Don't get stung by the % myth

Solicitors usually quote the cost of buying and selling houses as a % of the price of the property plus disbursements.

The disbursements are pretty fixed, but the truth is it is not necessarily/usually any more difficult to buy/sell a house at £million than one at £50k. Indeed depending on the house and when it was last sold, it could very easily be easier. So my advice would be always negotiate the price, and remind the solicitor of the above, if indeed you don't decide to do the conveyancing yourself. This also goes for probate fees which they often quote as a % of the value of the estate, and which again does not necessarily reflect the amount of work involved at all.

All tosh. The fixed-% conveyancing fee rules were abolished decades ago.

Whereas Estate Agents...

All tosh. The fixed-% conveyancing fee rules were abolished decades ago.

Whereas Estate Agents...

So excluding disbursements, how much do you charge to buy a house, and what do you charge to sell? Also what do you charge to buy and sell?

Thanks

All tosh. The fixed-% conveyancing fee rules were abolished decades ago.

Whereas Estate Agents...

Jeffrey, I didn't mention any rules, so I really don't know where you got that one from. I said solicitors often charge a percentage of the value of a property to do the conveyancing.

Love the use of the word 'tosh' though, not seen that in print since I last read a Jeeves and Wooster. Excellent.

So excluding disbursements, how much do you charge to buy a house, and what do you charge to sell? Also what do you charge to buy and sell?

I cannot give a single answer to your post. It depends chiefly on these factors:

1. Sale or purchase or both linked.

2. Value element- because the legal fees do have to reflect an element for the insurance risk.

3. Freehold or leasehold.

4. House or flat.

5. Mortgaged or unmortgaged.

6. Already registered at HMLR or currently unregistered but triggering compulsory first registration.

7. Client local, elsewhere in UK, or abroad.

Jeffrey, I didn't mention any rules, so I really don't know where you got that one from. I said solicitors often charge a percentage of the value of a property to do the conveyancing.

No, you didn't mention them. But the The Solicitors' Remuneration Order 1972- which prescribed scales of fees linked to the transaction's value- was revoked/replaced by the Solicitors' (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 1994, itself revoked/replaced by the Solicitors' (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 2009. So the 1972 scale ceased some 18yrs. ago.

I cannot give a single answer to your post. It depends chiefly on these factors:

1. Sale or purchase or both linked.

2. Value element- because the legal fees do have to reflect an element for the insurance risk.

3. Freehold or leasehold.

4. House or flat.

5. Mortgaged or unmortgaged.

6. Already registered at HMLR or currently unregistered but triggering compulsory first registration.

7. Client local, elsewhere in UK, or abroad.

OK let's say I'm buying a house in Sheffield, freehold, unmortgaged, already registered at HMLR. What would you charge if the house cost £50,000 and what would you charge if the house cost £800,000?

No, you didn't mention them. But the The Solicitors' Remuneration Order 1972- which prescribed scales of fees linked to the transaction's value- was revoked/replaced by the Solicitors' (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 1994, itself revoked/replaced by the Solicitors' (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 2009. So the 1972 scale ceased some 18yrs. ago.

So given I didn't mention them, so why did you?

£650 and £1600.

Each INCLUDES all VAT and disbursements (searches, HMLR, etc.)

Note that the HMLR registration fee element is £50 or £550; so that alone accounts for over half the difference.

The only addition would be SDLT at whatever rate is payable.

So given I didn't mention them, so why did you?

Easy: read the thread's title! There has been NO % element (legal fees) for 18 years- so why did you mention it?

£650 and £1600.

Each INCLUDES all VAT and disbursements (searches, HMLR, etc.)

Note that the HMLR registration fee element is £50 or £550; so that alone accounts for over half the difference.

 

The only addition would be SDLT at whatever rate is payable.

So you charge £450 extra for the more expensive house, net of HMLR fees. Is that really how much extra you'd have to pay for indemnity?

Just to add that buying a freehold house, which will be unmortgaged and is registered is about as simple as it gets in conveyancing terms. Sounds like a lot of dosh you're charging.