Consumer Information
Why are we providing this information?
The Information set out below is provided to enable you make an Informed Choice before instructing us.
The next step
In the first instance, prior to instructing us, we would always recommend that you obtain a detailed quote, as fees can vary significantly based on property price and location.
Should you simply wish to obtain an indicative price of our services at this stage we can confirm :-
The price we charge for our professional services for a freehold purchase at £200,000 will range between £650 and £850.
The price we charge for our professional services for a freehold sale at £200,000 will be £595.
Where you are buying or selling with a mortgage, we will charge an additional fee of £125-175 or the work involved in dealing with your mortgage lender. We also charge between £75-£100 to complete the SDLT return.
If the property is leasehold, we will also charge an additional £100-£150.
For every money transfer we make, the fee would be £40.
It is common practice in conveyancing for estate agents to market the service of conveyancers. We will pay estate agents referral fees for introducing your business to us. On a freehold sale, with no mortgage, at £200,000 we would pay a referral fee of c£300 out of our fee.
All fees will be plus VAT & Disbursements.
What are Disbursements
Disbursements are sums we pay to third parties on your behalf.
If you are selling, this would include the cost of documents which we obtain from the Land Registry, which usually average c£9 per case. If you are selling a leasehold property, this would also include the costs of obtaining “pre-sale information” from your landlord or management company. The cost of this information can vary significantly.
If you are purchasing a property, you will usually need to pay for a local authority search, drainage search, environmental search and other locality specific searches, e.g. coal mining. The fees will vary dependent on property location.
You will also need to pay a fee to the Land Registry to register you as the new owner of the property. Details of the fees can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees#scale-1-fees
There may also be a Stamp Duty Land Tax liability. For further details please visit hmrc.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax
What we do
We are conveyancing specialists and provide conveyancing services for a fixed fee.
We are regulated by the Specialist Property Regulator, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, and our practice licence number is 11182
Our Staff
Your file will be handled by one of our teams that are led by a Conveyancing Manager and supported by a Licensed Conveyancer / Solicitor or Chartered Legal Executive and up to 6 other members of staff, being either conveyancers or conveyancing assistants.
You will be advised of the name of the person dealing with your file when you receive our initial letter.
How long does it take
It is very difficult to predict exact time scales for a property transaction as it depends on many variables including the length of the chain. To avoid disappointment, you should probably expect the process to take between 3-4 months. The exact timescale could well be shorter, or unfortunately could be longer, depending on the specific circumstances of your case.
Please refer to our Conveyancing Guide on your Case Tracker for the key stages in a conveyancing transaction.
Complaints & Redress Information
As part of our commitment to the highest service standards, every stage of your transaction will be dealt with by a suitably experienced person. In the unlikely event that the matter is still not resolved to your satisfaction, please contact our Director of Conveyancing Operations, who will review the complaint.
In the event that you feel that a matter has not been resolved effectively within 8 weeks of lodging your initial complaint, you may contact the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a written full response from us, subject to the complaint being received within the time scales prescribed by the Legal Ombudsman. The timescales are currently the later of six years from the date of the act/omission and three years from the date the complainant should reasonably have known of the act/omission. The Legal Ombudsman will normally expect you to allow us to consider and respond to your complaint in accordance with the procedure set out above, before they will consider it. The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, Tel: 0300 555 0333, Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
If you make a valid claim against us for a loss arising out of work for which we are legally responsible, and we are unable to meet our liability in full, you may be entitled to claim from the Compensation Fund Administered by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (from whom details can be obtained).