Hi,

I'm a First Time Buyer.
I received the bill from my solicitor which is as below:

Bank transfer fee : £25
Searches : £ 151
Bankrupcy search : £2
Land Registry search: £6
Land registry fee : £ 150
Landlord's notice fee : £ 150

When i initially received the quote, Land registry fee and Landlord's notice fee wasn't included in it.
I can understand the importance of Land registry fee but is Landlord's notice fee important?

Please advise me.

Thanks,

whats a landlords notice fee?

Did your solicitor tell your landlord you were moving out?
Surely not - if so what a rip off

Deepak

I have no idea.
Can you or anyone throw some light here?

Thanks,

are you buying a leasehold property? if so its probably something to do with informing the land owner that you are buying the property and will be taking over paying the ground rent...seems an expensive letter though at £150!

I have recently visited a solicitor who told me his fees were £197 an hr.
hazel

Have you also got charges for the solicitors time on top of those figures?

If not, it seems reasonable, if you have, I would challenge it. I once had a solicitor that tried to charge me stamp duty on a property that was well under the threshold and didn't know what to say when I told them I wouldn't pay it....

That looks to me like the "disbursements" ie the money the solicitor collects from you - not to keep for himself, but to pass on to others, like the land registry etc. So the landlord's notice fee is presumably what your solicitor has had to pay in order to notify a change of leaseholder. 150 quid for that does sound a lot. The lease probably allows the landlord to charge a "reasonable" fee (Presumably you have a copy of the lease?) so you might be able to get your solicitor to challenge that for you. (Edit: wasn't there a thread on here about the sharp practices of management companies who take over leases? Might be an idea to check what you're getting into!!)

I reckon you'll find your solicitor's own charges are extra on top of that lot - they're what you'll most likely find in the original quote. At least conveyancing solicitors very rarely charge by the hour and unless he's had to do a lot of extra work for some reason his own fee ought to be what he originally quoted you.

the landlord's notice fee is probably a condition of your lease.

If you have a copy of your lease, look for where it says that notice must be served on the landlord.

Sometimes there have to be two notices sent - one to say you're taking over the lease (notice of transfer) and one to say you have a mortgage over the place (notice of mortgage). Some sheffield landlords do indeed charge those kind of sums..... but if you have a good solicitor they should check with the ground landlord if it is an admin fee charged by the landlord, or whether that is the actual notice fee stated.

e.g. some places can only legally charge £1.06 for two notices, but then slap an admin fee on top... which isn't enforceable.

You need to serve these notices under the lease, usually because if you don't you're breaking the terms of the lease, and your mortgage company has a fit.

The other prices are entirely reasonable.

p.s. the quote should really have included the land registry fee, as it is determined on how much the property is sold for (and they presumably know that when they give you the quote). The landlord fee probably wouldn't have been apparent until the contracts came through from the other side, and therefore would not have been in the first quote.

p.s. the quote should really have included the land registry fee, as it is determined on how much the property is sold for (and they presumably know that when they give you the quote). The landlord fee probably wouldn't have been apparent until the contracts came through from the other side, and therefore would not have been in the first quote.

Thanks Tanya,

The information was really useful.
:thumbsup:

recently purchased a house and this was the breakdown of disbursements,

Disbursements :
Local Search fee 97.50
Mining Report 24.00
Environmental Report 34.08
H.M. Land Registry fee 220.00
Stamp duty 2,450.00
H.M. Land Charges Search fee 4.00
H M Land Registry Search fee 4.00
Bank Telegraphic Transfer fee 23.50

Property we bought was Leasehold