Buying a Property
In this section
Meet the team
The work we do
Our Ten Steps to Completion:
- Local Authority Search A local search only deals with the subject property, so if there is any reason to investigate any adjoining property then this should be requested prior to exchange of Contracts.
- Review Contract Receive and check the contract documentation prepared by the seller's solicitors.
- Pre-contract enquiries relating to the contract documentation.
- Confirm Finances Ensure that your financial arrangements are in place to enable the purchase to proceed.
- Review Details Go through the contract papers and the title deeds in detail with you. For example, we will check whether there are any obligations due to covenants which may affect the property, boundary rights, any complications regarding insurance (or similar) and when satisfied that everything is in order, proceed to an exchange of contracts.
- Exchange of Contracts Following exchange of contracts a purchaser is legally committed to complete the purchase of the property and the date for completion or moving date will then be agreed between you and the seller.
- Mortgage Documents Submit the Certificate of Title to the bank/building society (if applicable) to obtain mortgage funds and obtaining your signature to the mortgage deed, and to the land transaction return referred to below.
- Transfer Ownership Draft the transfer documentation which acknowledges the new ownership, to be signed by you.
- Stamp Duty Organise payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
- Final Steps Prepare purchase accounts and obtain any monies due from you so that the purchase can be completed. Register ownership of the property at HM Land Registry (this can take a number of months) or give notice of the transfer in the case of leasehold properties or deal with the issue of a new share certificate where a management company is involved
Once registration is complete Berry Redmond Gordon & Penney will provide you with evidence that you are now the registered proprietor(s).
Meet the team
RESIDENTIAL CONVEYANCING – A GUIDE TO OUR FEES
The purpose of this guide is to provide clear and easily understandable information about the main types of residential conveyancing work that we deal with, the professionals within the firm who undertake this work together with an indication of how long these transactions typically take and how much they cost.
Purchase of a freehold residential property
Our fees will generally cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home/property, including dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England (all Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property is in Wales) and dealing with registration of your title at the Land Registry.
Our fees for freehold transactions are generally based on the purchase price and the table below provides an indication of our fees at various price levels.
Legal Fees – Freehold Purchase
Purchase price: | Fees and payments: | VAT (@ 20%): | Fee: |
---|---|---|---|
Up to £199,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £230.00 | £1150.00 £1380.00 |
£200,000 - £299,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £240.00 | £1200.00 £1440.00 |
£300,000 - £399,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £250.00 | £1250.00 £1500.00 |
£400,000 - £499,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £270.00 | £1350.00 £1620.00 |
£500,000 - £599,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £290.00 | £1450.00 £1740.00 |
£600,000 - £699,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £310.00 | £1550.00 £1860.00 |
£700,000 - £799,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £340.00 | £1700.00 £2040.00 |
£800,000 - £899,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £360.00 | £1800.00 £2160.00 |
£900,000 - £999,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £380.00 | £1900.00 £2280.00 |
For purchase prices of £1,000,000.00 and above please contact us for a personal estimate.
Legal Fees – Leasehold Purchase
Purchase price: | Fees and payments: | VAT (@ 20%): | Fee: |
---|---|---|---|
Up to £199,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £260.00 | £1300.00 £1560.00 |
£200,000 - £299,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £270.00 | £1350.00 £1620.00 |
£300,000 - £399,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £290.00 | £1450.00 £1740.00 |
£400,000 - £499,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £310.00 | £1550.00 £1860.00 |
£500,000 - £599,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £330.00 | £1650.00 £1980.00 |
£600,000 - £699,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £350.00 | £1750.00 £2100.00 |
£700,000 - £799,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £380.00 | £1900.00 £2280.00 |
£800,000 - £899,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £400.00 | £2000.00 £2400.00 |
£900,000 - £999,999 | Legal Fees Legal Fees Total | £420.00 | £2100.00 £2520.00 |
For purchase prices of £1,000,000.00 and above please contact us for a personal estimate.
