What Are Conveyancing Fees?

Conveyancing fees are the last big expense before finalising the purchase or sale of a home. 

What are conveyancing fees exactly, what do they cover, and how much do they cost?

Read on to find out. 

What Are Conveyancing Fees?

Conveyancing fees are a group of legal costs one pays when they are transferring ownership of property from one person to another, i.e. when they are buying or selling a home. They cover the cost of carrying out property surveys and checks, exchanging contracts and transferring funds from the buyer to the seller (among other services). 

Conveyancing fees in the UK usually fall into two categories:

• Legal fees—what you pay your conveyancer or solicitor for their services. 
• Disbursements—what your conveyancer pays third parties for carrying out searches, doing AML checks, bank transfers or other services on your behalf. 

How Much Are Conveyancing Fees

If you are buying a house, expect conveyancing costs between £850 and £2,000 in legal fees and at least £700 for the disbursements.

Sellers can expect to pay between £400 and £1,500 in legal fees. Disbursement costs for sellers are usually lower than for buyers as there is less paperwork involved.

Keep in mind that conveyancing is a complicated procedure, and it is very common for unexpected expenses to pop up, so always save some money in your budget for these extra costs.

What Do Conveyancing Fees Include?

This is what the average conveyancing fees in the UK in 2022 look like, broken down by specific expenses. 

Legal Fees

Legal fees cover the services provided by your conveyancer and are calculated either at an hourly rate or as a percentage of the property value. For instance, the sale or purchase of a home valued between £200,000 and £300,000 translates to about £1,270 to £1,490 in conveyancing costs in the UK.

You might be offered fixed fee conveyancing, meaning that you will pay the price you got in the initial quote. Even though this might give you the chance to budget more accurately, it can also cause misunderstandings regarding unpredicted costs. Remember, no conveyancing quote can be 100% accurate. 

Some solicitors could offer a ‘no sale, no fee’ guarantee. This means that if the sale does not go through, you will only pay the legal fees for the work your conveyancer did up to that point. You might even find conveyancers willing to waive these fees if you hire them for the purchase or sale of another property. However, you need to be very clear on what the guarantee entails before you agree to this arrangement. 

A conveyancer fee is determined by several factors, such as whether you are buying a freehold or leasehold (how much is left on the lease is a key factor), the value of the property, the type of property (whether it’s a Shared Ownership, Help to Buy or Right to Buy) and whether you are using a solicitor or a conveyancer. 

Buyers and sellers could also opt for the services of an online conveyancer. This is much cheaper, although it doesn’t tend to work out great if more complicated issues arise. 

Disbursements

Although legal fees make up the lion’s share of the overall conveyance fee, the cost of disbursements should also be considered. 

Some of these are fixed, like Land Registry costs, while others depend on the price of the property, such as Stamp Duty. 

Following are the average disbursements conveyancing fees in the UK. 

For the buyer and seller

• Bank transfer fee: £20–£50 

This covers the cost of telegraphic transfer, which guarantees funds reach a certain account on a given day, per the request of your mortgage lender. 

The charge includes what you pay your solicitor for carrying out the transfer and the bank for transferring the funds and only applies for money transfers over £60,000. Anything under that sum can be transferred with no extra costs via BACS.

• Anti-money laundering checks: £5–£20

These are legal checks carried out to verify that your identity and the money you are paying is legit.  

For the seller only

• Copy of the Title deeds: £7

Sellers need to obtain a copy of the deeds. The Title Register and filed Title Plan held at HM Land Registry prove you own the property and also contains any ‘Legal Charges’ or ‘Notices’ registered against the title.

• Unregistered property supplement fee: £120–£240 

Not all properties are registered with the Land Registry, which means more work for the conveyancer and extra costs. 

• Indemnity insurance: £20–£300

This is a policy that protects you against a third party making claims against possible defects with the property you are selling. The conveyancer usually asks the seller to take out this one-off policy to cover them against future liabilities.

• Mortgaged property supplement fee: £50–£150

If you still have a mortgage, your conveyor will need to contact your mortgage lender for the redemption of your mortgage.

For the buyer only 

• Searches: £250–£450

The buyer’s conveyancer should carry out local authority searches and environmental, water and drainage searches to ensure that everything checks out on the property. The cost of these searches averages £290, but it could be higher depending on the location of the property. 

• Property fraud checks: £10

Buyers should confirm that the seller’s solicitors are a real company since you will be sending money to them during the conveyancing process, which they will later transfer to their client. 

• Transferring ownership with Land Registry: £20–£1,105

This is required to register the property in your name, thus finalising the transfer of ownership. The fees depend on the price of the house, whether or not it has been registered before and whether you are applying online or by post. 

• Bankruptcy Check: around £4

This is to check whether the buyer has been declared bankrupt or is near bankruptcy.

• Stamp Duty Land Tax: £3,850 (estimate)

Anyone buying property over £125,000 is required to pay Stamp Duty Tax. This cost is individual to each property as it is charged on a sliding scale, plus different rates apply for first-time homebuyers. You can check the cost here or use an online SDLT calculator. 

You might also need to fill out the Stamp Duty Tax Return form. If your solicitor does this, they could charge you between £20 and £50 for the service.

• Gifted deposit: £50–£100

You might be getting help from your family with your deposit. In this case, you will need to show proof that your gifted deposit comes from a legitimate source, which requires more paperwork.

