Everything You Need to Know About Conveyancing Costs

Posted on: Friday, 19 November 2021

When you’re finally buying a home that you’ve been looking forward to for years, it can feel like a dream. It can be a hectic but exciting time in your life. As much as you want to celebrate and bask in the glory of finally buying a new home, there are plenty of things that will demand your attention—everything from decorations, renovations, mortgages, and the dreaded conveyancing process.

For most adults today, the ultimate dream is to have a home to call their own. During this process, you’re going to be going through a lot. While buying a home or any property for that matter can be the ultimate dream, it can also be a pretty stressful time in your life. The process can either happen fast or go at a snail’s pace. Each situation is different.

One of the things that will be eating up a lot of your time, attention, and money is the conveyancing process. If you’re a first-time property buyer, the conveyancing process might likely leave you dizzy and reeling. Essentially, it’s the legal term that refers to the transfer of home ownership from the seller to the buyer.

While it’s entirely possible to do this on your own, it’s not recommended. As mentioned, this process alone can get complicated. For a beginner with little to no experience with the legalities, fees, and other things involved, you may end up in an unnecessarily sticky situation. The best thing to do is hire a professional to help and guide you through it all.

How Much Does it Cost?

There are quite a few factors to consider before getting a simple quote of the overall cost. To fully understand what you’ll be paying for, here are the most important things you need to know about conveyancing costs.

Conveyancing Fees

Whether or not you hire a conveyancer, you will still need to pay a significant amount to cover the conveyancing process. Conveyancing fees should cover everything that has to do with the legal side of property buying or selling and ensure that the sale is handled correctly.

You can split conveyancing costs into two categories. First are the legal fees, which is basically the amount a conveyancer or solicitor charges for their work. Next are the disbursements—the amount that third parties charge for specific services. Now some of these fees can still vary depending on whether you’re a buyer or a seller.

The overall price of conveyance fees can vary depending on a number of factors. One thing to consider is the location of the property. You’ll inevitably have to pay for additional searches and inspections if the property is located near a river, coal mine, or something of the like.

It’s important to know that there is no industry standard for the pricing scheme of conveyancing. You’ll also need to consider the skill and level of experience your conveyancer has to offer, which can affect their rates. However, one good thing is that some of them tend to provide a “no sale, no fee guarantee.”

The Legal Fees

Now, the legal fees are a total of what you have to pay the conveyancer for all the work they’ve done themselves. This is why it might be prudent for you to choose a conveyancer with a “no sale, no fee” policy.

If you’re concerned about whether a sale can or will successfully go through, this might offer you some peace of mind. Of course, everyone has different priorities and situations, so just make sure to communicate efficiently with the conveyancer.

As for pricing, there’s no set range for it. You won’t know until you get there. Conveyancing quotes can range from £500 to over a thousand, not including disbursements. To find the total cost, you must tally everything from the disbursements and add it up with the legal fees.

The Disbursements

Disbursements are expenses that a conveyancer pays on your behalf and later on adds to the total of your bill. Typically, they won’t go to you for every little third party expense. Depending on your agreement and circumstances, you may or may not be informed every time they pay for a fee you must reimburse.

This can be discussed before the beginning of the process to ensure that you’re at least aware of the possible additional costs. For the most part, the disbursements are pretty similar among all conveyancers. It’s just their legal fees that often vary.

Here are some of the disbursements that you will have to pay:

• Anti-money laundering checks—These legal checks verify your identity and are likely done by an online company. You should expect to pay extra if you’re living abroad or are a foreign national.

• Title deeds—If you’re selling a property, you’ll need to get a copy of the Title of Deeds, most likely held by the Land Registry. Be warned that the cost for leasehold properties is higher than freehold.

• Searches—If you’re buying a property, you will need local authority searches, such as a drainage search and an environmental search, and a planning search if you want to find out about any development planned for nearby.

• Property fraud—You will want to check that the lawyer you’re sending money to is a real company.

• Transferring ownership—You have to pay the Land Registry a fee for transferring your name with your buyer’s name on completion.

• Telegraphic transfer or bank transfer fee—You’ll need to use a telegraphic transfer to guarantee funds reach an account on a specific day, as requested by your mortgage provider. Your solicitor will charge a fee for performing the transfer, plus the bank’s charge.

• Stamp Duty Land Tax—If you’re buying a property worth more than £125,000, you’ll need to pay stamp duty. The cost is because it’s charged on a sliding scale.

• Help to Buy supplements—If you’re buying with a Help to Buy scheme, you’re likely to be charged extra because of the additional legal work that this entails.

• Gifted deposits—If you get help with your deposit, you will need to pay more to cover the necessary paperwork to ensure that the money comes from a legitimate source. You may also be offered insurance which can cost up to £200.

Summary

All in all, conveyancing quotes can vary according to several factors. However, most of the more expensive fees, especially combined, are fixed and necessary to complete any sale, with or without a conveyancer.

The benefit of hiring a conveyancer is the certainty that you won’t there won’t have any mistakes made during the process. Conveyancing can be a long and complicated process that you don’t want to go through alone. Make your property buying journey smoother with the help of a professional.

If you need to find conveyancing quotes in the UK, we’re here to help you. Conveyancing Calculator is an online residential conveyancing calculator. We use our trust and accurate conveyancing fees calculator to ensure you get the best idea of the costs you are facing. Browse through our website for more information.