Residential Real Estate

We can advise on a vast range of legal matters across the residential property sector in a cost-effective and professional manner.

Across London and the South East, billions of pounds worth of property transactions occur every single year. This confirms that property investors are confident. Our expert property team will get your deal completed successfully

Whether you are based in the UK or overseas, we make buying a home or purchasing an investment property as straightforward as we can. Our insight into local markets results in effective residential real estate advice, which allows things to move quicker. We can also help you if you are a project investor or developer with sales, purchases and financing.

We have special expertise in large estates and agricultural properties if this ever an area you need assistance in.

Sale and purchase (conveyancing)
Equity release
Joint ownership
Mortgages and remortgages
Pre-auction advice
Right to buy and shared ownership
Loan agreements
Transfer of equity
Living together and cohabitation
Property tax advice
New build
Agricultural land
Acting for Freeholders
Acting for Leaseholders
Freehold Disposals

In the Press

TW Business Magazine October 24 by TWBM - Issuu - Page 60

Our residential property team is experienced in all types of real estate transactions including conveyancing, equity release, shared ownership, transfer of equity, pre-auction advice, mortgages & re-mortgages and more.

Our residential property team are under the supervision of Vikki Herbert, herself an experienced property solicitor and partner at the firm.

Please see the biographies of our team.

Our fees

In most cases, we offer a fixed fee for standard sale and purchase of UK residential property. Our dedicated new business team are on hand to offer you an immediate quote over the phone based on your circumstances – call us on 020 8290 0440 today.

Our fees for acting on a sale, purchase and/or mortgage of a property vary. We state the range below likely to be charged in various types of straightforward transactions and some of the factors that may result in a fee at the higher or lower end of the range or in the stated range not being applicable.

Freehold & Leasehold Sale

Legal Fees	Non Partner	VAT	Total	Partner	VAT	Total
FREEHOLD
£250,000 to £399,999	£1,200	£240	£1,440	£1,325	£265	£1,590
£400,000	£1,200	£240	£1,440	£1,325	£265	£1,590
£400,001 to £599,999	£1,300	£260	£1,560	£1,375	£275	£1,650
£600,000	£1,300	£260	£1,560	£1,425	£285	£1,710
£600,001 to £750,000	£1,400	£280	£1,680	£1,500	£300	£1,800
£751,000 to £800,000	£1,500	£300	£1,800	£1,600	£320	£1,920
£800,001 to £1,000,000	£1,525	£305	£1,830	£1,650	£330	£1,980
£1,000,001 to £1,250,000	£1,825	£365	£2,190	£2,000	£400	£2,400
LEASEHOLD
£250,000 to £399,999	£1,500	£300	£1,800	£1,550	£310	£1,860
£400,000	£1,500	£300	£1,800	£1,550	£310	£1,860
£400,001 to £599,999	£1,500	£300	£1,800	£1,550	£310	£1,860
£600,000	£1,600	£320	£1,920	£1,650	£330	£1,980
£600,001 to £750,000	£1,700	£340	£2,040	£1,750	£350	£2,100
£751,000 to £800,000	£1,700	£340	£2,040	£1,750	£350	£2,100
£800,001 to £1,000,000	£1,700	£340	£2,040	£1,750	£350	£2,100
£1,000,000.00 to £1,250,000	£2,000	£400	£2,400	£2,250	£450	£2,700

Freehold & Leasehold Purchase

Legal Fees	Non Partner	VAT	Total	Partner	VAT	Total
FREEHOLD
£250,000 to £399,999	£1,300	£260	£1,560	£1,325	£265	£1,590
£400,000	£1,300	£260	£1,560	£1,375	£275	£1,650
£400,001 to £599,999	£1,375	£275	£1,650	£1,425	£285	£1,710
£600,000	£1,425	£285	£1,710	£1,500	£300	£1,800
£600,001 to £750,000	£1,425	£285	£1,710	£1,500	£300	£1,800
£751,000 to £800,000	£1,600	£320	£1,920	£1,795	£359	£2,154
£800,001 to £1,000,000	£1,695	£339	£2,034	£2,000	£400	£2,400
£1,000,001 to £1,250,000	£2,000	£400	£2,400	£2,250	£450	£2,700
LEASEHOLD
£250,000 to £399,999	£1,750	£350	£2,100	£1,950	£390	£2,340
£400,000	£1,750	£350	£2,100	£1,950	£390	£2,340
£400,001 to £599,999	£1,750	£350	£2,100	£1,950	£390	£2,340
£600,000	£2,000	£400	£2,400	£2,575	£515	£3,090
£600,001 to £750,000	£2,000	£400	£2,400	£2,750	£550	£3,300
£751,000 to £800,000	£2,000	£400	£2,400	£2,750	£550	£3,300
£800,001 to £1,00,000	£2,000	£400	£2,400	£2,750	£550	£3,300
£1,000,001 to £1,250,000	£2,500	£500	£3,000	£3,000	£600	£3,600

