Purchase Transactions

It is challenging to provide you with a fixed cost quotation for our conveyancing services without having first discussed your personal circumstances and the specific details of your transaction with you. Each and every conveyancing transaction will differ and there are a range of factors which impact both our costs and any additional expenses (Disbursements).

VAT (currently 20%) will be added to our legal fees and the bank transfer charge. Our legal fees do cover all work required to complete your transaction. Our estimated charges are based on the matter being a standard, straightforward transaction and one which does not involve any unforeseen, complex or time consuming factors. If the matter is complex, time consuming or involves unforeseen circumstances, we do reserve the right to increase our charges accordingly. However, we will always discuss any proposed increase in cost with you before incurring any additional charge.

The cost information provided here is intended to offer you a broad indication of the range of our charges based on a price banded structure. However, we would strongly recommend that you make personal contact with us, so that we can discuss your requirements and offer you a definitive quotation.

		Usual additional expenses
Freehold Purchase price – £	Our Legal fees	Local Search	Drainage Search	Land Registry fee	Land Registry Search fee	Bankruptcy Search fee – per person
0 – 80,000	600 – 700	See below	See below	20	3	2
80,001 – 100,000	600 – 725	See below	See below	40	3	2
100,001 – 200,000	725 – 825	See below	See below	100	3	2
200,001 – 250,000	825 – 875	See below	See below	150	3	2
250,001 – 500,000	875 – 975	See below	See below	150	3	2
500,001 – 1,000,000	975 – 1,250	See below	See below	295	3	2
1,000,000 plus	Contact us for a bespoke quotation	See below	See below	500	3	2

		Usual additional expenses
Leasehold Purchase price – £	Our Legal fees	Local Search	Drainage Search	Land Registry fee	Land Registry Search fee	Bankruptcy Search fee – per person
0 – 80,000	750 – 850	See below	See below	20	3	2
80,001 – 100,000	750 – 875	See below	See below	40	3	2
100,001 – 200,000	875 – 975	See below	See below	100	3	2
200,001 – 250,000	875 – 1,000	See below	See below	150	3	2
250,001 – 500,000	1,000 – 1,250	See below	See below	150	3	2
500,001 – 1,000,000	1,250 – 1,500	See below	See below	295	3	2
1,000,000 plus	Contact us for a bespoke quotation	See below	See below	500	3	2

Additional expenses (Disbursements)

We handle the payment of any additional expenses on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. The following list is an example of additional expenses which we may need to pay to third parties when assisting you with the purchase of a property:-

• Searches – when purchasing a property with the aid of a mortgage, a Local and a Drainage Search must be obtained. The cost of searches vary between each Local and Drainage Authority. As an example, Wirral Borough Council currently charge £104.20 and Liverpool City Council charges £87. United Utilities charge £54.59 for a Drainage Search and a Welsh Water search costs £9.60. There are also a wide variety of additional searches which you may wish to instruct us to obtain or we may be required to obtain depending on the location of the property. We will always advise you at the earliest opportunity if any additional searches are required and we will not incur any cost without your authority to do so. If you are a cash buyer, we would always, as a minimum, recommend that a Local Search is obtained;
• A Bankruptcy Search will only be necessary if you are purchasing with the aid of a mortgage or should a third party provide you with a financial gift;
• A bank transfer charge of £12 plus VAT will be required in respect of each bank transfer. Ordinarily, there will only be one such charge due for transferring the purchase money to the seller’s solicitor on completion;
• Stamp Duty Land Tax may be due for properties in England and we do refer you to the HMRC website should you wish to calculate the level of tax which will fall due: www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro. If the property is located in Wales, you may need to pay Land Transaction Tax and we refer you to the Welsh Revenue Authority calculator at: lttcalculator.wra.gov.wales/ChargeableTransactionType;
• If you are purchasing a leasehold property, we are, ordinarily, required to deal with a number of procedural requirements which include: sending a formal notice of the change of ownership and of any mortgage to the Landlord on completion; arranging a Deed of Covenant; obtaining a Certificate of Compliance; and transferring ownership of a Share or Membership Certificate. The Landlord will usually charge a fee for these services and we can only ascertain the required level of fee once we have received the Lease and details of the Landlord’s requirements. In our experience, the range of fees for the above mentioned services can be between £50 plus VAT and £500 plus VAT.

Factors which may lead to an increased charge

The following list provides some examples of the type of issues which may increase our standard fees:-

• The property is not registered at HM Land Registry;
• You have a Help to Buy or Lifetime ISA savings account. In such cases, we will charge an additional fee of £50 plus VAT for each Help to Buy or Lifetime ISA account;
• You are obtaining a Help to Buy Equity Mortgage. The time and work involved when dealing with the very extensive and onerous requirements of Help to Buy is considerable and we would estimate that a minimum additional charge of £200 plus VAT would be necessary;
• You are receiving an Armed Forces loan;
• There is a shared ownership Lease;
• A lease extension is required;
• The property is bought at auction;
• The property is a repossessed property;
• As part of a leasehold purchase, you acquire a share of the freehold title;
• The title to the property is defective;
• Indemnity insurance is required;
• We are instructed to act for a mortgage lender in circumstances where the work required to comply with your mortgage lender’s requirements is considerable. If such a charge is necessary, we would estimate an additional fee of £75-£200 plus VAT;
• Your mortgage lender instructs a separate solicitor to act on its behalf;
• There is a Contract Race;
• The purchase needs to be expedited and prioritised.

How long will the purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you take occupation of the property will depend on a number of factors. Halsalls work on the basis that the average freehold purchase should take between 6 – 8 weeks from when the Contract and supporting paperwork is received from your seller’s solicitor. However, a number of recent studies have determined that the average timeframe is approximately 12 – 14 weeks.

The process can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties involved and the approach, and efficiency, of each parties’ solicitor and any external third parties who may need to be contacted for information. Examples of issues which may add additional time are: If the chain is lengthy, it can often be difficult bringing all parties together at the same time; whether all parties in the chain are purchasing with the aid of mortgage funding or whether there are cash buyers; if any buyer is in rented accommodation and needs to offer a period of notice; leasehold properties will, invariably, take longer because of the need to involve a Landlord who must provide a considerable degree of additional information; and should substantial legal issues arise such as a defective title or breaches of planning permission or building regulations.

Key stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, the steps below are a suggestion of some of the key stages:-

• We take instructions to act and send our Client Care paperwork to you;
• The seller’s estate agent (if any) will issue a Memorandum of Sale setting out details of your offer and contact details for the seller’s solicitor;
• We contact the seller’s solicitor and request that they provide a draft Contract and supporting paperwork;
• We ensure your finances are in place to fund the purchase;
• Receive and advise on contract documents;
• Order any required searches;
• Obtain any relevant planning permissions or building regulations documents;
• Raise any necessary legal enquiries of the seller’s solicitor;
• Once all searches are received and enquiries resolved, we provide a detailed report on the title to the property giving you advice on all documents and information received. The report will, ordinarily, enclose any legal documents which you must sign including the Contract;
• Go through the conditions of your mortgage offer (if any);
• Agree a completion date (date you purchase the property);
• Exchange contracts and notify you that this happened;
• Arrange for all monies to be received in time for completion including any mortgage advance;
• Complete purchase;
• Deal with payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax or Land Transaction Tax;
• Register your ownership of the property and any mortgage at HM Land Registry.