Additional Payments (Disbursements)
In addition to our legal fees above, there are further payments which will need to be made as part of your purchase transaction. These are called disbursements and are costs relating to your matter that are payable to third parties such as Stamp Duty payable to HMRC and Land Registry fees. We handle payment of the disbursements on your behalf as part of our service.
The usual disbursements payable on a purchase transaction are set out below:
Stamp Duty (or Land Tax in Wales)
The amount payable will depend on the purchase price of your property and whether you own any other residential property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s Stamp Duty Land Tax calculator or, if the property is located in Wales, by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s website.
Local Authority/Drainage/Environmental Searches
We will normally obtain a search package provided by an accredited personal search agency. This will include a Local Authority Search, Water and Drainage search and Homebuyer's Environmental search. The cost of this search package is £161.00 inclusive of VAT.
Should you require official searches by the Local Authority or direct Water and Drainage searches from Bristol/Wessex Water, we are able to provide these and can confirm costs on request.
Pre-Completion Search Fees
These are Land Registry searches against the property title and against each purchaser and are undertaken prior to completion.
The Land Registry search fee is currently £10.20 and the search fee per individual is £9.00
Land Registration Fee
This also depends on the purchase price of your property and the table below sets out the current Land Registration Fees:
Value or amount | Registration fee* |
---|---|
0 to £80,000 | £20 |
£80,001 to £100,000 | £40 |
£100,001 to £200,000 | £100 |
£200,001 to £500,000 | £150 |
£500,001 to £1,000,000 | £295 |
£1,000,001 and over | £500 |
*The Land Registry fees quoted above are on the basis of the reduced (50%) fee scale which applies where we are able to deal with the registration on the Land Registry Portal. Generally, this applies to the registration of transfers involving the whole of an existing registered title. Transactions which will be subject to the 100% fee will include purchases from developers of new build properties and purchasers where the seller’s title is not already registered at the Land Registry.
Additional Disbursements for Leasehold Properties*
In addition to the disbursements set out above in respect of freehold properties, leasehold transactions will usually also involve payment of the following further disbursements:-
- Notice of Transfer fee – this fee, if chargeable, is set out in the lease. This charge will vary from lease to lease and can range from £25 plus VAT in older leases but can rise to in excess of £100 plus VAT. We will advise you of the fee payable when we report to you on the lease.
- Notice of Charge fee (if the property is to be mortgaged) – again this fee is set out in the lease and is normally the same as or similar to the transfer fee referred to above.
- Deed of Covenant fee – where the lease requires a new owner to enter into a deed of covenant with the management company, a deed of covenant fee will be payable. The fee is charged by the management company which deals with the property and can be difficult to estimate. The fee is often in the region of £125 to £200 plus VAT. Again, we will confirm this with you once we receive confirmation from the management company.
- Certificate of Compliance fee – this fee is also charged by the management company and will vary from lease to lease. We will confirm the fee to you, if applicable, when we report on the lease and receive the management company information.
*these fees vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the ranges given above. We will provide you with an accurate figure once we have had sight of your specific documents and the information from the seller’s solicitor and the management company.
You should also be aware that ground rent and service charges are likely to apply throughout your ownership of the leasehold property. We will confirm the ground rent and anticipated service charge as soon as we receive this information.
PLEASE NOTE:
All payments to third parties included in any estimate may be subject to change.
Estimates provided are an indication only of the likely costs and are subject to confirmation via personal estimate provided by the branch you intend to use subject also to our terms of business. Whilst the legal fees quoted should apply in most cases, these may be subject to change and to local variations.
Our fees may also increase if your transaction involves any unforeseen issues or complications which result in extra work having to be carried out however should this happen, an estimate of any further charges will be discussed with you at the earliest opportunity and where practicable, prior to the work being carried out.
There are ordinarily very few instances where the scope of the work proves to be greater than what was initially discussed however examples of instances where costs will increase are where the legal title is defective, the title to the property or part of the property is unregistered or the property lacks certain necessary rights for example, rights of way.