Residential Property

We typically offer fixed fees for straightforward sales and purchases of residential properties.

What our fixed fee includes

For residential property sales, our fixed fee includes

• preparing and supplying a sales pack incorporating draft contract, title documents and property information forms;
• agreeing the contract and transfer documentation;
• answering additional enquiries from the buyer’s solicitors;
• exchanging contracts and completing the transfer; and
• if relating to a leasehold property, obtaining the management information pack and providing it to the buyers’ solicitors.

For residential property purchases, our fixed fee includes

• considering the sales pack prepared by the seller’s solicitors;
• investigating the title and reporting to you;
• commissioning searches and advising on the results;
• raising appropriate enquiries;
• agreeing the contract and transfer documentation;
• reviewing a mortgage offer and reporting to the lender (if appropriate);
• exchanging contracts and completing the transfer;
• filing the stamp duty or land transaction return for you (however this excludes providing additional tax advice);
• registration at the Land Registry;
• if the property is leasehold, dealing with landlord’s or managing agent’s standard requirements and giving notice of the transfer/mortgage.
• for joint purchasers, we advise on the ownership options of holding the property as joint tenants or tenants in common. In certain circumstances we may advise you to engage our trusts team to prepare a declaration of trust; and
• we will indicate whether tax advice is required to benefit from a Stamp Duty Land Tax relief, in which case we may advise you to engage our tax team.

What our fee doesn’t include for the sale or purchase of a residential property

• tax advice;
• advice not covered in the points listed above;
• advice in respect of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales;
• Stamp Duty Land Tax or Land Transaction Tax;
• third-party fees, e.g mortgage lender fees or management fees;
• any indemnity insurance policies;
• VAT;
• disbursements; and
• additional fixed charges*, where payable.

Issues and circumstances that can give rise to additional fees

• defective title issues, such as a seller not owning land that they are in possession of, no legal easement to gain access to a property, missing service rights, breaches of restrictive covenants and boundary issues;
• building works carried out without the relevant consents, e.g. planning permission, building regulations approval, listed building consent, extensions built over public sewers;
• properties involved in disputes, such as neighbour disputes or party wall issues;
• issues with leases, e.g. defective leases that need correcting, short-term leases that need to be extended, ground rent issues, leases for solar panels; and
• issues revealed by searches, such as enforcement notices, compulsory purchase orders and contaminated land.

Where we identify an issue such as the above, we will let you know as soon as possible and will discuss the likely costs with you to resolve the issue. Additional costs will be based on the hourly rates of the fee earners involved in the matter. These will be confirmed in our client contract issued to you upon instruction. In reality, there will usually be a combination of fee earners involved on a matter with an equivalent combination of charge-out rates and those fee earners will contribute to the matter according to the circumstances.

How long will a property sale or purchase take?

The average matter takes between six and eight weeks from when the contract pack is sent or received until exchange of contracts. It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain and mortgage lenders. We will aim to progress the matter as quickly as you want us to so that any delays will only ever be as a result of third parties or factors outside our control. A leasehold matter may also take longer due to the involvement of third parties such as freeholders and managing agents who are required to provide information.

When we review our fees if the matter has become protracted

We review our fees 12 weeks after the contract pack has been issued on the sale of a residential property and 12 weeks after the contract pack has been received on the purchase of a residential property. You will note from the paragraph above that this means that the transaction is taking longer than usual i.e. it has become protracted. At the 12-week point we will discuss with you any increased costs to bring the matter to a conclusion. Additional costs will be based on the hourly rates of the fee earners involved with the matter.

Aborted matters

Our fees are not dependent upon completion of a matter. If a matter does not complete, we charge based on the work done on a time-spent basis. This means you may still be charged the full fixed fee quoted even if the matter has not proceeded to completion.

Disbursements are costs related to a legal transaction that are payable to third parties.

Disbursements relating to sales

• Land Registry and other planning or related documents required for the sale – £50 plus VAT; and
• management information pack for a leasehold sale or a freehold property on a development that has a management company – to be confirmed by the freeholder or managing agent.

Disbursements relating to purchases

• search pack – £580 plus VAT;
• Land Registry fee;
• notice of leasehold assignment fee (leasehold and freehold properties subject to a management charge only) – variable depending on what is stated in the lease or title documents and the requirements of the freeholder/managing agent. If applicable, these will be confirmed when we receive the management information pack; and
• deed of covenant and compliance certificate fees – sometimes payable on properties where there is a management company or managing agent involved. If applicable, these will be confirmed when we receive the management information pack.

Disbursements relating to remortgages

• search pack – £580 plus VAT, or if the lender will accept search insurance instead, then the cost is likely to be much lower;
• Land Registry fee; and
• a notice fee may be payable on a leasehold property as referred to in the list of purchase disbursements.

Please note that the above lists are not exhaustive.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Stamp Duty Land Tax or Land Transaction Tax will be payable by you on completion and will depend on the purchase price of your property.  You can calculate the amount you will need to pay for Stamp Duty Land Tax where the property is in England and Land Transaction Tax where the property is in Wales.