We provide a first-class service from our expert team who will deal with all legal aspects of a residential property transaction on your behalf.

Our experienced team of solicitors are able to identify legal issues as they arise and provide practical solutions to resolve any problems. We understand that communication is key, so will make sure we are always available to answer your questions in plain English and ensure you are kept up-to-date with everything you need to know.

The firm is predominately focused on dealing with commercial property and as such we are not registered on the conveyancing panel for most of the residential mortgage lenders. For that reason we don’t generally deal with residential purchases involving a mortgage and we don’t act for clients’ on remortgages of residential property.

All residential matters are handled proficiently by a Legal Director or Partner assisted by a member of our Early Talent team.

Pricing

The fees involved in any transaction are important and we review our fees on a regular basis, considering clients’ feedback.

We always aim to deal with residential conveyancing on a fixed fee basis, ensuring that you know what the fees will be for your transaction from the outset based on an agreed scope of services.

Our fees are set out as below. (subject to review where the transaction involves a transfer of part).

Residential Property Purchase

Our fees cover all the standard work required to complete the purchase of a residential property, including applying for registration at the Land Registry and submission of a Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) return if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax return (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

If the property being purchased is leasehold, we charge an extra £385 plus VAT of £77 in addition to the fixed fee for a freehold purchase set out in the table above.

If the property being purchased is subject to a tenancy (rather than being purchased with vacant possession), we charge an extra £385 plus VAT of £77 in addition to the fixed fee for a freehold purchase set out in the table above.

Residential Property Sale

Our fees cover all the standard work required to complete the sale of a residential property, including dealing with the redemption of any mortgage out of the proceeds of sale.

If the property being sold is leasehold, we charge an extra £385 plus VAT of £77 in addition to the fixed fee for a freehold sale set out in the table above.

If the property is being sold subject to a tenancy (rather than being sold vacant), we charge an extra £385 plus VAT of £77 in addition to the fixed fee for a freehold sale set out in the table above

Disbursements and third party costs

Disbursements are costs related to a matter that are payable to third parties, such as:

• Land Registry fees;
• Stamp Duty Land Tax;
• Property search costs;
• Indemnity insurance policy premiums;
• Companies House registration fees;
• Company winding up search costs.

We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Some disbursements attract VAT – please see worked examples below.

Unlike most firms of solicitors we will not recharge you the following third party costs, which are included within our fixed fee:

• Anti-money laundering and ID searches/checks
• Land Registry official copies/searches
• Bank Transfer fees (maximum of 2 per transaction)
• Travel
• Postage and photocopying

In addition to the fixed fees we do charge an administrative fee of £125 plus VAT to cover nominal disbursements incurred in discharging statutory and regulatory obligations imposed on us in relation to all residential property matters.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

The amount of SDLT due (or Land Transaction Tax, LTT in Wales) will depend 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 here.

Worked Examples of our fees for residential property transactions including usual disbursements

Transaction 1 - Residential freehold property purchase for £300,000 by limited company (registered in England or Wales) with vacant possession and no mortgage

Transaction 2 - Residential leasehold property sale for £650,000 with vacant possession and mortgage to redeem on completion

NB – the freeholder will charge an additional fee to provide a standard leasehold sales pack to include details of ground rent, service charge and building insurance.

Transaction 3 - Residential leasehold property purchase for £575,000 by individuals (resident in UK) for buy to let with existing tenant and no mortgage

NB – the freeholder will charge an additional fee to receipt a Notice of Transfer.

Exclusions and Assumptions

We do not undertake or provide tax advice. The amounts quoted for Stamp Duty Land Tax are estimates only and are subject to a detailed calculation depending on all circumstances relevant to the transaction.

The estimate does not include third party costs that we are not aware of at the start of the transaction.

Our fees are fixed, however there may be factors which would typically increase the cost of the fees estimated above. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.

Our quoted fees assume that:

• the transaction proceeds smoothly;
• the nature and extent of your instructions will not change as the sale or purchase progresses;
• other parties to the transaction, including their lawyers, will conduct any proceedings or negotiations reasonably and expeditiously; and
• generally, there will not, for reasons outside our control, be significantly more work required than it is possible for us to anticipate at the start of the transaction such as a defect in title which requires remedying prior to exchange of contracts, or the preparation of additional documents
• no indemnity insurance is required. If this is necessary we ask a specialist broker to provide you with a quote for any policy and they will charge an administration fee (currently £50 plus VAT) in addition to the amount of the indemnity insurance premium

If you need a mortgage to complete the purchase you will be responsible for any legal fees and disbursements charged by the mortgage lender’s solicitor (a lender will typically be separately represented as we are generally not on residential lenders conveyancing panels). We will always give you the choice to use a different firm who can act on behalf of both the purchaser and mortgage lender jointly in order to save you unnecessary legal fees.

The fee scales above do not apply to plot sales for our developer clients’ or any residential property transaction that comprises a transfer of part where new rights and covenants need to be created.

Timescales

For any residential property transaction, it is difficult to accurately confirm a typical time scale for completion and this is subject to a number of factors including:

• Number of parties in the chain
• Whether the buyer has a mortgage in place
• Whether the searches flag up any issues
• Any defects in title identified
• How quickly the parties deal with any additional enquiries
• Whether any lease extension for a leasehold property is required

A typical residential property transaction will take between 8-12 weeks. However, if any of the above apply or there are other factors we need to take into consideration, it may increase the time and additional charges may occur. We will discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity, so you always have a clear picture of how long things are likely to take.

We will always work as hard as we can to ensure that your targets are achieved subject to other parties in the transaction and their respective lawyers working with us to achieve that.

Key Stages

With every residential property transaction there are key stages, which may vary according to individual circumstances. They include the following:

• Taking your instructions and give initial advice based on the information you have provided
• Receiving/Drafting contract documents
• Undertaking searches on a purchase
• Obtaining further planning, building control and statutory compliance documentation as necessary
• Raising/dealing with any property specific enquiries
• Reporting on all documents and information received
• Finalising documents and sending to you for signature
• Agreeing a completion date
• Exchanging contracts and notifying you that this has happened
• Sending to you a completion statement
• Completing the sale or purchase
• Dealing with redemption of any mortgages on sale
• Dealing with submission of the Stamp Duty Land Tax/Land Transaction Tax return on a purchase
• Serving any required Notice of transfer on the freeholder
• Completing and submitting an application for registration at the Land Registry on purchase

Every residential property transaction is unique and so one of our team will always discuss with you any specific requirements when we are first instructed so these can be factored in to the services we offer.