The Difference Between Conveyancing Fees and Disbursements

When buying or selling a property your conveyancing solicitor or conveyancer will quote you various fees and disbursements. It can be confusing but the difference being the fee is the cost the conveyancer charges to do their work. A disbursement is a fee or tax that your conveyancer must pay to a third party for an additional service.

Here is a breakdown of standard fees and disbursements and what you might expect to be charged.

Fees

Legal Fees From £400

Every conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor sets their own fee so there is no definitive answer. Fees vary based on:

1. Sale or purchase or both
2. Remortgage
3. Value of the property

Fees might include the following but your conveyancer may list them as separate fees,

1. Telegraphic transfer from £40
2. SDLT form from £50
3. Mortgage admin fee from £100

There are sometimes additional legal fees from £100 upwards if,

1. The property is leasehold
2. It is a new build
3. It is bought via a purchase scheme. For example right to buy or help to buy
4. It is a second home
5. The land is unregistered

Disbursements

Searches from £199

Done to find out more about the property you’re buying. Typically they include environmental, drainage & water, local, Land Registry plan and coal where required. If your searches are much lower than this price ensure they include all of the above.

Bankruptcy search fee from £3 per person

Done to check the buyer is not bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy.

ID check from £10

You will need to provide two forms of ID to your chosen conveyancer usually driving licence and passport. The ID check is done to prevent money laundering.

Title Register from £6

Unique number allocated by the Land Registry to a property.

Land Registry fee between £20 – 270 (unregistered land is double)

The fee paid to the Land Registry for them to update the property records.

Land Registry pre completion £3

Pre completion searches are done to prevent entries being registered against a property after exchange and before completion.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

A complicated tax that requires your solicitor or conveyancer to calculate.

Every quote you get from Conveyancing Supermarket will have the above fees and disbursements included if they are applicable and charged. You can be assured that all our quotes are like for like. Even if a fee or disbursement doesn’t appear in your breakdown it might have been accounted for already or not charged by that particular firm. Nevertheless you won’t suddenly find your chosen conveyancing solicitor adding additional fees on top of your quote.

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