Residential Conveyancing

Who will advise you?

Rowberrys Solicitors are authorised under the Legal Services Act and are also accredited members of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme, which is an accreditation of excellence for residential property lawyers.

All of the residential property team specialise in residential property and are highly skilled professionals with decades of experience.

When you appoint Rowberrys Solicitors a single dedicated Lawyer will be assigned to you in respect of your property transaction with the support from their experienced assistant.

You will be kept informed at every stage of the process.

Conveyancing

The legal fees we charge are calculated on the value of the property being sold or purchased.  Fees will vary when extenuating factors become involved, such as (but not limited to):

• Leasehold

• New builds

• Listed buildings

• Help to Buy Equity Mortgages

• Shared Ownership

Additional time will be expended on these types of transactions due to the increase in documentation to be reviewed, considered and reported upon.

Please see below an indicative guide to Rowberrys Solicitors costs

The property price indicates the risk we take in carrying out the transaction

• Dealings with a Help to Buy ISA or Lifetime ISA - £125.00 plus VAT

• Dealings with a Gifted Deposit - £125.00 plus VAT

(where you are receiving a gift, we will also put in place an Insolvency Indemnity Insurance Policy and we will advise you of the cost of this during the course of the transaction)

• Declaration of Trust fee – starting from £295.00 plus VAT

• Expedited Completion fee (where exchange and completion are within 5 days of each other) - £125.00 plus VAT

Variable Factors

Below is a list of property factors which may increase our quoted fees:

• Mortgage lender’s requirements

• Missing deeds/documents including planning consents/Building Regulation approvals

• Uncooperative parties in the transaction

• Defective titles

• Unregistered titles

• Disputes relating to matrimonial matters

• Requirements leading to indemnity insurance and sourcing the policy required

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs which are charged by third parties during the course of your transaction.  We will set out the expected disbursements within the estimate provided but please be aware other disbursements may accrue to file during the course of the transaction.

Below is a list of the most common disbursements.  This list is not exhaustive:

• Property search fees approximately £350 (this is dependent upon location, nature of the property, and the searches to be undertaken)

We undertake Local Authority Search, Environmental Search and Drainage and Water.  Our search providers may recommend additional searches and we will advise you of the costs if additional searches are required.

• HM Land registry fee dependent upon the nature of the transaction Please see the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees

• Pre-completion search fee from £3.60 (inclusive of VAT)

• Land Charges search fee from £2.40 (inclusive of VAT).

• Completion transfer fee £36 (inclusive of VAT) and per transfer.

• Leasehold property notices, which is variable.

• Deed of covenant fee, usually levied by the management company, which is variable.

• Certificate of compliance fee, which is usually set out in the management pack, which is variable.

• SDLT

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

SDLT is dependent upon the purchase price of the property and is a tax charged by HMRC, which is subject to change.

We will include this with the estimate provided to you and this will be based upon the information provided to us.

We would advise you to calculate the amount you will need to pay.  Please use the following link: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro.

For more complex transactions that the calculator doesn’t cover, we would advise you to seek advice from a Specialist Tax Advisor.

Process Stages 

In a straightforward transaction with no unusual problems arising the procedure (briefly) is as follows:

How Long will my Sale and/or Purchase take?

We estimate the process will around  10 to 12 weeks from offer acceptance to exchange of contracts.

The time frames will vary dependent upon several factors for example the number of parties in the chain, the stage the property has reached on a new build and the time taken for mortgage offers and searches to be issued.

We would ask you to contact our Residential Property Team for a personal quotation.