At Arnold Greenwood, we know how important it is for you to know, from the outset, how much you will need to pay in order to sell a property, purchase a property, or both. In order to help you, we have set out below some examples of our costs.
What will we do?
The work that we will do for you does vary depending on the individual property transaction but will usually include:
- obtain details of the legal title;
- preparing a sale contract;
- deal with enquiries from the buyer’s solicitor;
- negotiating a transfer document;
- obtain a redemption figure from any lender (if applicable);
- arrange for signature of and exchange of contracts and then completion of the sale;
- discharge any mortgage;
- pay any estate agency invoice from the proceeds of sale; and
- remit completion monies to you.
How much will it cost?
| Property Price | 0-£100,000.99 | £100,000.01-£225,000.99 | £225,001.00-£300,000.99 | £300001.00 – £375,000.99 | £375,000.01-£400,000.99 | £400,001.00-£475,000.99 | £475,001.00-£549,999.99 | £550,001.00-£649,999.99 | £650,001.00-£749,999.99 | £750,001.00-£849,999.99 | £850,001.00 – £949,999.99 | £950,001.00 – £999,999.99 | £1,000,000.00+ |
| Our fee | £930 | £1,040 | £1,150 | £1,260 | £1,495 | £1,550 | £1,590 | £1,700 | £1,810 | £1,930 | £2,030 | £2,250 | Case by case |
| VAT | £189 | £208 | £230 | £252 | £299 | £310.00 | £318 | £340 | £362 | £3486 | £406 | £450 | |
| Total | £1,116 | £1,248 | £1,380 | £1,512 | £1,794 | £1,860 | £1,908 | £2,040 | £2,172 | £2,316 | £2,436 | £2,700 |
Additional fees:
- £95.00 plus VAT where we are required to act for your mortgage lender in connection with the sale
- £275.00 plus VAT for leasehold property;
- £40.00 plus VAT for a telegraphic transfer fee.
Additional sale disbursements:
- £6.50 plus VAT – ID verification (per client)
- £7.00 plus VAT – Land Registry office copy entries (per document)
What will we do?
The work that we will do for you does vary depending on the individual property transaction but will usually include:
- investigating the title to the property, to include:
- carrying out searches with respect to title and local government information for the property;
- reviewing replies given by the seller to pre-contract enquiries;
- negotiating a purchase contract;
- negotiating a transfer document;
- advising you in respect of any mortgage;
- preparing a report on the property;
- proceeding to exchange of contracts and then completion of the purchase;
- transferring funds by telegraphic transfer to the seller’s solicitors and for relevant taxes;
- calculating stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on the purchase and preparing and submitting to HM Revenue & Customs the appropriate SDLT forms; and
- registering the purchase and the mortgage at the Land Registry.
How much will it cost?
| Property Price | 0-£100,000.99 | £100,000.01-£225,000.99 | £225,001.00-£300,000.99 | £300001.00 – £375,000.99 | £375,000.01-£400,000.99 | £400,001.00-£500,000.99 | £500,001.01-£749,999.99 | £750,000.01-£924,999.99 | £925,001.00-£999,999.99 | £1,000,000.00+ | |||
| Our fee | £995 | £1,150 | £1,250 | £1,315 | £1,480 | £1,700 | £1,900 | £2,250 | £2,580 | Case by case | |||
| VAT | £199 | £230 | £250 | £263 | £296 | £340 | £380.00 | £450 | £516 | ||||
| Total | £1,194 | £1,380 | £1,500 | £1,578 | £1,776 | £2,040 | £2,280 | £2,700 | £3,096 |
Additional fees:
- SDLT/LTT Return: £95.00 plus VAT
- £195.00 plus VAT where we are required to act for your mortgage lender in connection with the purchase;
- £275.00 plus VAT for leasehold property;
- £275.00 plus VAT for new build property;
- £275.00 plus VAT for shared ownership property;
- £50.00 plus VAT per Help to Buy ISA;
- £40.00 plus VAT for a telegraphic transfer fee.
Additional purchase disbursements:
- £300.00 (approx.) – search fees
- £10.00 plus VAT – post-completion fees
- £6.50 plus VAT – ID verification (per client)
- £7.00 plus VAT – Land Registry priority search
- £6.00 plus VAT – Land Registry bankruptcy search (per person)
- Land Registry registration fees – £20.00 – £500.00 (dependent on property value)
Please Note: The above sums have been calculated on the basis that the matter proceeds in the usual way and does not become unduly protracted or complicated. Disbursements may be outside our control and these figures may change.
Matters which may come to light during your proposed transaction such as title defects or missing documentation will be raised with you, if they necessitate further or additional time/expense. We will notify you as soon as possible of any additional costs.
What happens if matter does not proceed to completion – you can save on those costs.
We know that it can be frustrating when transactions do not complete. Often this is for reasons which are entirely outside of your control. This can leave you having to pay fees even though the sale or purchase is no longer proceeding. Unlike many firms where you would need to pay either the whole amount of a fixed fee or a fee based upon the time spent on the matter (sometimes more than any agreed price) you have the option to choose to pay a reduced fee by electing to use our ‘Fee Limit Scheme’.
We will still calculate our fees by reference to our hourly rates, but should you choose our ‘Fee Limit Scheme’ at the outset, we will reduce the fee we charge you by 50% should your sale or purchase become abortive for any reason. This would cover our time; any third party fees and disbursements will be still be payable as they are outside of our control.
What we ask, in return, is that you pay an additional 25% of the total fixed fee should the transaction successfully reach its conclusion.
By way of example. If we were acting for you at a fixed fee of £795.00 (excluding disbursements and VAT) and the transaction fell through, we may have incurred £600.00 worth of costs. If you were to choose to use our ‘Fee Limit Scheme’ then we would reduce our fee to £300.00 (plus VAT and disbursements). If, the transaction reached its conclusion, then you would pay an extra £198.75 for our services (being 25% of £795.00) (plus VAT and disbursements).
You do not have to choose our ‘Fee Limit Scheme’, it is up to you, in which case we will charge you at our hourly rate for any abortive sale or purchase.
The hourly charging rates (exclusive of VAT) of the individuals who are currently expected to undertake work for you are as follows. These rates will be used to calculate the fees for your matter and any additional work that you require us to undertake:
- Stephen Pooley, Director: £225.00 per hour
- Lee Hughes, Director: £225.00 per hour
- Jennifer Sparks, Associate Solicitor: £210.00 per hour
- Danielle McNerney, Solicitor: £195.00 per hour
How long will it take?
A typical transaction takes between 6-8 weeks, however this period can be longer or shorter depending on a number of factors including:
- whether or not a mortgage is involved;
- how long the chain is;
- whether the property is freehold or leasehold or a new build.
