How Much Are Conveyancing Fees In Chipping Sodbury And Thornbury?
Back in the day, it was difficult to find out the conveyancing legal fees and costs of selling or buying a house.
When asked about their fees, Conveyancing Solicitors would either grind their teeth, pucker their lips p-style take a sharp intake of breath or just simply a quizzical shrug of the shoulders.
Sometimes no doubt all four!
Today, there is really no excuse.
You can find out how much conveyancing fees and costs will be at the tip of your finger or more accurately, at the point of your mouse.
What you may find strange in this internet connected world is how so far so few law firms have decided to put their Conveyancing fees on their websites. Why?
Something to hide perhaps, too inconvenient, too many deals with third parties, too squeamish or just shy and retiring? Who knows?
What we’ll try and do is lift the lid on conveyancing fees and costs for you so as to take out any uncertainty you might have. This will allow you to easily budget for your next move.
Why Conveyancers should publish their fees for buying or selling.
There is a lot of consumer debate over law firms and published prices.
The Competition and Markets Authority has recommended lawyers display their prices more prominently so customers and clients know what they will be paying.
We’ve always been firm believers in publishing our Conveyancing fees upfront and have done so for many years.
We have always provided fixed fees as well, with a guarantee there would be no unforeseeen surprises at the end of the sale or purchase. So long in fact, if you type into your search engine “guaranteed fixed fees with no hidden extras” can you guess what might appear fist in the listings?
The point is that if I am researching say a hotel or a holiday I would want to know the cost involved as part of my research. I do not understand why Solicitors feel they should be any different and deny prospects that opportunity.
Some law firms offer the opportunity to engage with the firm by email. The nature of the internet lends itself to instant information.
In our experience people who are researching the legal fees for moving home do so at a time when the offices are closed. How frustrating not to get what you are looking for?
What about payments to third parties and not just conveyancing fees?
You know when you hear the phrase legal fees on their move a lot of people tend to lump together everything, fees, stamp duty searches or in conveyancing jargon “disbursements.”
And that is fair enough because the Government through Stamp Duty means that the total costs of moving home rather than being in the hundreds are now well into the thousands.
We prefer the easier to understand “Payments to Third Parties”. For more on conveyancing jargon see our guide here.
Most online conveyancing calculators do a comprehensive job of listing disbursements. So along with the Conveyancing fees you will get a comprehensive list of all the other payments you will need to make.
What Do Conveyancing Fees Actually Include?
This varies between firms.
Some will give a global fee, some will give a standard fee with a menu of other possible fees depending on circumstances. You pay for only what you use or need, if you like.
Global fees will, in general, be higher as you may be subsiding others whose sales and purchases are more complicated.
We don’t like that approach.
We want to give certainty when you use our Conveyancing service.
We want you to have the comfort and peace of mind that there will be no nasty price shocks at the end of your move.
We provide a Fixed Fee Quotation and not just an estimate that many law firms do.
We take all the risk out for you with a fixed fee so it does not make any difference how long or how complex or complicated your move becomes.
You get the benefit of Guaranteed Fixed Legal Fees with No Hidden Extras.
Where your sale or purchase involves additional documents or investigation or you ask us to carry out additional services, any additional fees paid by you will be on the same Guaranteed Fixed Fee basis.
If anything crops up in your Conveyancing transaction, which is not covered, you will simply not be charged.
What are the those other legal costs involved?
There are some other costs which are unavoidable when you move home.
1. Stamp Duty
Or to give it the correct title Stamp Duty Land Tax. The name was changed by Chancellor Gordon Brown a few years back. It was one of his tax changes that didn’t quite make his budget speech but turned up in the small print later.
It is, in fact, a new tax and different to the old Stamp Duty, which was first levied in the late 17th Century to build up the war chest for a war against France.
How much is Stamp Duty?
Before 2014 a ‘slab structure’ was in place. Buyers paid stamp duty on the whole property purchase price.
The law changed to a tiered structure so the tax is now payable only on that portion of a property price which falls within each band.
