Sparlings Solicitors - Our Charges - Conveyancing

CHARGES - Conveyancing

We offer a personal service meaning that you will always deal directly with your case handler and their assistant. Because we tailor our service to your particular needs, we will not be the cheapest on the market, as our ethos is to give you value for money, both during and after your matter, including where appropriate, free and insured storage of important documents. Our fees cover the work that is normally required for a sale, purchase or re-mortgage. We follow what is called the Law Society Conveyancing Protocol as with most solicitors firms, and our service fees include:

1. Initially meeting with you or discussing matters by phone
2. Client identification and confirmation of source of monies
3. Gathering all information required for your matter and liaising with other solicitors, estate agents, landlord, management companies and your mortgage lender (if applicable)
4. Carrying out searches with local authorities, water companies and other bodies and discussing the results with you
5. Reporting to you on the matter
6. Dealing with exchange of contracts
7. Completing the matter including receiving monies, discharging your existing mortgage (if any) paying estate agents and other parties
8. Dealing with the filing of stamp duty tax returns and Land Registry applications

The following services are not included in our standard fees.

Most sales and purchases (and re-mortgages) follow a standard pattern but sometimes there will be matters which are unique to your transaction and sometimes may not arise until the matter has actually started, and which will increase the cost to you. These additional issues can include:

1. Shared ownership on both sale or purchase
2. On a sale or purchase involving a Help to Buy Mortgage or Help to Buy ISA or a lifetime ISA
3. Sale or purchase of un-registered properties or new build properties
4. Registration of un-registered properties
5. Advising on planning, building control and listed building issues
6. Advising on joint ownership and preparing declarations of trust where appropriate
7. Taking out indemnity insurance where there are defects on the title documents for the use of the property and these defects need to be insured against

We do not in any circumstances, advise on the following matters all of which will be dealt with by other professionals:

1. Mortgages
2. Survey reports on the property or valuations
3. Taxation generally (this includes complex stamp duty matters where you will need to take separate and specific advice from a financial advisor, lender or surveyor and your accountant or tax advisor)

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Purchase of a freehold residential property

Our fees cover all of the work usually required to complete the purchase of your new home, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales. The examples below are based on a purchase price of £200,000 and are illustrative only. You will always be provided with a personalised estimate based on your own circumstances by Sparlings Solicitors.

Conveyancer's fees and disbursements

• Legal fee £850.00
• Search fees £350.00-£400.00 dependant upon where the property is situated
• HM Land Registry fee £270.00
• Electronic money transfer fee £48.00 (including VAT)
• VAT payable £135.00

 

Disbursements are payments to third parties (the amount of which are set by those third parties for example the Land Registry) We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Stamp Duty or Land Tax (on purchase)

This depends on the purchase price of your property. The amount of stamp duty is not included in our fees. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC's website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority's website.

How long will my house purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend various factors. The average process takes between 8 to 12 weeks.
It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain. For example, if you are a first time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage already agreed and issued it could take 6 weeks. However, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this can take significantly longer, between 3 and 5 months. In such a situation additional charges would apply.

Stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. We set out some key stages below:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender's solicitors if needed
• Receive and advise on contract documents
• Carry out searches
• Obtain further planning documentation if required
• Make any necessary enquiries of the seller's solicitor
• Give you advice on all documents and information received
• Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you
• Send final contract to you for signature
• Agree completion date (this is the date when you will own the property and move in)
• Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
• Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
• Complete purchase (move in)
• Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax on your behalf
• Deal with application for registration at Land Registry of you as the new owner.

Our fee assumes that:

1. You are purchasing a freehold property for £200000.
2. this is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which needs to be put right prior to completion or the preparation of further documents additional to the main transaction
3. the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise
4. all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation or dealing with any matters (including responding to enquiries)

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Purchase of a leasehold residential property

Our fees cover all the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property is in Wales. The examples below are based on a purchase price of £200,000 and are illustrative only. You will always be provided with a personalised estimate based on your own circumstances by Sparlings Solicitors.

Conveyancer's fees and disbursements

• Legal fee £1050.00
• Search fees approximately £350.00-£400.00 depending on the local authority
• HM Land Registry fee £270.00
• Electronic money transfer fee £48inc VAT
• VAT payable £155
• Notice fee for Transfer (& charge where necessary) dependent upon the terms of the lease

Referral fees

This firm does not enter into referral arrangements or accept referral fees from third parties

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as search fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. There are certain disbursements which may be set out in the individual lease relating to the Property. The disbursements which we anticipate will apply are set out separately below. This list is not exhaustive and other disbursements may apply depending on the term of the lease. We will update you on the specific fees upon receipt and review of the lease from the seller's solicitors.

• HM Land Registry fee:
• Search fees (these are charged by councils and other bodies and do vary):
• VAT on search fees
• Notice of Transfer fee – This fee if chargeable, is set out in the lease and is payable to the landlord and the management company. Often the fee is between £100 to £200
• Notice of Charge fee (if the property is to be mortgaged) – This fee is set out in the lease. Often the fee is between £100 to £200
• Deed of Covenant fee – This fee is provided by the management company for the property and can be difficult to estimate. Often it is between £150 to £300.
• Certificate of Compliance fee - To be confirmed upon receipt of the lease, as this can range between £150 to £300.

The above fees vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the ranges given above. We can give you an accurate figure once we have sight of specific documents from the landlord and the management company.

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

Stamp Duty Land 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 or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority's website.

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential leasehold property vary according to the circumstances. The following are typical for a leasehold purchase:

• Take your instructions and give you initial advice
• Check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender's solicitors if needed
• Receive and advise on contract documents
• Carry out searches
• Obtain further planning documentation if required
• Make any necessary enquiries of seller's solicitor
• Give you advice on all documents and information received
• Go through conditions of mortgage offer
• Send final contract to you for signature
• Draft Transfer
• Advise you on joint ownership
• Obtain pre-completion searches
• Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
• Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
• Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
• Complete purchase
• Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
• Deal with application for registration at Land Registry

How long will my house purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 8 to 12 weeks. It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain

Assumptions

Our fees assume that:

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

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Sale of a Freehold Residential Property

Our fees cover all work usually required on the sale of your property, including preparing the contract for sale, checking the title, dealing with any additional inquiries, liaising with your mortgage lender redeeming the mortgage (if applicable) discharging the estate agent commission on completion and accounting to you for the net sale proceeds.

The example below is based on the sale of a residential freehold property at a sale price of £250,000.00 (with a registered title) it is illustrative only. We will always provide you with a personal estimate based on your own circumstances

Conveyancer's fees and disbursements

• Legal fees £750.00. Plus VAT (£150.00)
• HMLR fee for copy documents £6.00 - £20.00 (approximately)
• Electronic Money Transfer fee £48.00 (Inc VAT)

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Sale of a Leasehold Residential Property

Our fees cover all work usually required on the sale of your property, including preparing the contract for sale, checking the title, obtaining information and management packs from the freeholder and any management company, dealing with any additional inquiries, liaising with your mortgage lender and redeeming the mortgage (if applicable) discharging the estate agents commission on completion and accounting to you for the net sale proceeds.

The example below is based on the sale of a residential Leasehold property at a sale price of £250,000.00 (with a registered title) it is illustrative only. We will always provide you with a personal estimate based on your circumstances

• Legal costs £900.00. Plus VAT
• HMLR fee for copy documents - £6.00 - £20.00 (approximately)
• Electronic Money Transfer fee - £48.00 (Inc VAT)

Information packs from Freeholder (these fees are set by the freeholder and management company but can be in the region of £100.00 to £500.00 per information pack) and management company.