No property is exactly the same and our fees will reflect the particular requirements of your mortgage or remortgage transaction (which we will call your 'financing' in this note). Because of this, we cannot give you an exact estimate of the cost of us helping you until we have details of your intended transaction. That is why we will always give you an individual cost estimate at the start of the transaction, taking into account the actual features of the transaction (based upon the information which you provide to us). We will always advise you immediately about any complication and discuss the potential impact before any additional charges are incurred. Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the financing, including dealing with the Land Registry.
In the large majority of property financings we will be able to give to you specific details upfront of legal fees and the disbursements which you will incur. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. In a few limited instances, where it is particularly difficult to determine what the transaction will involve, we will deal with the matter based upon the time spent in completing the transaction at an agreed hourly rate (see below). For transactions involving residential property, this is quite rare and we can usually provide you with accurate details of the legal fees upfront.
Our typical legal fees involving a residential financing range from around £600 (including VAT) for a simple transaction to £3600 (including VAT) for a generally larger and individual property (with its associated complexities). Please note that any reference to VAT is at the current rate of 20% unless otherwise stated. Our firms fees for dealing with leasehold properties tend to be more than for a freehold property of similar price. This is due to the additional legal complexities with (and time which we need to spend on) leasehold transactions.
In relation to disbursements:
Common factors include :
Property transactions are many and varied. Generally it is the complexity and risk involved which brings a transaction outside the usual range of costings. Examples would include: high value transactions (generally in the millions of pounds); farms and agricultural land; financings of part where titles are being split and detailed consideration needs to be given to the grant and reservation of easements (e.g. rights of way and rights for services) and the imposition of covenants (things which a buyer cannot do or is obliged to do); complicated unregistered titles.
How long it will take from the offer being accepted until completion will depend on a number of factors. The average transaction takes between 4-8 weeks. It can be quicker or slower, depending on factors such as: title problems needing to be resolved; surveys revealing items of disrepair which require rectification; further information being required by the lender.
The precise stages involved in the financing of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have set out some common key stages on sales and purchases:
Please follow this link which will give the details of all of our legal advisers who deal with residential property transactions. This will give details of the adviser's specialisms, the proportion of their time spent on given areas, experience and qualifications. It also gives the advisers charge out rate which is taken into account when determining the legal fees. One of these advisers will be allocated to you and will liaise with you directly.
