Embarking on the journey of buying or selling a property is undeniably exciting, especially for first-time buyers. However, we acknowledge that it can also be a source of stress, with uncertainties lingering until the final moment of legal completion.
At Wayman & Long, our conveyance solicitors in Suffolk are here to make your property experience seamless and reassuring. From the moment your, or your buyer’s offer is accepted, to the finalisation of the sale, our team will provide dedicated legal support.
Juggling both the sale and purchase of a property can be difficult and we can help you to be well-prepared to avoid any unnecessary delays.
Supporting you through the sale of an existing home, including communicating with the buyer’s solicitor and resolving any legal issues that may arise.
The duration of the conveyancing process is dependent on the efficiency of third parties and
the complexity of the chain. Average conveyance times are as follows
Around 2 months, subject to the speed of third parties and any legal or other issues.
The timelines for conveyances with a chain are subject to the speed of third parties and the specifics of the chain. Typically, we estimate a duration of 3 months for a sale or purchase. Completing the process sooner is considered a bonus, with actual averages hovering around 10 weeks per transaction.
We recognise that having a ballpark idea of the conveyancing costs is crucial. That's why, at Wayman & Long, we prioritise transparency. Our team of conveyance solicitors in Suffolk is committed to providing you with a clear overview of the costs involved and what you can anticipate throughout the conveyancing process.
Unlike other firms, our fixed price property sale fees include:
Our fixed price property purchase fees include the following:
To make life a little easier, we've put together a Search Pack. This is a bundle of the most common searches you would require, including Local Authority search, drainage and water search, environmental search and no search cancel indemnity insurance. The bundle costs £188.30 including VAT.
Ever wondered what happens about your costs if you house sale or purchase falls through? Quite simply, you would still have to pay for any work undertaken.
However, if you've taken out conveyancing insurance (or abortive insurance as it's sometimes called), then you don't have anything else to worry about – the insurance takes care of any solicitors costs, excluding disbursements, you incur. Our conveyancing insurance, only currently available as part of a package, reduces any conveyancing fee to £150.00.
A disbursement is defined as a payment that has to be made to a third party for a service provided or for a statutory required action; for example, local authority searches or land registry fees.
These payments are not part of the solicitor's fee for carrying out your conveyancing. Instead these are separate fees, taxes and charges that are often paid up front when you are buying a property.
Fees for essential property searches, such as those carried out through a local authority or water authorities, are fixed by the provider and your solicitor will not add on anything to that fee. Others, such as Stamp Duty Land Tax and HM Land Registry fees, are calculated according to the value of the property. Your solicitor will be able to give you an estimate of the overall costs involved once the price of the property has been calculated.
Among the most common disbursements you can expect to pay when purchasing a property are:
Stamp Duty Land Tax is actually a disbursement and its cost depends on the property price.
Every land and property transaction in England must be registered at HM Land Registry. This government department charges a compulsory fee for registering the change in ownership, with the fee applied on a sliding scale depending on the price of the property or the mortgage on it. Current fees range from £20 to £910.
Your solicitor must apply to the Land Registry for an official copy of the deeds and an official copy of the filed plan when you are selling your property. Where a document referred to in the official copy is not set out in the official copy, your solicitor will have to obtain an official copy of the document. When you are buying a property, your solicitor will obtain an official copy of the filed plan to use for search purposes, sometimes referred to as the Search Plan.
When you buy a property or re-mortgage your existing home, your solicitor must undertake certain legal searches on the property that reveal more information about the land on which it stands, the surrounding area, environment, water and drainage, and details of any planning applications. Other common searches in England and Wales are chancel repairs and mining and brine mining. Our search company's full search pack is £188.30 including VAT.
When you are buying a property, your solicitor must carry out a search against the names of all buyers and/or borrowers in the Land Charges register. This search will reveal if anyone involved in the purchase is currently bankrupt, is an undischarged bankrupt or is about to be made bankrupt in a pending court action.
A full local search on a property may not be required when you are buying without a mortgage or where your lender agrees. In this instance, your solicitor may recommend that you purchase local search indemnity insurance to protect you against any problems that arise that might otherwise have been revealed in a local search.
Solicitors use indemnity insurance to protect you from any number of issues that could arise and affect your sale or purchase. Common issues are around title deeds, leases, insolvency, restrictive covenants and missing landlords. The solicitor will arrange the insurance and you will pay the premium.
Where the property you are buying is leasehold, you must pay a fee to the freeholder (landlord) or their agent to register you as the new owner and your lender as an interested party. Where a separate management company is involved in managing the lease, you may have to pay a fee to the management company.
When you sell a leasehold property that is subject to management company rules, ground rent payment and service charges, your solicitor will require the specific details of these from the freeholder or Management Company. The management company will charge a fee for providing this information and the fees varies from company to company.
When you are buying a leasehold property where the seller has paid the ground rent and/or service charges for the year in advance, the proportion of that cost that has to be met by you will be agreed by your solicitor and the seller's.
Where you are obtaining a mortgage and the mortgage company requires us to act on their behalf we will charge a fee of £100 plus VAT
If you are part of a long chain, with more than two related transactions we will charge an additional fee of £75 plus VAT. This is in respect of the additional work associated in agreeing timescales for exchange and completion.
