Residential Conveyancing Department - People, Services and Fees
Who we are
All of our team are happy to be contacted for a “no obligation” chat. We understand that buying or selling a property is a huge thing to most people so we want you to feel completely comfortable with who you are instructing before you commit. As we do not pay referral fees for our work, we rely on excellent client care for our instructions and we are always happy to talk about how we can add value to our clients’ transaction.
Moira MacfarlanE (File Supervisor)
Moira is a law graduate from Leicester University and joined the firm in 1994 as a trainee. She qualified as a solicitor in 1996 and became a partner with the Firm in 2003 and heads up our Conveyancing Department.
She has over 25 years experience in all aspects of residential conveyancing and Moira’s particular troubleshooting ability is in high demand by her many loyal and repeat clients. Moira has dealt with thousands of residential property transactions, always with patience, good humour and skill.
Moira can be contacted on 01273 666329 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mark Barrett (File Supervisor)
Mark is a partner at Fitzhugh Gates, having qualified as a solicitor in 1989 and joining us in September 2017, having been a senior partner and Head of Commercial Law in Sussex for many years. He heads up our commercial property department and has considerable experience in complex property transactions.
Mark has particular ability in Stamp Duty Land Tax difficulties and untidy or imperfect titles. Mark is always happy to talk to prospective clients.
Mark can be contacted on 01273 467496 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Carla Brunning
Carla joined Fitzhugh Gates Solicitors in early 2019 bringing her wide experience to our busy residential conveyancing department in Shoreham-by-Sea. Having completed a Law and Criminology Degree at the University of Portsmouth in 2012, Carla went on to became a Graduate Chartered Legal Executive in 2015. Having come to law as a mature student, Carla's substantial life experience, as well as the required qualifications, help her deliver a professional and efficient service for her clients. Carla is also seeking Fellowship of the Institute of Legal Executives.
Carla can be contacted on 01273 467475 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Regardless of whom works on your matter they will be supervised by Moira Macfarlane who is head of our Conveyancing Department. Where Moira deals with the matter personally the matter will be supervised by Mark Barrett. |
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Why you should choose to use a regulated practitioner like FHG
Our firm is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). There are many benefits of instructing a qualified and regulated practitioner. These include our adherence to core principles which require us to:
- uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice;
- act with integrity;
- not allow our independence to be compromised;
- act in the best interests of each client;
- provide a proper standard of service to our clients;
- behave in a way that maintains the trust the public places in us and in the provision of legal services;
- comply with our legal and regulatory obligations and deal with our regulators and ombudsmen in an open, timely and co-operative manner;
- run our business or carry out our roles in the business effectively and in accordance with proper governance and sound financial and risk management principles;
- run our business or carry out our roles in the business in a way that encourages equality of opportunity and respect for diversity; and
- protect client money and assets.
Clients of SRA regulated organisations are also protected against negligence and dishonesty by firms and individuals through professional indemnity insurance and compensation arrangements.
We are also CQS accredited – being part of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme.
In all cases we will draw on our past experience of acting in a wide range of similar conveyancing transactions to arrive at the likely time involved in handling your matter. Sometimes we find we have acted in respect of a particular property before; this can be helpful to you as it can reduce the time the transaction takes and the level of our charges set out below.
Our Residential Conveyancing Services and Fees
Please note that all our services are subject to VAT at the current rate of 20%.
• Buying A freehold residential property - Quicklink down the page
• Buying A Leasehold residential property - Quicklink down the page
• Selling A Freehold residential property - Quicklink down the page
• Selling A Leasehold residential property - Quicklink down the page
• Re-Mortgages of freehold and Leasehold residential property - Quicklink down the page
• Equity Release - Quicklink down the page
• Abortive Fees - Quicklink down the page
• Additional non standard charges (including lease extensions) - Quicklink down the page
Our charges - Buying a Freehold or Leasehold Residential Property
Where you are buying and selling freehold or leasehold property our charges will include;
- Verifying your ID and source of funds.
- Taking your instructions and initial advice.
- Where buying, advising and asking for instructions on joint ownership.
- Where selling, assisting you to complete property forms and other sale forms.
- Checking your finances are in place to fund the transaction.
- Obtaining any relevant redemption figures.
- Receiving and advise on any relevant contract documents.
- Carrying out all searches we or the search providers recommend – once we are in funds to do so.
- Obtaining further planning documents where required.
- Where buying, advising on and raising enquiries on the contract pack/any searches with the seller's solicitors.
