Guide to the purchase of a freehold residential property, costs and time scales
Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales
Conveyancer’s fees and disbursements in connection with a purchase
- Legal fees from £600.00 together with VAT
- Search fees £150.00
- HM Land Registry fee between £95.00 and £135.00
- Electronic money transfer fee £30.00 inclusive of VAT
- VAT payable from £120.00
Estimated total: £995.00
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Stamp Duty or Land Tax (on purchase)
This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s website.
How long will my house purchase take?
How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 4 and 6 weeks.
It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain. For example, if you are a first-time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage in principle, it could take 8 weeks. However, if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, this can take significantly longer, between 3 and 6 months. In such, a situation additional charges would apply.
Stages of the process
The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages that you may wish to include:
- Take your instructions and give you initial advice
- Check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender’s solicitors if needed
- Receive and advise on contract documents
- Carry out searches
- Obtain further planning documentation if required
- Make any necessary enquiries of seller’s solicitor
- Give you advice on all documents and information received
- Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you
- Send final contract to you for signature
- Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
- Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
- Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
- Complete purchase
- Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
- Deal with application for registration at Land Registry
Who will be dealing with your matter:
Our team has over 70 years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to conveyancing.
We have four members of the team who may work on your matter. Regardless of who works on your matter, the Head of Conveyancing is John Culleton who has overall supervision of conveyancing and property matters.
For information about our teams qualifications and experience please click here.
