Residential conveyancing: Our fees

Purchase of a residential property

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 (SDLT) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

Our fees

Willans’ fees for legal work varies from £1,380 (+VAT), depending upon the value and nature of the property and whether it is freehold or leasehold. Below is a scale of our typical charges.

Typical legal fees for a sale or purchase (freehold)

Note: Further fees may apply if you have a help to buy ISA, a Lifetime ISA or if you are to receive ‘a gift from a family member’.

Typical legal fees for a sale or purchase (leasehold)

Willans’ fee for same day electronic money transfer fee: £40 (+VAT)

Willans’ fees for electronic verification of your identity (in accordance with anti-money laundering requirements): £30 (+VAT) per person, or £40 (+VAT) per joint-client.

Disbursements (fees payable to third parties on your behalf)

• Preliminary (pre-contract) search fees: £318.80 (including VAT). Typical fee based on a property within the Cheltenham Borough Council area. Fees will vary depending upon the local authority.

• Pre-completion search fees: £7 per each registered title (occasionally, a single property consists of more than one registered title), plus £6 per individual (bankruptcy search – required if you are purchasing with a mortgage).

• HM Land Registry fee: Variable depending on purchase price and whether the property is subject to a first registration. Click here for details (select ‘transfer of whole for value’).

• SDLT or Land Tax (on purchase): Variable depending upon the value of the property and your circumstances (whether you own other 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.

If you are purchasing a leasehold property, additional fees (charged by the freeholder or their agent) are likely to apply upon completion. These may include the following:

• a fee for dealing with a deed of covenant
• a fee for giving notice of the transfer of the property and the mortgage of it
• a fee for obtaining a certificate of compliance with the lease.

These fees will vary. Typically, they might be £200 (+VAT) each, but could be more.

Note: These fees vary from property to property and can, on occasion, be significantly more than the ranges given above. We can give you an accurate figure once we have sight of your specific documents.

How long will my house or flat purchase take?

The average process from having an offer accepted to moving in takes between eight and 12 weeks, however this can vary depending on a number of factors.

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, this could take six to eight weeks.

However, if you are buying a leasehold property and are in a lengthy chain, this can take significantly longer, between three and six months.

Our fees set out above for dealing with sales and purchases assume that:

a. the transaction is a standard transaction and that no unforeseen matters arise including, for example (but not limited to), a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction (such as a declaration of trust setting out an agreement between joint purchasers or drafting a statutory declaration).

b.  if leasehold, the transaction of the sale or purchase is of an existing lease (an “assignment”) and is not the grant of a new lease

c. the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise

d. all parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation

e. no indemnity policies are required. Additional disbursements may apply if indemnity policies are required.

Our hourly rates