- Where selling, drafting the contract and transfer and sending the contract pack to the other side.
- Reporting to you and giving advice on all the documents and information received, including any mortgage offer where applicable and management pack where relevant.
- Go through any mortgage conditions with you and ensure you can comply with them.
- Where buying, approving the contract and drafting and providing the Transfer, SDLT Form and any mortgage deed for you to sign subject to lender requirements.
- Once we have all signed documents and the deposit (if applicable) we will ask for your authority to exchange and agree a completion date with you (the date you will own the property).
- Exchanging contracts and notify you that this has happened.
- Where buying, apply for the mortgage funds from your lender (if applicable) and request balance we need from you to complete (if applicable).
- Conducting all necessary pre-completion searches.
- Providing a completion statement setting out the financial side of the transaction.
- Assuminging we receive all funds to complete from you/the lender we will complete the purchase and/or sale on the agreed completion date.
- Following completion (the date you can move in or must move out by) we will deal with payment of any SDLT/Land Tax (Wales).
- Where buying, following the payment of tax (if applicable) we will register the transfer and mortgage if applicable at the land registry.
- Where buying, once registration of title/mortgage is complete we will send you a copy of the updated register and send a copy to your lender if required.
- Accounting to you for any sums due to you after payment of our charges including VAT and all costs relating to your matter that are payable to third parties (see below).
We hope you will understand that in complex or unusual property transactions it is not always possible to be precise about our charges, as we need to know the detail of what is involved. Accordingly, the likely number of hours required to complete the task may initially be unknown and in those cases our guide to charges can only be indicative. We will always endeavour to tell you at the earliest opportunity if anything is likely to affect the cost of the transaction to you.
Buying freehold residential property to include acting for the lender |
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| Purchase Price | Our Charges |
| £0 to £500,000 | £850 to £1,100 plus VAT |
| £500,001 to £800,000 | £1,100 to £1,300 plus VAT |
| £800,001 to £1m | £1,300 to £1,750 plus VAT |
| £1m and above | from £1,750 plus VAT |
Buying Leasehold residential property to include acting for the lender |
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| Purchase Price | Our Charges |
| £0 to £500,000 | £950 to £1,200 plus VAT |
| £500,001 to £800,000 | £1,200 to £1,450 plus VAT |
| £800,001 to £1m | £1,450 to £1,750 plus VAT |
| £1m and above | from £1,750 plus VAT |
In freehold and leasehold purchases, there is an additional fee for completing and submitting an SDLT form (if no reliefs need to be considered or there is mixed use) of £95 plus VAT and our bank charges us £9 for an urgent electronic transfer of funds to another bank account, or £17.50 for an international transfer. In addition, we charge £20 plus VAT at 20% for electronic transfer of funds (TT), for an international transfer and for a faster payment (FP) to clients or third parties.
If it is necessary to consider reliefs or there is mixed use, there will be a further charge depending on complexity which will be advised at the time.
Search fees – where buying leasehold or freehold
These include a local search, water search, home buyers (environmental search) and plan search.
These can vary from council to council but typically this search package is in the region of £300.00 - £400.00 plus VAT
Chancel Search Indemnity insurance policy £20.
Additional searches
Additional searches are available and recommended in some areas and typically include;
- Flood search estimated - £25.00
- Radon Search - £10.00
- Mining/Tin Searches - £60.00 to £80.00
- Ground sure Energy Searches - £30.00
- Ground stability Searches - £30.00
- HS2/Cross Rail Searches - £30.00
(NB. These searches are plus VAT)
Once you have provided the address that you are buying we will ask our search providers for a list of any further recommended searches and update any estimate we have given you. Therefore the above figures are given as guidance only as searches can depend on the property and its location.
We electronically submit our Land Registry applications where we are able to do so saving our clients 50% of the fee.
If we have to submit the application to register a purchase by post such as at first registration of the title, the transfer of a part or the registration of a new lease then the higher rate of Land Registry fees apply.
The full list and amounts of Land Registry fees can be seen here: www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees
Stamp Duty Land Tax
This depends on the purchase price and other factors such as:
- If the buyer is a first time buyer - no SDLT payable up to £300,000.00 and then 5% on the portion from £300,001.00 to £500,000.00.
- If the buyer is buying this as a buy to let investment/second home higher rates of tax apply.
- If this is a shared ownership property.
