Conveyancing fees

These are the fees you pay to your solicitor or conveyancer for carrying out the legal work for your property transaction. You’ll typically pay between £500 and £1,500 depending on the work needed and the firm you go for.

It can be tempting to just go for the cheapest conveyancer, but paying a little more for an experienced professional that won’t let you down is money well spent. 

If you’re buying and selling a property at the same time your conveyancing fees will be higher, as your conveyancer will need to carry out work for both transactions. Usually, when buying and selling, you’ll pay up to £2,500.

It is possible to find conveyancers charging as little as £200, but if it looks too good to be true it probably is. If you opt for a very cheap service, there are likely to be hidden costs and additional fees that will cost you more in the long run. Also, the cheapest companies may not offer a great service in terms of their communications with you or their attention to detail, or even both.

Searches

England and Wales: When buying a property, and sometimes when you’re remortgaging, your conveyancer will need to carry out a number of searches on the property and local area to find out whether there are any issues you need to know about.

If you’re buying a property, the searches should cost between £200 and £400. The searches needed for remortgaging are normally less rigorous and so cost slightly less.

Stamp duty

Apart from your deposit, stamp duty is often the most expensive cost involved in buying a home. It’s a tiered government tax that you have to pay on properties in England and Wales.

First time buyers are exempt from paying stamp duty on a residential property up to the value of £300,000. For non-first time buyers, stamp duty is due on the portion of property value over £125,000, and for second homes and buy-to-let properties, there will be an additional 3% to pay.

Get a free quote to find out exactly how much stamp duty you’ll have to pay, or find out more about how stamp duty works in our guide to stamp duty.

Leasehold supplement

If you’re buying or selling a leasehold property, there will usually be a supplement added to your conveyancing bill as there is more legal work involved than when buying a freehold property.

For example, the lease itself – usually 30-40 pages long – has to be reviewed and enquiries raised with the freeholder, landlord or managing agent.

Typically, a leasehold supplement costs £150-£300.

Leasehold properties are virtually non-existent in Scotland, but are very common in England and Wales. Find out more about the conveyancing process for leasehold properties.

Help to Buy supplement

If you’re buying a property through the Help to Buy scheme, there will usually be an additional charge to cover the extra legal work involved.

The amount you pay will depend on whether you’re taking out an equity loan or using funds from a Help to Buy Isa. If you’re taking out an equity loan, you can expect to pay £200-£300 on top of your conveyancing fees. If using funds from a Help to Buy Isa, the supplement is capped at £50.

Find out more about Help to Buy equity loans and Help to Buy Isas.

Other legal fees

In addition to the main costs mentioned above, there are a few other costs involved in conveyancing that you may encounter depending on your circumstances.

England and Wales

If you’re buying a property, extending a lease or remortgaging, you’ll have to pay a Land Registry fee to update the title of the property with the new ownership, mortgage or lease details. This can cost anywhere from £20 to £910, but the amount you pay depends on the value of the property in question.

If you’re taking out a new mortgage, you’ll have to pay a telegraphic-transfer fee costing £25-£50. This is the fee charged by your mortgage lender for sending funds to your bank. You can pay this upfront upon completion or add it to the mortgage and pay it off monthly. By adding it to the mortgage you’ll end up paying more as interest will be charged.

When buying a property, your conveyancer will conduct a search just before completion to make sure that no changes have been made to the title of the property since your offer was accepted. This costs £4.

If you’re a seller, you’ll have to pay for an official copy of the property title from the Land Registry, which costs £4-£12.

If you're selling a leasehold property you'll have to obtain information from the landlord. The landlord will typically charge between £100 and £500 to provide this information.

Conveyancing fees

These are the fees you pay to your solicitor or conveyancer for carrying out the legal work for your property transaction. You’ll typically pay between £500 and £1,500 depending on the work needed and the firm you go for.

It can be tempting to just go for the cheapest conveyancer, but paying a little more for an experienced professional that won’t let you down is money well spent. 

If you’re buying and selling a property at the same time your conveyancing fees will be higher, as your conveyancer will need to carry out work for both transactions. Usually, when buying and selling, you’ll pay up to £2,500.

It is possible to find conveyancers charging as little as £200, but if it looks too good to be true it probably is. If you opt for a very cheap service, there are likely to be hidden costs and additional fees that will cost you more in the long run. Also, the cheapest companies may not offer a great service in terms of their communications with you or their attention to detail, or even both.

Searches

In Scotland, unlike in England and Wales, it's up to sellers to pay for property searches, rather than the buyers. Typically, they cost between £100-£200.

LBTT

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is the Scottish equivalent of stamp duty and is payable on properties costing over £145,000, or £40,000 for second homes and buy-to-let properties.

Like stamp duty, it's tiered, so the amount you pay depends on the price of the property. For second homes and buy-to-let properties, an additional 3% is payable.

Get a free quote to find out exactly how much LBTT you'll have to pay, or find out more in our guide to LBTT.

Leasehold supplement

If you’re buying or selling a leasehold property, there will usually be a supplement added to your conveyancing bill as there is more legal work involved than when buying a freehold property.

For example, the lease itself – usually 30-40 pages long – has to be reviewed and enquiries raised with the freeholder, landlord or managing agent.

Typically, a leasehold supplement costs £150-£300.

Leasehold properties are virtually non-existent in Scotland, but are very common in England and Wales. Find out more about the conveyancing process for leasehold properties.

Help to Buy supplement

If you’re buying a property through the Help to Buy scheme, there will usually be an additional charge to cover the extra legal work involved.

The amount you pay will depend on whether you’re taking out an equity loan or using funds from a Help to Buy Isa. If you’re taking out an equity loan, you can expect to pay £200-£300 on top of your conveyancing fees. If using funds from a Help to Buy Isa, the supplement is capped at £50.

Find out more about Help to Buy equity loans and Help to Buy Isas.

Other legal fees

In addition to the main costs mentioned above, there are a few other costs involved in conveyancing that you may encounter depending on your circumstances.

Whether you're buying or selling a property, your solicitor will need to register an advance notice with the Registers of Scotland prior to the date of entry - the date you pay and get the keys. This gives notice of the intention to buy or sell the property and protects both your rights and, if you have or are taking out a mortgage, your lender's. This costs £10 per transaction, so if you're buying and selling a property, you'll pay £20.

You'll also have to pay registration dues to the Registers of Scotland ranging between £60-7,500 depending on the price of the property you're buying, to register the deeds in the Land Register.

As above, buyers who are taking out a mortgage will pay a telegraphic-transfer fee of £25-50 to their lender for transferring funds to the seller.

Learn more about the other costs involved in moving, including surveys, estate agent fees and mortgage costs by visiting our guides to the costs of buying a property and costs of selling a property.