Conveyancing Costs and Conveyancing Fees
(Last Updated: 24/04/2023)
15/10/2021
25
9 min read
Key Takeaways
- Conveyancing costs are made up of legal fees and disbursements
- You can save lots of money by comparing quotes and hidden add-ons
- Look for a Fixed Fee so your bill doesn't run away with you
- Look for No Sale No Fee so you don't lose your money if the transaction falls through
Costs vary considerably depending on who you use for your conveyancing.
What is the average cost of conveyancing fees in 2023?
Any online search can turn up residential conveyancing fees ranging from 'too good to be true' estimates of £99 right up to £2000 or more. (Note the word 'estimates' - there's no sense in which an estimate is 'fixed'). Actual conveyancing costs to buy a house range from £500 - £1200 on average, plus disbursements which can add hundreds more.
Conveyancing costs when selling are cheaper (£600 - £1000) and leaseholds cost more (by several hundred pounds). The trick to comparing conveyancing quotes is to look out for additional fees, which some companies include in their fee, while others will add them on top, making their nice cheap quote grow into a much bigger bill.
What are the Fixed Price Conveyancing Costs?
For Buyers | For Sellers |
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For Buyers
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What are the total conveyancing costs?
A conveyancing solicitor's fee is what they charge for all the legal work required to legally transfer the property from one person to another. Costs will include both legal fees and disbursements.
Conveyancing Legal Fees
These are charges based on your solicitor's hourly rate and the work the solicitor undertakes on your transaction. They are more variable, based on several factors which will create more work for them. Factors which influence the amount of work required include:
- Property value
- Location
- Tenure (freehold or leasehold)
- Using a conveyancing solicitor or a licenced conveyancer
- Using an online conveyancing service
- Buying through a scheme such as Help to Buy, Right to Buy or Shared Ownership
- Purchasing with a gifted deposit
- Missing or disputed title or property boundaries
Conveyancing Disbursements
These are charges based on what the solicitor has to pay third parties to complete your transaction, so your solicitor has very little control over these charges. They should include and break down your disbursements in their conveyancing costs quote, so you can factor these costs in when comparing quotes and budgeting your funds.
Standard disbursements include:
Lawyer Checker Fee | £18.00 |
ID Verification Fee (per name) | £18.00 |
Land Registry Search (Priority Search) | £3.00 |
Land Registry Search (Bankruptcy Search) | £2.00 |
Property Searches | (Variable) |
Land Registry Fees | £200.00+ |
Stamp Duty |
Getting a fixed fee quote is vital if you want to keep control of your final bill; if you get an estimate instead, be aware that an estimate is not fixed and allows your bill to keep rising if your conveyancing encounters any issues.
These are just some things to budget for that are often shown as additional costs, when they are actually part of your solicitors' legal fees.
- Bank transfer fees
- Storage of documents/archive fee
- Mortgage fee
- Expedition/Fast Exchange fee
- Reply to enquiries fees
- Bankruptcy fee
- ID fee
- Postage, telephone and incidentals fee
- Help to buy, right to buy, shared ownership and new build
Fixed fee conveyancing costs
Our fees are fixed, which means that you'll pay what we quote. Your quote includes all of the solicitor's legal fees for a standard conveyancing transaction and we do not hide legal fees in our terms, we tell you up front.
No sale no fee conveyancing costs
If your first transaction falls through, you'll pay no fee, which means the money you've paid will be carried forward to your new transaction.
What are the conveyancing fees?
Standard Conveyancing Work
A property solicitor has to take on all legal aspects of the conveyancing for their client, because it needs to be done by someone with the correct legal training. At the beginning, they check a client's ID and then proceed with drawing up or inspecting a contract.
We explore a solicitor's role in detail in two separate articles: What does a solicitor do for the buyer and the seller?
Mortgage work
If you're buying using a mortgage or selling, but haven't fully paid back a mortgage you used to buy the property involved, your solicitor has to communicate with lenders to ensure matters are handled correctly and efficiently.
Conveyancing solicitors always charge more when a mortgage is involved, but this should not prevent them from providing a fixed fee quote once the fact has been established.
Leasehold, Shared Ownership, Right to Buy, Help to Buy, New Builds
If a client’s conveyancing involves any of the above, a solicitor will have to carry out additional work, which invariably increases conveyancing fees.
Leaseholds, for example, often involve extra investigations (varying), a deed of covenant (around £300) or a notice of transfer (up to around £300). The seller will also have to pay for the leasehold management pack (£300 - £800).
The trouble is that often, an initial quote does not include these expenses, but they will be billed for later. SAM Conveyancing asks for the relevant information to provide a comprehensive quote. Our fixed fees can be trusted and any extras which may arise later in the transaction are clearly defined and are themselves fixed too.
Fixed Fee | Rated Excellent on Trustpilot | No Sale No Fee | On all Mortgage Lender Panels
Frequently Asked Questions
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Written by:
Andrew Boast
Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands-on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.
Reviewed by:
Caragh Bailey
Caragh is an excellent writer and copy editor of books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey, property law and mortgage-related articles.
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