When finalising the sale or purchase of a home, you will need to pay conveyancing fees. Key elements of the conveyancing process include exchanging contracts, transferring funds from one bank to another and carrying out property surveys and checks. Costs generally fall into one of two categories, legal fees and disbursements.
Legal fees are paid to your conveyancer or solicitor for their services, for example, a specialist such as Sam Conveyancing.
Disbursements are paid by your conveyancer or solicitor to third parties for carrying out property searches, bank transfers and other services on your behalf and subsequently reclaimed from you.
How much can I expect to pay?
Much depends on whether you are buying or selling a property, but buyers can expect to pay up to £2000 in legal fees and at least £700 in disbursements. Sellers usually pay between £400 and £1,500 in legal fees, and a lower amount for disbursements as there is less paperwork involved in selling a property.
Legal fees may be calculated at an hourly rate or as a percentage of the property sale value, with typical fees being around £1,270 to £1,490 for a house valued between £200,000 and £300,000, according to Don’t Disappoint Me
Fixed price deals may also be available, or there may be no sale no fee conveyancing available, but be sure that you understand if this is the case at the start.
Disbursements include fixed costs, such as Land Registry fees, and some that vary depending on the property price, such as Stamp Duty. Paid for by the seller and buyer, bank transfers usually cost £20 to £50 and apply to transfers of over £60,000 only. There are also anti-money laundering checks which cost £5 to £20.
Some disbursements only apply to the seller, such as obtaining a copy of the title deeds, indemnity insurance and mortgaged property supplement fee.
Other common examples, which apply to the buyer only, include searches. These are checks with the local authority and environmental, water and drainage records to ensure there are no property red flags and can cost between £250-450, depending on the location of the property. There may also be property fraud checks, bankruptcy checks, transferring ownership with Land Registry and Stamp Duty to consider.
What about unexpected costs?
There can sometimes be unexpected items. For example, if completion is delayed, you might end up extending the period between the exchange of contracts and the completion date, or when purchasing a new build, for example, there might be additional checks required which of course attract extra fees.
When do you pay conveyancing fees?
This depends on whether you are buying or selling the property. Buyers may have to pay some fees upfront in order to start the search process, but generally speaking, the bulk of the balance is due after the sale completes. Stamp duty and transfer of ownership need to be paid after completion but this will be included in your final bill and paid for by your conveyancer.
Sellers are usually required to pay the entire fee on the day of completion, unless there is an upfront fee which could be around £150 to £500.
The best way to find a conveyancer or solicitor to help you through your house purchase or sale is to compare quotes and ask plenty of questions. Ensure you always read the small print to avoid getting caught out. When buying and selling at the same time, it will usually be simpler to use the same conveyancer for both, so you will want to ensure you are wholly comfortable with them.