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We act for Clients in sales, purchases, re-mortgage and equity transfers.
We are on the Panel of most of the Lenders in the UK including all the major Banks.
Our fee structure is transparent and fees are explained and agreed before the start of the transaction. We are conscious of the anxiety and uncertainty faced by our clients. All transactions are tailor made to suit our clients’ requirements.
The Conveyancing process and our fees
This firm is accredited by the Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme.
Your transaction will be handled by:
Deirdre White who is a Partner of the Firm and the Head of Property.
Deirdre Specialises in the purchase, sale, re-mortgaging and leasing of Residential and Commercial Properties and qualified as a Solicitor in 2001
Deirdre will deal with your transaction throughout the process together with the firm’s caseworkers who will be supervised by her at all times. If we need to change the Solicitor dealing with your matter you will be informed.
Sale of a Property
On a sale we obtain official copies of your title from the Land Registry and prepare a draft a contract for the Buyer’s Solicitor. This is submitted to your Buyer’s Solicitors, who may raise enquiries, which we answer with your help. When the Buyer is ready, we obtain your signature and exchange contracts which means the transaction is binding on all parties and complete the sale by approving the Transfer of Title, obtaining redemption figures for your mortgage and obtaining details of the Estate Agents commission. Following completion of the sale we pay off your mortgage and the Estate Agents and send the balance to you unless it is being used for a purchase.
Purchase of a Property
Once we have instructions from you we will contact the Seller’s Solicitor and request draft documentation.
When this is received we then check the legal title carry out searches of the property. We carry out searches to obtain information about planning matters affecting the property such as infrastructure and environmental issues. We also carry out a drainage and water search and other searches may be necessary depending on the location of the property.
Once we have all the results we will raise any enquiries that may be necessary with the Seller’s Solicitor and when we have a response, we report to you and explain any issues which might affect the property. If you are obtaining a mortgage we also need to report to the Mortgagees. If all is satisfactory, we proceed to exchange contracts.
We then apply for Land Registry searches to protect your interest (and that of your Mortgagee’s if you are obtaining a mortgage).
Between exchange and completion of your purchase we request the mortgage monies, approve the transfer and complete the purchase.
After completion, we pay any Stamp Duty Land Tax and register the property in your name at H.M Land Registry
Leasehold Transactions
A purchase of a leasehold property involves perusing the Lease and raising additional enquiries of the Seller’s Solicitors. We ensure that all ground rent and service charges and insurance premiums have been paid up to date. We calculate apportionments to the date of completion (any payments made in advance by the seller will be recouped from you and likewise any arrears of payments due from the seller will be paid by the seller’s solicitor on completion. We Advise both you and your Mortgagees (if you are obtaining a mortgage to purchase) on the terms of the lease and any covenants that affect ownership of the property.
There may be Section 20 notices served on the Tenant in respect of major works to the building (such as roof repairs, painting & decorating, lift replacement). These can be for considerable sums and we need to ensure that all payments have been made or that you are agreeable to pay these in the future.
After completion it is often a requirement for us to serve a notice on the Landlord/ Management Agents (if the Landlord has an Agent taking care of the building on his behalf) to advise them that you are now the owner of the property and to give them a notice of any mortgage over the property. There is a charge imposed by the Landlord for these notices.
The sale of a leasehold property involves additional enquiries from the Buyer’s Solicitor and making enquiries of the Management Company/Landlord to obtain details regarding rent and service charges to forward to the Buyer’s Solicitors.
Disbursements:
Are expenses relating to your matter that are payable to third parties such as Local Authorities, Land Registry, Inland Revenue (Stamp Tax) and Management Companies. We make these payments on your behalf during the conveyancing process and the amount payable by you is the amount charged by these third parties. We do not charge you for handling these payments.
Source of Funds (Gifts) for Property Purchases
If you are receiving a gift from a relative to assist you with the purchase price we will need to carry out additional work for you including carrying out AML ID checks on the Donor(s), obtaining documentary evidence of the source of the funds, carrying out a bankruptcy search; preparing a Gifted Deposit Deed and a Declaration of Solvency for execution by the Donor and taking out an indemnity policy for the full value of the property.
Our fees for carrying out the above will be £200 plus VAT and you will also need to pay the indemnity policy premium.
In addition to our fees as outlined above there will be other payments to make on your behalf which we call disbursements and these are listed above for your information.
Time it takes for a property transaction
The time a transaction takes varies considerably. This will depend on the following:
- the time taken for the mortgage offer to be made
- the length of time it takes to receive the results of searches
- the time it takes to obtain documents from planning authorities
- the time it takes for leasehold properties to obtain information from management agents
- There may be a chain of transactions which need to complete simultaneously
- The usual time period for a property transaction is between 4 – 6 weeks to exchange contracts with completion 1 to 2 weeks after that depending on the parties preferences.
Legal fees are dependent on the purchase/sale price of the property, as shown in the table below
| Property Value | Legal fee |
| Up to £350,000 | £1,150.00 |
| £350,001 to £500,000 | £1,350.00 |
| £500,001 to £750,000 | £1,500.00 |
| £750,001 to £1,000,000 | £1,800.00 |
| £1,000,001 to £1,400,000 | £2,000.00 |
| £1,400,001 to £1,600,000 | £2,500.00 |
| £1,600,001 to £1,800,000 | £3,000.00 |
| £1,800,001 to £2,000,000 | £3,500.00 |
| Over £2,000,000 | On request |
Leasehold Purchases and Sales: an additional £200.00 fee is payable
Additional Fees:
Acting for the Lender £400.00
Electronic Transfer fee £40.00
***VAT all on the above fees is payable at 20%
Disbursements for property sales:
Disbursements for property purchases:
Stamp Tax payable to HMRC (on purchases)
This depends on the purchase price of your property and whether you will own more than one property on completion or whether you are a first time buyer.
We will advise you of the amount you will need to pay at the outset
Leasehold Disbursements:
The following additional disbursements could be incurred in leasehold purchases:
REMORTGAGE FEES
Re-mortgage fees £950 plus VAT
Disbursements:
Official Copies of the Register £3 each
AML £4.00 plus VAT
Searches approximately £250. However, some mortgage companies accept indemnity insurance in the place of searches which will be a reduced figure £75-£100
TRANSFER OF EQUITY FEES:
A transfer of a property between family members (with or without a mortgage transfer) £850 plus VAT
Disbursements:
Official Copies of the Register £3 each
AML £4.00 plus VAT
We will advise you of any further disbursements at the time of commencement of the transaction
Guideline hourly rates for fee earners:
| Solicitors with over 8 years’ experience after qualification (Grade A) | £375 plus VAT |
| Solicitors with over 4 years’ experience after qualification (Grade B) | £300 plus VAT |
| Other Solicitors and Legal Executives | £240 plus VAT |
| Paralegal and other fee earners | £150 plus VAT |