If there is a third party solicitor involved in the transaction whom we need to liaise with, we will charge a fee of £150 plus VAT. For example, if you are selling a jointly owned property and the joint owner instructs their own solicitor or if your mortgage company requires their own solicitors.
We would recommend that there is at least a week between exchange and completion to enable you to make your arrangements and to enable us sufficient time to prepare your matter for completion, including requesting up to date redemption figures, preparing the final completion statement to enable us to remit any proceeds to you upon completion and liaising with the third party solicitors to arrange completion.
If there is less than a week between exchange and completion we will charge a fee of £150 plus VAT for prioritising your matter.
If you are selling a property that is is leasehold we will charge a fee of £150 plus VAT in respect of the additional work involved including obtaining a copy of the freeholder's title and liaising with the freeholder to obtain a ground rent receipt and confirmation of their notice fees.
If you are buying a property that is leasehold an additional fee of £150 plus VAT will be charged. This is in respect of the additional correspondence we will need to enter into with the freeholder and/or management company on completion of your purchase.
Please note that for sales or purchases there may also be notice fees and/or consent fees payable to the freeholder and/or management company on leasehold flats and houses. Notice fees and consent fees are charged at cost where applicable.
If you have a mortgage registered against the property you are selling we will charge an additional fee of £100 plus VAT. This fee is for the additional work in obtaining a redemption figure, redeeming the mortgage on completion of your sale, obtaining evidence of the discharge from your lender and providing the evidence to the buyer's solicitors.In addition, if your property is subject to a Help to buy mortgage that is to be redeemed upon completion, an additional £150 VAT will be payable.
If there is a restriction registered against the property title, we will charge a fee of £50 plus VAT to deal with the compliance/removal of the same.
If the property you are selling is shared ownership, we will charge an additional fee of £300 plus VAT. This is for the additional work involved in liaising with the shared owner's solicitors/management company.
Upon completion we will be required to submit the balance required to redeem any existing mortgage to your lender by telegraphic transfer. Our fee for this service is £40 plus VAT. If there is a surplus due back to you, and you require this by way of a telegraphic transfer, a further fee of £40 plus VAT will be payable.
If any funding towards the transaction is being provided by a third party, such as a family member, we will charge a fee of £75 plus VAT. The fee is to cover the cost of our writing to the person providing the funding, checking their identity and their evidence of funds.
In most cases the title to a property will be registered at the Land Registry. Registration of property had become compulsory following a disposition across all of England and Wales since 1990.
If the title to your property is unregistered we will charge an additional fee of £150 plus VAT. This is for the additional work involved in preparing the Epitome of Title to provide to the buyers solicitors with the draft contract.
A Key Undertaking may be required if you agree with your buyers that they will be granted access the property between exchange and completion. The Key Undertaking will set out the basis of any agreement in this regard. We will charge a fee of £50 plus VAT to prepare or review a Key Undertaking.
If the property benefits from solar panels and there is a solar panel lease which needs to be transferred to the buyer we will charge a fee of £125 plus VAT to deal with the assignment of the lease and for entering into correspondence with the solar panel company.
In terms of timescales, these are always dependent upon the speed of third parties and the length and position of the rest of the chain.
Average conveyance times are:
conveyance with no chain – 1 – 2 months
conveyance with chain – In terms of timescales, these are always dependent upon the speed of third parties the length and position of the rest of the chain. However, we usually say 3 months for a sale or purchase, anything less is a bonus (they actually average at about 10 weeks per transaction).
Local Authority search
Drainage and water search
Environmental search
No search chancel
indemnity insurance
For ease we have bundled these together into our Conveyancing Package with one fixed-fee price of £231.90 (including VAT)
If your house sale or purchase falls through, you will still be responsible for covering the expenses associated with any work already undertaken. With conveyancing insurance, (also known as abortive insurance) all your solicitors' costs (excluding disbursements) are covered if your sale or purchase falls through, due to no fault of your own. This insurance, available as part of a package, is just £150.00 plus VAT and adds peace of mind to the process.
These are payments that have to be made to a third party, exclusive of a solicitor’s fees. These include ones carried out through a local authority or water authorities and are fixed by the provider. We will not add on anything to that fee and have bundled the most common ones together into our Conveyancing Package above. Others, such as Stamp Duty Land Tax and HM Land Registry fees, are calculated according to the value of the property. Your solicitor will be able to give you an estimate of the overall costs involved once the price of the property has been calculated.
Usually, the fees for buying or selling a house can be covered in our fixed rates mentioned above. To ensure we have covered everything; possible additional fees and what they cover can be found in our downloadable fees guide here.
Sometimes, issues can arise during either the purchase or sale process, or perhaps after the sale has closed. At this time, you may need support from a property solicitor.
A Transfer of Equity is the legal process required to add or remove someone from the title deeds to land or property. Our experienced team can guide you through the legal complexities and practical considerations of this.
For more information on the house buying process – please get in touch.
For more information on selling your home– please get in touch.
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