Pricing – Sale of a Residential Freehold Property

Freehold Sale Costs Amount (excluding any VAT applicable)

Our Legal Fees Range from £300 to £1,500 (plus VAT) as per the below.
Bank Transfer Admin Fee (per transfer) £25 (plus VAT)
Electronic Identity Check (per name checked) £10 – £17 (plus VAT)

Sale Price of the Property Our Legal Fees (excluding VAT)

Up to £100,000: £300 to £650
£100,000 – £250,000: £350 to £550
£250,000 – £375,000: £450 to £650
£375,000 – £500,000: £550 to £750
£500,000 – £750,000: £650 to £850
£750,000 – £1million: £750 to £950
£1million and upwards: £850 to £2,000

Anticipated Disbursements

Land Registry Documents (Register and Title Plan, £3 per document) £6
Bank Transfer Fee (per transfer) £10 (plus VAT)

What is included in this price and what factors may affect the price that you have to pay?

The above range of figures are based on the sale of an existing residential freehold property by one or more individuals (as opposed to a company or business partnership) with a title which is already registered at HM Land Registry and assuming there is a mortgage on the property to a traditional high street mortgage lender. Most freehold property sales in England and Wales will fall within this category. The fees include the following work:

Setting up your file;

• Checking and processing your instructions including carrying out the identity and anti-money laundering checks that we are required by law to carry out
• Obtaining the title documents from HM Land Registry
• Obtaining statements from your mortgage lender(s) to repay your mortgage
• Checking the title documents and other standard documentation that we receive from you in respect of the sale
• Drafting a contract and preparing the pack to send to the buyer’s legal representatives
• Dealing with any enquiries from the buyer’s legal representative and liaising with you where necessary
• Sending the contract and transfer deed and any other necessary documents to you to sign
• Exchanging contracts
• Obtaining final statements from your mortgage lender(s)
• Completing your sale
• Repaying your mortgage
• Closing and storing your file in accordance with our data retention policy
• Keeping you and any relevant third parties updated
  

Additional work may need to be carried out on your sale which we are not aware of at the outset but which leads to an increase in our legal fees and/or the third party expenses which you will need to pay. If any such additional costs arise we will tell you about them as soon as possible.  Examples of situations that might lead to an increase in costs include:

• If the property is leasehold (separate pricing)
• If the property is freehold but there are estate maintenance charges to pay
• If you are selling a share in a property jointly owned by a housing association (shared ownership)
• If the property has not been registered at Land Registry
• If you are repaying a mortgage that’s with a non-high street lender
• If there are problems with the title deeds
• If you are selling the property subject to a tenancy
• If we have to pay a referral fee to the professional who referred you to us

How long will the sale of your freehold property take?

Generally speaking we say that a straightforward sale takes ten to twelve weeks from submission of Contract Paperwork to the buyers solicitors upon receipt of your full instructions and completed fixtures fittings and contents, sellers property information form and authority to act questionnaire as enclosed.

However, this can vary, and will depend on several factors including enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitor, how quick the buyer’s solicitor is to respond to correspondence, the speed of the solicitor acting for you buyer’s dependant sale (if there is one), whether anything unusual shows up on the register of title, and any lender that may be involved. If we find that the timescale in your matter is likely to exceed this, we will of course let you know and explain why.

Key Stages in the Sale Process

The exact stages involved in the sale of a residential property vary according to the individual specific circumstances. However, the following are the key stages of a typical transaction:

• Accept your instructions and provide you with initial advice
• Obtain copies of the title deeds
• Obtain amount owing statements from your mortgage lender(s) and check that the sale proceeds will be sufficient to allow the sale to proceed
• Prepare contract documents and send them to the buyer’s legal representative
• Deal with any enquiries raised by the buyer’s legal representative
• Send final contract to you for signature
• Agree a completion date (the date on which you will receive the balance of monies from the sale proceeds)
• Exchange contracts and notify you
• Complete the sale
• Pay off your existing mortgage and obtain discharge documents from the lender
• Forward the post completion paperwork to the buyer’s legal representative.