Freehold Purchase

The average cost for a straightforward residential freehold purchase is between £525 – £1,025 plus VAT (currently 20%) on properties up to the value of £1million. Properties over £1million are charged by agreed fee.  The costs are quoted on a fixed fee basis dependent on the property value and the complexity of the transaction.

We have always adopted the policy of informing our clients of the anticipated fees applicable at the outset of their matter and our quotes are “to the penny” to assist our clients with their budgeting from the very outset.

The costs include all standard aspects of a residential purchase transaction including:-

• Taking your instructions and giving you initial advice before you commit to any unnecessary expenditure
• Review of Memorandum of Sale
• Reviewing of title, raising enquiries, and advising on contract documentation
• Obtaining prudent searches, reviewing their result and reporting to you on matters disclosed by the searches
• Searches with Companies House (as required)
• Perusing Mortgage Offer and confirming the details are accurate
• Reporting to you on replies received to our enquiries
• Attending upon you to discuss and advise you on all documents and information received and discuss the terms of your Mortgage Offer and advise generally on procedure between exchange of contracts and completion
• Obtaining your signature to the Contract and Mortgage Deed
• Dealing with the matter up to and including exchange of contracts and agreeing a completion date (the day you own the new property and can move in)
• Drafting Transfer and agreeing the same
• Reporting to your Lender and requesting the mortgage funds in time for the agreed completion date
• Raising and reviewing Requisitions
• Accounting to you for all monies required to complete
• Completion
• Preparing and submitting Land Transaction Tax Return (Wales) or SDLT Return (England)
• Registration of Transfer and Mortgage at the Land Registry

Factors that could make the matter more complex, could cause delay and may increase the fixed fee quoted can include, but are not limited to:-

• Time delay caused by Seller or other parties in the chain
• Unclear instructions/Sales Particulars
• Defects in the title which requires remedying prior to exchange of contracts
• Issues revealed by searches
• Issues revealed by replies received to our enquiries
• Client or seller not being based in the UK
• Use of foreign funds/Anti Money Laundering issues
• Environment issues
• Quality or availability of opponent – if there is a poor quality, or inexperienced, conveyancer on the other side or we are unable to receive prompt responses, this may make any matter more time consuming and cause delay
• Complex loan structures
• Increased risk
• Drafting of additional documents such as, but not limited to, the following:-
  – Statutory Declarations/Statements of Truth
  – Declarations of Trust
  – Deeds of postponement/letters of waiver
  – Deeds of Grant of Easements
• New Building Plot purchase
• Help To Buy Scheme
• Help to Buy ISA
• If the Lender instructs their own Solicitor
• If the property has Solar Panels
• Dealing with a private charge in favour of parents
• Dealing with Unregistered Title
• Obtaining Forms of Consent from additional occupants of 17 years and over

Additional Disbursements:-

There are a number of disbursements payable in all purchase transactions in addition to our fixed costs, including:-

• Search fees – £183.50 on average in South Wales (to include Mining Search) but in all other areas subject to quotation dependent on Local Authority
• Land Transaction Tax (Wales) or Stamp Duty (England) will be dependent upon property value. Please visit the HMRC Calculator at https://beta.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax or https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro
• Indemnity Insurance (if necessary, cost varies dependent on type of policy and value of property)
• Administration charge for electronic transfer of funds (£40 plus VAT for each electronic CHAPS (same day) bank transfer)
• AML client verification check £3.96 for those clients whose identity we cannot verify personally or are not established clients
• HM Land Registry Fees (£20 to £920 on a sliding scale set by HM Land Registry and based on the price paid for the property)

Timescales

We estimate that a typical transaction will take 8-12 weeks, although quite frankly this is subject to so many variables (as mentioned above) each case will be dictated to by the circumstances and situation within the conveyancing chain.