You can calculate the amount you need to pay by using the link to HMRC website here: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates
Please note once you have completed our SDLT questionnaire we can provide more detailed advice on stamp duty land tax rates as there may be adjustments for mixed use/multiple dwelling relief etc. This work will be carried out at our hourly rates with your prior agreement. We also have links to accountants who can perform an assessment for you at an agreed fee depending on the complexity and nature of the relief for which you are applying.
Other Disbursements - where Buying
These are costs payable to third parties like Land Registry fees and search fees mentioned above. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Some lenders on the LMS Panel/ULS Panel charge a £35.00 plus VAT (£42 inc. VAT) fee for administering their website per purchase and this cost is passed to you.
If you are buying a new build property you usually have to pay the seller's solicitors an engrossment of document fee – typically £150.00 to £250.00. This is set by the Contract itself and we would not know the figure until we received the Contract papers.
Land Registry Searches are £2.00 plus VAT per buyer/gift provider and £3.00 plus VAT per pre-completion search.
VAT
VAT is payable.
Additional Disbursements in leasehold transactions
Other anticipated disbursements are a Notice of Transfer fee which is set out in the lease or set by the managing agents/ freeholder. We are unable to provide a figure for that charge until we receive the relevant information. Normally it is between £75.00 to £100.00 plus VAT per notice.
A Deed of Covenant fee is charged by the freeholder/managing agent of the property and can be difficult to estimate as the fee is not set by the lease and will be in the management pack. When we receive that pack we can advise on it.
A certificate of compliance and/or application for membership fee is to be confirmed upon receipt of the lease or management pack. Again we cannot say what this is in advance but it can range between £100.00 to £150.00 plus VAT per certificate or application.
These fees vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the ranges given above. We can provide a more accurate figure once we have sight of the relevant documents.
How long will my house or flat purchase take?
We do all we can to move things along for you. The time it takes to get you to completion depends on how long the chain is. Only when the chain is complete which means when all parties are ready to buy and sell can we provide an estimate of the timescale. The average process once the chain is complete for a freehold purchase takes between 8 to 12 weeks. We can only progress as quickly as the slowest party or their adviser in the chain.
Leasehold purchases can typically take longer as we require the management pack and to check the terms of the lease. An average timescale for a leasehold purchase once the chain is complete can be between 8 to 14 weeks.
It can be quicker or slower depending on the parties in the chain, the length of the chain, whether there are any complications such as completing a lease extension as part of the process, or if we have to deal with any defects in the title. Such complications will increase the typical time it takes to complete occasionally by some months. We will keep you informed of timing as matters progress.
Our charges - Sale of a Freehold Property
Our fees cover all work required to complete the sale of your home up to and including redemption of the mortgage (if sufficient funds) and paying the estate agents (if agreed) and accounting to you for net sale proceeds (if any) on completion.
Sale of A freehold residential property |
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| Purchase Price | Our Charges |
| £0 to £500,000 | £800 to £875 plus VAT |
| £500,001 to £800,000 | £875 to £975 plus VAT |
| £800,001 to £1m | £975 to £1,200 plus VAT |
| £1m and above | from £1,200 plus VAT |
Disbursements - Freehold sale
- Copy Land Registry Title £6.00 to £20.00 plus VAT.
- Bankruptcy search £2.00 plus VAT per owner and gift provider plus per executors or attorney where applicable.
- Electronic money transfer fee. Our bank charges us £9 for an urgent electronic transfer of funds to another bank account, or £17.50 for an international transfer. In addition, we charge £20 plus VAT at 20% for electronic transfer of funds (TT), for an international transfer and for a faster payment (FP) to clients or third parties.
- Copy planning/ building regulations if required – approximately £20.00 to £80.00. We are unable to give accurate estimates until we know what documents may be needed by the buyers and each council charges different fees.
- Estate Agent's fee – you are to agree this direct with estate agents when you instruct them.
Our charges - Sale of a Leasehold Property
Our fees cover all work required to complete the sale of your home up to and including redemption of the mortgage (if sufficient funds) and paying the estate agents (if agreed ) and accounting to you for net sale proceeds (if any) on completion.
Sale of A Leasehold residential property |
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| Purchase Price | Our Charges |
| £0 to £500,000 | £800 to £950 plus VAT |
| £500,001 to £800,000 | £950 to £1,250 plus VAT |
| £800,001 to £1m | £1,250 to £1,500 plus VAT |
| £1m and above | from £1,500 plus VAT |
Disbursements - Leasehold sale
- Copy Land Registry Title £6.00 to £30.00 plus VAT (We may need to obtain copy freehold titles and the lease of the flat and any deeds of variation).