• Mortgaged property supplement fee: £100–£300 

If you are buying with a mortgage, you will need to cover the cost of your conveyancer liaising with your lender. 

If you are taking out a guarantor mortgage, the conveyancer might charge an extra £150 to £300 plus VAT for the extra paperwork involved. 

• Help to Buy supplement: £200–£300

When you are buying a home under the Help to Buy scheme, your conveyancer will need to do extra work, which will be reflected in the conveyancing fees, meaning you will pay an extra 200 to 300 pounds. If you are buying a leasehold property with Help to Buy, you could end up paying £2,774 in fees. 

• Help to Buy ISA or Lifetime ISA supplement: £50

Those cashing out their Help to Buy or Lifetime ISA will pay another £50 (VAT not included) to redeem their ISA bonus.  

Additional costs 

Other costs that might come up include:

• Delayed completion: You might be required to pay extra if you extend the period between the exchange of contracts and the completion date
• The conveyancer might run additional checks for a new build property 
• It will cost you extra to fast-track the sale

If the conveyancer comes across issues during the searches, such as structural matters or underpinning, and they raise those concerns with the seller’s conveyancer, you might have to pay for the additional legal work involved. 

Do You Need to Pay Extra if You Are Buying a Leasehold Property?

Yes, the final conveyancing fee will be much higher for those purchasing or selling a leasehold property—somewhere in the range of £1,370 and £1,420, but again it depends on how complex the case is. 

In general, the average cost of selling a leasehold is around £1,420, or £200+ more than selling a freehold (an average of £1,270). 

Buying a leasehold is also costlier—legal fees for purchasing a leasehold are estimated at £1,490, whereas buying a freehold costs an average of £1,320 in legal fees. 

These are some of the most common extra costs involved.

For Buyers

• Notice of Transfer or Notice of Assignment (£190) to inform the landlord that you are the new owner of the leasehold. 
• Notice of Charge (£50–£200) to inform the landlord that your mortgage provider has an interest in the property.
• Deed of Covenant (£280). A legally binding document between the buyer and the freeholder detailing the responsibilities of the leaseholder and landlord. 
• Share of freehold purchase—If the leaseholders are buying the freehold as a limited company, there will be extra charges to cover the cost of issuing a new share certificate and submitting it to Companies House.

• Certificate of Compliance (£250) to show that the buyer will adhere to the terms outlined in the lease. 

For Sellers

• Leasehold management information pack (£150–£500). This contains all the information on the leasehold, such as the service charge, details regarding scheduled major works that the leaseholder should contribute to, and whether the leaseholders have applied to purchase the property. 
• Leasehold property supplement fee (£100–£200) to cover the extra work your solicitor puts in when dealing with a leasehold property. 

Keep in mind that other conveyancing costs might come up depending on your unique situation. 

When Do You Pay Conveyancing Fees?

When you pay conveyancing fees depends once again on whether you are buying or selling the property.

Buyers might be required to pay £100–£500 upfront to pay for the searches. The entire sum payable, though, is due after a date has been set to exchange contracts. Stamp Duty and transfer of ownership need to be paid after completion, however, your conveyancer will include this in the bill and pay it afterwards. 

Sellers usually pay the entire fee on completion day, although some conveyancers might require payment of £150 – £500 upfront. Conveyancing solicitors usually deduct their fees and other costs from the sale proceeds. 

How Can I Save On Conveyancing Fees?

For both buyers and sellers in the UK, conveyancing costs can add up quickly. Here are a few tips on how to cut down costs. 

1. Compare quotes 

To get an idea of how much you will pay for conveyancing solicitors’ fees, it’s best to use an online conveyancing quote tool. Also, check what is included in the quote, i.e. whether it is just legal fees or disbursements as well. 

2. Don’t go for the cheapest quote

It might be worthwhile to pay extra for quality service. Conveyancing can be a costly process where mistakes could double or triple the bill, so you need someone you can rely on. That said, the most expensive quote doesn’t mean it’s the best. 

Go for quotes that are closer to the average conveyancing fees in the UK (you can find the list above), as these are likely to be the most transparent and reliable. 

3. Decide if it is worth paying extra, though 

Some solicitors might charge £1,000 to £2,000 on a property under £500k, although you rarely need a high-end conveyancer when selling a property. 

Buyers of houses priced at less than £500,000 could find conveyancers charging between £1,500 to £3,000—if you are buying a leasehold or a new build, it’s worth considering this option. 

4. Don’t hold out on your conveyancer

Being upfront with them about the property will save you a lot of unexpected costs as the process moves forward. 

5. Read the small print

Make sure you are not being charged for something that is not included in the conveyancing process. 

Be aware of any hidden costs, such as PI contributions, archiving files and postage and photocopying charges. All of these should be a part of the basic conveying fee and not be counted as additional charges.

6. Ask questions

If you are not sure about any of the fees listed in the quote, talk to the solicitor before you hire them. 

7. Use the same conveyancer if you are buying and selling

If you are buying and selling at the same time, you can save on conveyancing costs by using the same solicitor for both procedures. 

Final Thoughts

Even though there are some ways to save money, conveyancing is a complex and costly procedure, so it is best to budget for it before you go house hunting or put your property on the market. Compare as many quotes as you can and familiarise yourself with the average conveyancing fees in the UK to ensure that you are not overpaying for services. 

After you find the right conveyancer, try to get weekly updates on how the process is going so you can plan for unexpected costs.