We typically offer an all-inclusive fixed fee for straightforward sale and purchases of residential properties. 

Our fee includes:

• search fees up to £500;
• bank transfer fees;
• land registry fees up to £500; and
• ID checks

Our fee excludes:

• Stamp Duty Land Tax or Land Transaction Tax
• Third party fees e.g mortgage lender fees or management fees
• Any indemnity insurance policies
• VAT
• Additional fixed charges*, where payable

Details of our all-inclusive fixed fee are as follows:

Property Value	All-Inclusive Fixed Fee (plus VAT)
Up to £500,000	£3,000 minimum fee
Over £500,000	0.6% of Property Value
Over £800,000	0.5% of Property Value
Over £2,000,000	0.4% of Property Value
Over £3,000,000	Please contact us

For example, our fees for acting in a straightforward sale of a residential property without a mortgage would be £3,600 plus VAT for a property costing £600,000. These fees are not applicable to some estate agent referred work or new homes matters. Please contact our specialist New Homes Team for fees.

The following items will be charged in addition if applicable as additional fixed charges*:

Price	Fixed Fee (plus VAT at 20%)
Unregistered Title	£500
Building Safety Act	£1500 - £2000 (min)
Leasehold Title	£500
New Build (Freehold)	£250
Management Company on Freehold Title	£250
Shared Ownership	£500
Help To Buy ISA	£50 (per ISA)
Gifted Deposit Administration Fee (UK)	£75
Gifted Deposit Administration Fee (monies coming from abroad)	£350
Mortgage lender separately represented	£250
Stamp duty claim back application (following sale of previous main residence after purchase of new main residence)	£300

In the event that you are looking to remortgage our fixed fees are as follows:

Price	Fixed Fee (plus VAT)
Up to £500,000	£1,500
Over £500,000	£2,500
Over £1,000,000	0.3% of Property Value

Disbursements are not included within the Fixed Fee for remortgages.

Hourly rates basis

It may be appropriate to carry our work on an hourly rate basis throughout or in addition to your transaction. If this is applicable, our time will be charged adopting the following hourly rates plus VAT:

Partner £395/450

Senior Associate £385

Associate £325

Solicitor £275

Legal Executive £275

Trainee Solicitor £190

Paralegal £170

Legal Assistant £120

When we charge on an hourly basis, we will also charge:

• an electronic ID and money laundering check fee of £25 per individual applicable once every 12 months; and

• bank transfer fees as appropriate.

Sale transaction 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 buyers 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.

Purchase transaction fee includes

• considering the sales pack prepared by the sellers 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/managing agents standard requirements and giving notice of the transfer/mortgage

• for joint purchasers, we advise on the ownership options of joint tenants and 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 a sale or purchase transaction

• tax advice;

• advice not covered in the points listed above; and

• advice in respect of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales.

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, lease 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 with you the likely costs involved to resolve the issue. Additional costs will be based on the hourly rates of the fee earners involved in the transaction. These will be confirmed in the engagement letter 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 applicable circumstances.

How long will a property sale or purchase take?

The average transaction takes between 6 to 8 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 transaction 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 transaction 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 a sale transaction and 12 weeks after the contract pack has been received on a purchase transaction. 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 discussion with you any increased costs to bring the transaction to a conclusion. Additional costs will be based on the hourly rates of the fee earners involved with the transaction. See above.

Aborted transactions

Our fees are not dependent upon completion of the transaction. For transactions that don’t complete we charge based on the work done on a time spent basis. This means you may still be charged the full all-inclusive fixed fee quoted even if the transaction has not proceeded to completion.

Referral fees

We pay referral fees to some introducers of work such as estate agents and financial advisers but these do not increase our conveyancing fees. If referrals fees apply to your matter details will be provided in your engagement letter upon instruction.

Disbursements are costs related to a legal transaction that are payable to third parties. Some disbursements, such as Land Registry fees, search pack and bank transfer fees are included in the all-inclusive fixed fee for sale and purchases.

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 on a development that has a management company - to be confirmed by the freeholder/managing agent.

Disbursements relating to purchases

• search pack - £350 to £500 plus VAT depending on the area and mortgage lender requirements;

• 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 - £350 to £500 plus VAT at 20% depending on the area 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 is 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.