- Bankruptcy search £2.00 plus VAT per owner, or per executors or attorney where applicable.
- Management pack – the cost of this depends on the freeholders’/managing agents’ charges so we cannot provide an accurate estimate until we have an estimate from the relevant party. As a guide these fees can range between £250.00 to £450.00 inclusive of VAT.
- Deed of covenant/Certificate of Compliance – some managing agents expect the seller not the buyer to pay for these. When we see the management pack we can provide a definite estimate. Typically these are between £75.00 to £150.00 plus VAT per deed or certificate.
- Electronic money transfer fee. Our bank charges us £9 for an urgent electronic transfer of funds to another bank account, or £17.50 for an international transfer. In addition, we charge £20 plus VAT at 20% for electronic transfer of funds (TT), for an international transfer and for a faster payment (FP) to clients or third parties.
- Copy planning/ building regulations if required are around £20.00 to £80.00. We can give accurate estimates when we know what documents may be needed by the buyers. Each council charges different fees and we may be required to get copy planning agreements.
- Estate Agent's fee – you are to agree this direct with estate agents when you instruct them.
How long will my sale take?
Each case is different and depends upon a number of factors. Usually sales can be quicker than purchases and freehold sales are usually quicker than leasehold sales. In leasehold sales obtaining the management pack can take some weeks and if there are any defects in the lease you are selling or the it needs extending, this will further delay matters.
If the buyers require a mortgage offer and there are delays in them receiving the search results then this too will delay us progressing your matter.
As a rough estimate, if there are no complications and the chain is complete sales typically complete within 8-10 weeks following instruction.
Re-mortgage of a Property
Our fees cover the work required to complete the re-mortgage of your property to include dealing with the new lender's requirements and redeeming your current mortgage assuming there are sufficient funds.
If Freehold:
Re-Mortgage of A Freehold residential property |
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| Purchase Price | Our Charges |
| £0 to £500,000 | £650 to £695 plus VAT |
| £500,001 to £800,000 | £695 to £775 plus VAT |
| £800,001 to £1m | £775 to £975 plus VAT |
| £1m and above | from £975 plus VAT |
If Leasehold add a further £100.00 plus VAT for checking the lease and the management information.
Stages anticipated in a re-mortgage and included in our standard fee are:
- Verifying your ID.
- Taking your instructions and initial advice.
- Asking you to complete a re-mortgage questionnaire and requesting monies on account.
- Upon receipt of monies obtain a copy of the legal title and any other relevant documents from the land registry including the lease where applicable.
- Where leasehold, obtain a limited management pack from the freeholder/managing agents.
- Obtain the searches as required by the lender. Most lenders require these and will not accept search indemnity.
- Checking the legal title, any lease, management pack and search results are acceptable to the lender.
- Obtaining a redemption statement from your current lender if applicable.
- Reporting to you on the new mortgage terms and the search results and ask you to sign the new mortgage Deed.
- If we can comply with the lender's requirements and you are happy to proceed we will apply for the mortgage funds for a date you agree.
- Conducting pre-completion land registry searches.
- We will prepare a completion statement showing any monies due to you/from you.
- Upon completion of the re mortgage assuming we have received the mortgage funds/ monies from you (if required) we will redeem the current mortgage and account to you for any net sale proceeds (if applicable).
- Registering the new mortgage at the land Registry and send you a copy of the updated Title Register and a copy to the new lender if required.
- Notifying the managing agents/freeholder of the change of lender (see additional fee below).
Disbursements–re-mortgage
- Lenders may insist on the searches being renewed such as Local water and homebuyers plus the no chancel search insurance – circa £350.00.
- The Land Registry fee is based upon the value of the re-mortgage but at a lower fee scale than a purchase. See the link to HMLR scale 2 above.
- We will need a copy Land Registry title at £6.00 plus VAT.
- We must do a bankruptcy search at a cost of £2.00 plus VAT per borrower.
- The other disbursements are office copy entries freehold and leasehold and office copy lease if required £20.00 to 30.00 plus VAT.
- A leasehold management pack can cost around £200.00 plus VAT. Each case is different and this is just an estimate as it could be more or less than this.
- Notice of charge fee – payable to the managing agents/lender – say £40.00 to £100.00 plus VAT. This is a guide only as until we have the management pack we do not know what the charge will be; it could be more or less.
How long will my Re-mortgage take?