It changed again in 2016.
There is now a twin track system for the payment of Stamp Duty.
You pay one rate where you do not already own a home (or other than the one you live in) and one rate where you pay an additional tax where you already own a home (and, that home does not have to be in the England and Wales it can be anywhere in the world.) In this later category, since April 2016, property buyers in England and Wales have had to pay an additional 3% in each stamp duty band.
The Government’s Stamp Duty Land Tax calculator can work out the good or bad news for you. The following example is used on its website:
|
Property Value |
SDLT rate |
|---|---|
|
Up to £125,000 |
Zero |
|
The next £125,000 (the portion from £125,001 to £250,000) |
2% |
|
The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000) |
5% |
|
The next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million) |
10% |
|
The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million) |
12% |
Example:
If you buy a house for £275,000, the SDLT you owe is calculated as follows:
0% on the first £125,000 = £0
2% on the next £125,000 = £2,500
5% on the final £25,000 = £1,250
Total SDLT = £3,750
If you are liable for the “additional” property Stamp Duty then the tax is calculated as follows
|
Property Value |
SDLT rate |
|---|---|
|
Up to £125,000 |
|
|
The next £125,000 (the portion from £125,001 to £250,000) |
|
|
The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000) |
|
|
The next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million) |
|
|
The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million) |
|
Using the same example:
If you buy an “additional” house for £275,000, the SDLT you owe is calculated as follows:
3% on the first £125,000 = £3,750
5% on the next £125,000 = £6,250
8% on the final £25,000 = £2,000
Total SDLT = £12,000
How Much Are Search Fees?
Search fees tend to be lumped together and will include Local Authority Searches and ancillary searches such as Water and Drainage, Flooding and Environmental and possibly Coal, Tin or Brine searches depending on what area of the country you live in.
You should budget between £250 to £350.
What about Other Third Party Fees?
You will be charged for electronic transfer of funds and for money laundering checks as well as certification of other Conveyancers. This latter one has arisen because of online fraud and bogus law firms.
How Much Are Conveyancing Fees in Chipping Sodbury, Yate and Thornbury?
We’ve saved you time by highlighting the Conveyancers in South Gloucestershire who have put their fees upfront and online without the need for you to contact them for that information.
We would like to applaud them for doing so as they, like we, are in a minority.
You can access the Wards online conveyancing calculator here.
You can see how much Henriques Griffiths charge for Conveyancing here.
And here we are.
Some Other Tips On What To Look Out For When Choosing Your Conveyancers
1. Conveyancing Quotation or Conveyancing Estimate
It is easy to If it is a conveyancing quotation it should be exactly that!
2. Conveyancing Fees from £99 or £199
If it is too good to be true – then it is and it doesn’t exist.
So, don’t be fooled by such low numbers – you have more chance of winning the lottery than being charged a final legal bill of £99 or £195.
There will be so many caveats and conditions you really would be wasting your time.
But, you knew that, right?
3. A give-before-you-get law firm.
Countless surveys show that only about 20% of the public choose a Conveyancer based purely on price.
Customer experience is something that you will unlikely find in a simple Conveyancing quote.
4. Clients Ask: We Answer
We demystify the Conveyancing process – clients ask and we answer their Conveyancing questions and problems.
We are your trusted advisor providing a complete online resource of information and tools designed to help the home buying and selling process as smooth and stress-free as possible.
We provide free conveyancing information in video, blogs, free guides, eBooks, Infographics, Slideshare presentations and other downloads enabling our clients to build up their own knowledge in this area – rapidly and reliably and to be fully informed and comfortable with Conveyancing.
So there you have it.
We‘ve given you the information and the options and now it’s up to you.
We demystify the process and make Conveyancing accessible and more easily digested.
We love sharing our knowledge and expertise in a way that informs, educates (and sometimes even entertains) you before you make any decision.
And, if you need any help with a question or problem we will be happy to help, entirely without obligation.
Now you’ve read this, how about these…
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