is no delay in your sale.

We will redeem a mortgage registered against selling a property in completion of the sale. We will be able to provide you with a figure for the redemption amount once you have instructed us to act for you.

Please contact your estate agent to confirm the fees that you have agreed to pay them. Normally we will pay the estate agents fees out of the proceeds of sale on completion of the transaction.

Typical sale timescales and key stages

The timing of your conveyance will depend on a number of factors but, on average, a residential property sale takes 4 to 8 weeks. If you are in a chain, the timing of your transaction is likely to need to coincide with the other parties in that chain.

Key stages of the sale process are typically:

• Receive your instructions, identification and other necessary details
• Prepare and send sale documentation pack for buyer’s solicitor
• Apply and supply assignment/management pack (leaseholds only)
• Initial contact with lender (if redemption of mortgage is involved)
• Respond to enquiries by buyer’s solicitor
• Finalise contract for signature & confirm the completion date
• Exchange contracts
• Complete sale, redeem mortgage(s) and transfer proceeds of sale as necessary

*Our fee assumes that:
Your property sale is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction. The maximum fee shown is for a sale price of a leasehold property between £1,400,000.00 and £1,500,000.00. Please contact us for a quote if the purchase price is above £1,500,000.00

What about remortgage?

Our remortgage solicitor fees for the remortgage of a property are £995.00 plus VAT*

For more information, please see our page about remortgage solicitor fees