This depends on a number of factors and what conditions your lender imposes on the mortgage offer. Following receipt of the mortgage offer if we must wait for paperwork from third parties such as managing agents or search providers we cannot complete the re-mortgage. As an estimate if there are no complications or defects in the title or lease, adverse search or delays in obtaining search results, re-mortgages can take from 4 to 6 weeks from receipt of a mortgage offer.
Equity Release – where we just advise on the Equity Release product
These are regarded as high risk cases and as such we must advise the clients in writing before we meet them so the clients are fully aware of our advice before our meeting and have time to consider such advice.
Equity Release from residential property |
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| Sum | Our Charges |
| Any | £825 to £1,250 plus VAT |
A typical equity release where we act for you and the lender has separate representation and does not require us to provide searches, deal with title enquiries or register the equity release at the Land Registry will include the following:
- Verifying your ID.
- Take your instructions and initial advice and checking the advice of your Independent Financial Advisor.
- Requesting monies on account.
- Once we are in funds we will provide a letter of advice on the equity release product and associated documents you are to sign.
- Following this letter of advice if you are happy to proceed we will meet you and ask you to sign the loan documentation in our presence.
- If we can comply with the lender’s requirements and we are happy that you are making an informed choice, we will complete the paperwork necessary for the lender’s solicitors to request the equity release.
- If you have a current mortgage on the property we will obtain a redemption statement.
- We will comply with the lender’s solicitor’s requirements and conduct any necessary pre-completion searches.
- Upon receipt of the equity release funds we will redeem any mortgage (if requested to do so by the equity release provider and if there are sufficient funds) and account to you for any net sale proceeds.
Disbursements – Equity release
In these cases the lender's solicitors will not require the usual searches such as local, water and so on. They will also deal with the registration of the charge at the Land Registry.
The disbursements are limited to office copy entries at £6.00 plus VAT and bankruptcy searches at £2.00 plus VAT per borrower.
In addition to this our bank charges us £9 for an urgent electronic transfer of funds to another bank account, or £17.50 for an international transfer. In addition, we charge £20 plus VAT at 20% for electronic transfer of funds (TT), for an international transfer and for a faster payment (FP) to clients or third parties.
Equity Release where the lenders require additional information
If the lender requests us to deal with their solicitor's list of requirements this will involve extra work and include having to conduct the usual searches as detailed above and to apply for registration of the charge
In such cases our fees will increase by £350.00 to £450.00 plus VAT depending on the complexity of the lender’s solicitors requirements.
The anticipated additional disbursements in these cases will include the searches estimated at £350.00.to £400.00. They could be more or less depending on the local council and the lender’s requirements.
The Land Registry fee for registering the Charge on Scale 2 basis is based upon the amount of the loan being obtained – see HMLR link above.
If the equity release relates to a leasehold property we may need to serve a Notice of Charge on the managing agents/freeholders. Each case is different and we can only provide an estimate until we receive any management pack but typically say £40.00 to £80.00 plus VAT.
How long will my equity release take?
This will depend on whether we are just providing advice on the loan or whether we are dealing with the lender’s solicitors requirements.
In the former case, from receipt of the mortgage instructions these types of loans typically take between 4-6 weeks to complete if there are no complications.
In the latter, these are dependent on how onerous the lender's solicitors requirements are but typically take between 6-10 weeks from receipt of the mortgage instructions.
Abortive Fees
We fully appreciate that if a matter is abortive you will probably have incurred expenses such as searches, surveyor's fees etc. Therefore as a firm we offer to reduce our fees in these cases. In such cases we charge our fees at only 50% of the time spent up to the date the matter proves abortive. We will provide you with a breakdown of such fees prior to invoicing you. In any event the fees will not exceed any estimate given at the outset of the matter or any revised estimate provided during the matter (as applicable).
All of our charge estimates assume
It is a standard transaction and no unforeseen matters arise including for example (but not limited to) a defect in title which requires remedying prior to completion or the preparation of additional documents ancillary to the main transaction at the end of the transaction and:
- It is an assignment of an exiting lease and not the grant of a new lease.
- That completion takes place on the date fixed following exchange of contracts.
- That none of the additional non standard fees apply as below.
- That all parties are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties providing documentation or requiring unusual chasing.
- That no indemnity policies are required to deal with any defects in title.
- VAT.
- That the Property you are selling/buying is registered at the Land Registry.
- That you have an unconditional mortgage offer.
- This is not an auction purchase.
- We act for the Lender and the lender does not have separate representation.
