OUR INDICATIVE FEES
Our fees cover all work required to complete the sale or purchase of your property: dealing with registering your name at the Land Registry and filing the Stamp Duty Land Tax payment on purchase cases (SDLT).
SDLT
This amount will vary depending on your purchase price and also your buyer status such as a First Time Buyer or perhaps a second property purchase. An initial indication can be obtained from HM Revenue & Customs’ online calculator tool.
For properties based in Wales, you can use: Welsh Revenue Authority site here
Land Registry Fees
(Purchases) HM Land Registry charges depend upon the price you are paying for the property and the registration method. Details can be found at:- HM Land Registry website.
Please note: in most sale transactions you will also need to pay your estate agent’s fee which is usually charged as a PERCENTAGE of the sale price and is commonly between 1 to 1.5%, plus vat.
Sometimes a large rise in high priority work volumes can occur where, for example, unexpected property market changes happen. In these cases, we reserve our position to increase our fees to greater than those showing in the examples given, however we will make this plain to you at the very start of your matter and make sure you are happy before proceeding or incurring charges.
Timeframe
How long it will take from when your transaction is agreed with the other party will depend on various aspects. The process more generally usually takes around twelve weeks. It can be quicker or slower, depending on the length of any chain, whether mortgage finance is needed, title complications and such like. For example, if you are a cash buyer, buying an existing property without a chain it could take as little as 4 to 6 weeks. However for a leasehold (flat), new property, purchase using mortgage finance and also with Help to Buy, it would likely take closer to 12 to 14 weeks. These are just some helpful examples to give you an indication which we hope has been of some initial assistance to you. We are very happy to talk through your own particular transaction and see if we can assist giving a more personalised expectation once we have the main facts and information about your matter.
The precise stages involved in the sale or purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. If you would like guidance on the process mapping of a sale or purchase please let us know we would be happy to set that out for you in a clear way to help.
Our fees assume:-
- This is a standard transaction and that no unexpected aspects arise such as a defective title needing rectifying before exchange, or other corrective documents needing to be produced.
- All parties to the transaction are collaborative with no undue slowness from 3rd parties in supplying paperwork.
- The matter is run in a timely fashion and no other external unexpected items materialise.
- No specialist insurance (indemnity) policies are needed. Extra fees & 3rd party costs will apply if these are needed.
- Additional fees will also be payable if the property is New (£950 + vat), purchased using a Help to Buy ISA (extra £150 + vat per person), or Shared Ownership (£950 + vat).
- If you are receiving a gift or loan from a 3rd party to purchase your Property (eg a gift of some or all of the deposit from a friend/parent) extra fees of £150 + vat per giftor for that gift will be due to cover our time spent with the necessary extra work required by us in dealing with this such as obtaining the necessary letter and ID documentation. Also in writing to any lender where relevant about it (with your prior consent).
- Leasehold properties – there are certain 3rd party costs which may be chargeable under the terms of the Lease relating to the Property. These fees are set by the freeholder/their Managing agents and are different for each property. So we will only be able to provide a set figure when we have received the management information (pack). The below list is not exhaustive and other 3rd party costs may apply according to the particular Lease.
- Notice of Transfer/Charge fee – This fee is usually set out in the Lease. The fee is usually around £150 plus vat but this does naturally vary.
- License to Assign – often around £400 + vat.
- Deed of Covenant fee – This fee is given by the freeholders solicitors. Often it is around £250 plus vat.
- Certificate of Compliance fee – This will be known when we have the information from the management company or freeholders solicitors, and is usually approximately £200 plus vat