Price Transparency

Conveyancing Estimate

There are two main elements to the costs of your conveyancing transaction.

Legal fees for dealing with this matter for you and completing the legal formalities, and expenses that must be paid out to others on your behalf – referred to as “disbursements

You will be provided with an estimate of our charges based on the information known at the time you make an enquiry regarding our costs.   The costs quoted will be fixed and will cover all conventional work associated with a typical conveyancing transaction.

For example, if you are selling or buying a property for the value of £200,000 in the Portsmouth area, an estimate of our costs and disbursements would be as follows: –

Sale of a freehold property Sale of a leasehold property
Legal fee £995 plus VAT* Legal fee £1,295 plus VAT*
Electronic transfer fee £40 plus VAT Electronic transfer fee £40 plus VAT
Land Registry title documents £6 plus VAT Land Registry title documents £15 plus VAT
Estimated total £1,249.20 Estimated total £1,620
Purchase of a freehold property Purchase of a leasehold property
Legal fee £1,095 plus VAT* Legal fee £1,395 plus VAT*
Electronic transfer fee £40 plus VAT Electronic transfer fee £40 plus VAT
Searches including Local Authority, Environmental, Drainage and Water, Flood and Chancel Check £360 Searches including Local Authority, Environmental, Drainage and Water, Flood and Chancel Check £360
Land Registry search fee £3 plus VAT Land Registry search fee £3 plus VAT
Bankruptcy search fee £2 plus VAT (per person) Bankruptcy search fee £2 plus VAT (per person)
Estimated total £1,800 Estimated total £2,160

Land Registry registration fees are payable dependent on the purchase price of the property.  We endeavour to submit applications electronically using the portal/Business Gateway, so you benefit from the reduction of registration fees.  Please see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees for further details.

Stamp Duty Land Tax will also be payable, but again this depends on the purchase price of the property and your individual circumstances.  There are different rates if you are buying your first home, have owned a property before, or currently own more than one property.  You can calculate the amount you will need to pay and find out further information at https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax

* Whilst our legal fees start at this cost, they will be subject to increase dependent on the value and location of the property.  The legal fees are also only applicable if you contact us directly and are not referred to Andrew & Andrew Solicitors by an introducer or third party. 

We have calculated our estimate of costs above based on the following assumptions: –

  • The property you are selling and/or purchasing is held under one title at the Land Registry with no defect
  • Indemnity insurance is not required to rectify a defect in title
  • The transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen circumstances arise
  • All parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing information
  • That we do not become involved in significant discussions with your estate agents and others in your chain to agree a completion date
  • Completion takes place on the date agreed

It may be necessary to carry out certain work which would not fall within a standard conveyancing transaction, and if this is the case, further legal fees and disbursements may be payable.

Key Stages

The precise stages involved in the sale or purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances.
However, the keys stages and the work we will carry out on your behalf is as follows: –

Selling a property Purchasing a property
Preparing and submitting draft Contract papers and accompanying documentation to the buyer’s solicitor Investigating the title to the property
Answering any enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitor on the Contract papers Raising enquiries on the Contract papers received from the seller’s solicitor
Drafting/negotiating the sale Contract Carrying out all necessary searches relating to the property
Negotiating/approving the Transfer document Reviewing the replies to enquiries raised on your behalf and raising further enquiries, if appropriate
Liaising with any Landlord/Managing Agent/Management Company, if your property is leasehold Negotiating/approving the terms of the purchase Contract
Preparing to exchange contracts and then completion of the sale Advising you in respect of any mortgage offer, if appropriate
On completion, transferring funds to redeem any mortgage and pay your estate agents Preparing/approving the Transfer document
Handing completion papers over to the buyer’s solicitor Preparing a comprehensive Report to you on the title of the property
Preparing to exchange contracts and then completion of the purchase
Transferring the funds to the seller’s solicitor
Completing the Stamp Duty Land Tax Return and submitting the same along with any tax liability due to HM Revenue & Customs
Registering the title and mortgage (if applicable) with HM Land Registry

Timescales

At what is a potentially stressful time, we understand that you will want reassuring that matters are proceeding smoothly.  At the same time, the conveyancing process can be quite slow because of the complexities of organising all the other parties in a chain.

We will aim to keep you updated on a regular basis and will contact you as soon as anything happens that impacts on the timing or any other aspect of your move.  If you have not heard from us, then nothing material has happened since we last spoke, but this does not mean general work is not being carried out on your conveyancing matter.

Clients understandably want as much notice of moving dates as possible but unfortunately, until contracts are exchanged, no one is legally bound.  Clients, especially with the booking of removals, can be caught out if there is a last-minute hitch.  We will always work to your preferred dates, but please be conscious that there may be unavoidable problems, that often do not appear until just before we exchange contracts.

Whilst we will aim to complete your transaction on your preferred completion date and will always strive to meet any reasonable deadline, we would advise that the national average for a conveyancing matter from receipt/issuing of draft Contract papers to completion is 6 to 8 weeks for a freehold property and 10 to 12 weeks for a leasehold property.

However, this approximate timescale may be reduced or even increase slightly as each transaction is individual and the circumstances and requirements of all parties in the chain will not be the same.