Additional non standard charges for freehold/leasehold
- If a new build freehold purchase - £250.00 to £350.00 plus VAT.
- If new build leasehold purchase - £300.00 to £400.00 plus VAT.
- If buying with a gifted deposit - £100.00 plus VAT per gift provider if not joint (such as parents) for drafting gifted deposit letter and complying with lender's requirements or obtaining lender's clearance.
- If we have to prepare a deed of covenant on sale or purchase - £75.00 plus VAT.
- If we have to obtain or prepare a certificate of compliance for the Land Registry on sale or purchase - £75.00 plus VAT per certificate.
- If we have to obtain the Help to Buy ISA for you - £50.00 plus VAT per ISA application.
- Shared ownership freehold purchase - £200.00 to £300.00 plus VAT.
- Shared ownership leasehold purchase - £300.00 to £400.00 plus VAT.
- Approving a lease extension on purchase - £350.00 to £450.00 plus VAT.
- Approving a lease extension on sale - £ 250.00 to £350.00 plus VAT.
- If property being sold is unregistered ( preparing the Epitome ) - £250.00 to £350.00 plus VAT.
- If property being bought is unregistered - £300.00 to £400.00 plus VAT.
- Obtaining and advising on indemnity policies e.g. freehold or leasehold - £75.00 plus VAT per policy if a standard self issue policy.
- If we have to obtain a bespoke indemnity policy - £150.00 plus VAT per policy.
- Serving a notice of transfer / charge - £50.00 plus VAT per notice.
- Obtaining a new share in a freehold company - £75.00 plus VAT.
- Transferring the share of freehold to the buyer where personally owned – on a sale £50.00 to £150.00 plus VAT.
- Transferring a share of freehold where personally owned on a purchase and to include registration of the transfer at the land registry - £100.00 plus VAT.
- Help to buy scheme – Government second charge - £300.00 plus VAT.
- For preparing a statutory declaration for say lost deeds/lack of access rights or non revocation of power of attorney - £ 100.00 to £250.00 plus VAT per declaration (depending on the complexity).
- Discharging a second charge - £75.00 plus VAT per charge.
- Obtaining a consent to dealing from lender- if transfer or lease of part - £75.00 to £150.00 plus VAT.
- Approving a TP1 Transfer of part on purchase - £150.00 to £250.00 plus VAT.
- Drafting a TP1 on sale (depending on complexity £150.00 to £450.00 plus VAT once we know what provisions are required we can provide a more accurate estimate as depends on complexity.
- Drafting an RX form to enter or remove a restriction at the Land Registry - £75.00 plus VAT per Form.
- Right to buy purchase - £75.00 plus VAT.
- Drafting a new lease on a sale £350.00 to £550.00 per flat – depending on complexity.
- Drafting a Declaration of Trust – depending on complexity £300.00 to £450.00 plus VAT.
- ID1 for a client that is not a client of the firm £200.00 to £250.00 plus VAT.
- Adult occupier independent advice £200.00 to £250.00 plus VAT.
- Advising on a bank guarantee independent advice £400.00 to £600.00 plus VAT depending on lender’s requirements.
- Electronic verification of any parties £6.00 plus VAT (disbursement) plus £25.00 plus VAT, our charge of doing a check on third parties (non clients).
- Law Firm Bank account Checker £10.00 plus VAT (disbursement) plus £15.00 plus VAT, our charge of doing the check.
The above charges are based on our current hourly rates which are set out below. Additional work that does not fall within those ranges or charges will be charged by reference to time spent.
Current Hourly Rates |
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| Person | Hourly rate |
| Moira MacFarlane | £285 plus VAT (£342) |
| Mark Barrett | £285 plus VAT (£342) |
| Carla Brunning | £250 plus VAT (£300) |
These rates are reviewed and updated annually. Clients with matters in progress will be notified of any changes before they take effect.
Our aim is always to ensure that our fees are fair and reasonable and to balance the legitimate expectations of our clients and commercial return so that we can continue to provide a viable quality service. Our fees have regard to all the circumstances of each case but in particular to:-
- the complexity of the matter and the difficulty or novelty of the questions raised;
- the skill, labour, specialised knowledge and responsibility involved;
- the time spent on the matter;
- the number and importance and complexity of the documents prepared or reviewed;
- the amount or value of any money assets or property involved;
- whether any land involved is registered land;
- the importance of the matter to the client; and
- any agreed fee range or fixed charge.
A hard copy of this information is available on request via our reception.