Freehold Residential Property Fees

BUYING AND SELLING A FREEHOLD RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY FEES

Buying or selling your home can be very exciting. Our dedicated Residential Property team will work hard to help your transaction go as smoothly as possible.

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. We have set out some of the key stages of work which we usually do:

  • take your instructions and give your 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 with you;
  • send final contract to you for signature;
  • 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; and
  • deal with application for registration at Land Registry.

For more information about buying and selling a property, please visit our guides to Buying A House and Selling A House.

Fees and Disbursements

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including:

  • carrying out the necessary searches;
  • liaising with the other side’s solicitors;
  • dealing with registration at the Land Registry;
  • 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.

Our fees vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the ranges given in the tables below. We can give you an accurate figure once we have sight of your specific documents, so we suggest that you always give us a call to discuss your individual circumstances.

You will also need to pay disbursements. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

The likely costs, including disbursements, for purchasing a freehold property are as follows:

PROPERTY PRICE SOLICITORS’ FEES VAT at 20% TOTAL
£0 – 250,000.99                    £1,250.00 £250.00 £1,500.00
£250,001 – £350,000.99        £1,350.00 £270.00 £1,620.00
£350,001 – £450,000.99 £1,500.00 £300.00 £1,800.00
£450,001 – £500,000.99 £1,595.00 £319.00 £1,914.00
£500,001 – £550,000.99 £1,695.00 £339.00 £2,034.00
£550,001 – £650,000.99 £1,695.00 £339.00 £2,034.00
£650,001 – £750,000.99 £1,895.00 £379.00 £2,274.00
£750,001 – £850,000.99 £2,195.00 £439.00 £2,634.00
£850,001+                            TBC, please contact Phillips on a case by case basis.    
       
ADDITIONAL FEES      
Storage & Completion Expenses £85.00 £17.00 £102.00
ID and Regulatory Checks £75.00 £15.00 £90.00
       
DISBURSEMENTS      
Search Pack (estimate) £310.00 £0.00 £310.00
OS1 £7.33 £1.47 £8.80
Bankruptcy Search (per client) £6.50 £1.30 £7.80
The above does not include SDLT or Land Registry fees.

 

The likely costs, including disbursements, for selling a freehold property are as follows:

PROPERTY PRICE SOLICITORS’ FEES VAT at 20% TOTAL
£0 – 250,000.99                    £1,245.00 £249.00 £1,494.00
£250,001 – £350,000.99        £1,345.00 £269.00 £1,614.00
£350,001 – £450,000.99 £1,445.00 £289.00 £1,734.00
£450,001 – £500,000.99 £1,600.00 £320.00 £1,920.00
£500,001 – £550,000.99 £1,600.00 £320.00 £1,920.00
£550,001 – £650,000.99 £1,750.00 £350.00 £2,100.00
£650,001 – £750,000.99 £1,850.00 £370.00 £2,220.00
£750,001 – £850,000.99 £1,950.00 £390.00 £2,340.00
£850,001+                            TBC, please contact Phillips on a case by case basis.    
       
ADDITIONAL FEES      
Land Registry: Docs & Searches (Freehold) £30.00 £6.00 £36.00
Storage & Completion Expenses £85.00 £17.00 £102.00
ID and Regulatory Checks £75.00 £15.00 £90.00
       
DISBURSEMENTS      
Bankruptcy Search (per client) £6.50 £1.30 £7.80

 

Stamp Duty or Land Tax (on purchase)

The amount of Stamp Duty or Land Tax which you have to pay on completion 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.

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. However, the national average length of time for the conveyancing process from case creation to completion is 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 in principle, it could take four to six weeks to the point of exchange.

Remortgaging Fees

Our remortgaging fees for freehold properties are generally £995 plus VAT

Searches are approximately £310 and the Land Registry fee depends on the amount you are remortgaging for.

Fee Earners

The following fee earners handle Residential Property matters:

Hayley Eachus is Qualified Solicitor and Director at Phillips Law. Hayley qualified in 2013 and specialises in all areas of residential and commercial property.

Jon Coles is a Director at Phillips Law and a qualified solicitor. Jon qualified as a solicitor in 1983, having obtained his law degree from Cardiff University and specialises in all areas of residential and commercial property.

Our fee earners in the conveyancing team who are supervised by Hayley include:

Lisa Rigby who qualified as a Licensed Conveyancer in 1995 and is also a graduate of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. She joined Brain Chase Coles in November 2001.

Jo Francis who is an experienced Conveyancing Executive who has worked within the property department of Brain Chase Coles since 1996.

Theresa Coutts has worked at Phillips for 21 years and has considerable experience working in the Conveyancing Department. As a qualified Fellow of the Institute of Paralegals, Trish specialises with working with first time buyers and dealing with shared ownership transactions.

Symone Gamble joined the conveyancing department at Brain Chase Coles in 2015 as a legal secretary and was promoted as a conveyancer in the Residential Property team at Phillips, where she acts for buyers and sellers using her wide range of experience in dealing with property matters, including new builds.

You can find out more about our property team here: meet theteam