Typical Costs for Administering a Probate Estate

Our fees for administering an estate are mainly affected by the complexity and value of the assets and liabilities involved.  However, there are also other factors that affect the cost of administering an estate which include, but are not limited to:

  • Whether or not there was a valid Will in place at the date of death
  • The number and type of assets and liabilities within an estate, for example, residential property, bank/building society accounts, shares, premium bonds etc.
  • Whether or not inheritance tax is payable on the value of the estate
  • The number of beneficiaries involved and their whereabouts
  • Where there are no claims made against the estate and/or disputes between the beneficiaries of division of assets

It is important that you provide us with as much information as possible at the outset of your instructions, so we can provide an accurate estimate of the costs involved.

We offer the following services: –

If you instruct us to collect information about the deceased’s estate and prepare/submit the application to the Probate Registry for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration only, our legal costs will be fixed at £1,000 plus VAT.

This service does not include arranging to pay any inheritance tax due or collecting and distributing assets.

Our legal fees for the full administration of an estate typically range between £3,000 and £10,000 plus VAT, although in some circumstances, costs payable may fall outside of this range.

Full administration of an estate will include the following steps:

  • Gather complete information about the deceased’s assets and liabilities at the date of their death
  • Arrange for the settlement of a funeral account, provided that the deceased left sufficient cash assets to do so
  • Complete any inheritance tax returns
  • Prepare and submit the application to the Probate Registry for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration
  • Collection of the deceased’s assets and settling of any outstanding liabilities due from the deceased’s estate
  • Preparation of estate accounts for approval by the Personal Representative(s)
  • Payment of fixed legacies and distribution of assets to residuary beneficiaries

The basis on which we will carry out the work necessary to obtain the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration and then administer the estate are calculated on a time basis according to the hourly rate charged by the fee earner who works on your matter.

All time spent on your matter is recorded in units of six minutes. This may include meeting with you and others; reading, preparing and drafting documents; making and receiving telephone calls; sending and receiving emails and letters; dictating notes of our meetings/telephone calls and about work carried out; researching; travelling; and preparation of detailed costs estimates, schedules and bills.

The current hourly rate is £295 plus VAT.   However, if Andrew & Andrew Solicitors are appointed as Personal Representative(s) of the estate, as well as the hourly rate, Andrew & Andrew will charge a percentage of the deceased gross Estate.

Each year, the hourly rates are reviewed.  Please note hourly rates could also be subject to change dependent on the role, qualification and experience of the fee earner dealing with your matter.

In addition to time charges mentioned above, Andrew & Andrew Solicitors also charges a value or responsibility charge that is calculated by reference to a percentage of the total value of the estate.  This charge is only payable where Andrew & Andrew Solicitors have been appointed as Personal Representative(s) of the estate under the deceased’s Will.

The legal fees discussed above do not include disbursements which are costs and expenses incurred on behalf of clients and payable to third parties.

Below is a summary of the other costs that you are likely to have to pay for:

  • Probate application fee
    The fee payable to the Court to obtain Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration is £273. You will also normally require additional sealed copies of the Grant which are £1.50 each. On a typical estate, we would request 5 additional copies.
  • Bankruptcy searches
    To ensure due diligence is carried out, we will be required to carry out a bankruptcy search on each Personal Representative and the deceased.  The fee charged by the Land Registry for each bankruptcy search is £2.
  • Section 27 notice
    Section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 enables Personal Representative(s) to protect themselves from liability against any claims from creditors and/or beneficiaries, that they have not had any notice of at the time that they convey or distribute the estate, provided that the notice placed complies with the following requirements:

    • advertising the intention to convey or distribute the estate through a notice placed in The Gazette and a local newspaper; and
    • setting out a period of at least two months for any interested person to send the particulars of their claim to the personal representatives.

    Placing a Section 27 notice in order to inform any potential creditors of the deceased’s death currently costs in the region of £246 dependent on the deceased’s local area.

  • Inheritance tax
    Inheritance is currently payable if the value of the deceased estate is over £325,000.  The rate of inheritance tax is 40% on anything above the threshold.  The rate may be reduced to 36% if 10% or more of the estate is left to charity.Once we have made full investigations regarding the value of the deceased’s estate, we can advise you as to whether inheritance tax will be payable or not and whether any reliefs are applicable.

Complaints Information and Procedure

The aim is to offer all clients an efficient and effective service at all times.

Andrew & Andrew Solicitors are proud to hold the Lexcel accreditation.  Lexcel is the Law Society’s legal practice quality mark for practice management and client care.  Clients and staff are of first importance to Andrew & Andrew Solicitors and we hope that you will be pleased with the work we undertake for you.

We are pleased to have been awarded accreditation and membership to the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) which recognises high standards and sets the quality mark for residential conveyancing work.

By instructing Andrew & Andrew Solicitors, you can be assured that you will receive a reliable and professional service which meets this standard.

If you do have any complaint with the service provided or problem with the attention given to you as a client, we would ask that you first raise your concern with your allocated fee earner, so they can attempt to resolve the problem to your satisfaction.

If they are unable to deal with the matter, or you still have queries or concerns, you are free to speak with the Director of the firm, Andrew Wisniewski, or the Practice Manager to whom any difficulty can be reported.

In the first instance, you must try to resolve your complaint through our complaints handling process.  If you are unhappy with the outcome, or if we have failed to resolve your complaint within eight weeks, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman, to become involved.

The contact details of the Legal Ombudsman are as follows:

P O Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

You will have a period of six months from the date of our final written response and the end of our complaints procedure to lodge a formal complaint with the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Ombudsman’s time limit for accepting a complaint is one year from the date of the act/omission, and one year from when the complainant should have known about the issue.

If you would like a copy of the firm’s written complaints procedure, this can be sent to you by the Practice Manager at your request.