*Add £500 as a fixed fee for any listed buildings, sale or purchase

These ranges relate to the conveyancing process for a single residential property. In the case of mortgages, they assume the borrower is the same person/entity as the property owner. They are also based on no complex structuring being involved. Some of our transactions are more complex than this and so will incur higher costs.

The factors that make a case more complex or vary the costs include:

there being defects in legal title, planning breaches or other legal problems that need to be resolved;
the property being newly or recently built or refurbished with negotiations over contractual recourse for defects to the original contractor, developer or seller;
the property being unregistered and/or leasehold, whether the matter involves a sale or a purchase;
on sales, the extent and nature of the questions asked by the purchaser’s lawyers;
the length of time required to complete the transaction;
the level of client involvement required, and the seniority of our personnel required to be involved by the client;
whether we visit the property;
whether the property is purchased subject to a tenancy agreement or with vacant possession;
whether consents from any third party (typically but not always a landlord) are required and whether that third party attaches conditions to that consent;
specific non-standard terms agreed by the parties that need to be catered for in the documents; and
on a mortgage, our being able to act for both the borrower and the lender.
If the transaction involves Shared Ownership.
If the financing involves a second or subsequent charge
Use of the Help To Buy scheme

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs we incur on your behalf, such as Land Registry fees and Search fees. These are variable costs we pay on your behalf to third parties. We can estimate these at the outset and they will appear on our invoice to you. Usually on a purchase these will include:

search fees vary from £200 - £500 plus VAT depending on the local authority
Land Registry registration fees which could range between £20 and £910 .

The fee ranges set out above cover all work in relation to the following key stages of a straightforward purchase, sale and mortgage:

taking your instructions and providing an overview of the transaction and process;
drafting or reviewing the contract/mortgage deed/transfer deed and (where appropriate) negotiating its terms;
undertaking due diligence (to include but not limited to a title review, commissioning and reviewing appropriate property searches, raising appropriate enquiries and reviewing replies) or responding to the purchaser’s or lender’s enquires about the property;
taking appropriate legal steps to correct or mitigate defects in title;
advising you on the terms of the transactional documents, reporting to you on our due diligence exercise and advising as to stamp duty land tax payable;
obtaining third party consents where necessary;
exchanging contracts;
undertaking pre-completion searches and completing of the transaction; and
submission of stamp duty land tax returns and registration of the transaction at the Land Registry.

Expenses and disbursements on Purchase

Additional Fees	Amount	VAT	Total
Photocopying/Postage/Telephone	£35.00	£7.00	£42.00
Telegraphic Transfer Fee	£40.00	£8.00	£48.00
Document/File Storage	£30.00	£6.00	£36.00
Acting on your mortgage	£150.00	£30.00	£180.00
Help to Buy Mortgage	£250.00	£50.00	£300.00
Completion of SDLT Return	£50.00	£10.00	£60.00
Help to Buy ISA	£50.00	£10.00	£60.00
Lifetime ISA	£50.00	£10.00	£60.00
Smart Search Fee	£5.00	£1.00	£6.00
Onboarding	£25.00	£5.00	£30.00
Expenses Paid on Your Behalf (Disbursements)
Search Pack (estimated)	£150.00	£30.00	£180.00
H M Land Registry Search Fee	£3.90	£0.00	£3.90
Bankruptcy Search	£2.90	£0.00	£2.90
Government Fees
Land Registry Fee	£455.00	£0.00	£455.00
Stamp Duty Land Tax	£2000.00	£0.00	£2000.00

Expenses and disbursements on Sale

Additional Fees	Amount	VAT	Total
Photocopying/Postage/Telephone	£35.00	£7.00	£42.00
Telegraphic Transfer Fee	£40.00	£8.00	£48.00
Documents/File Storage	£30.00	£6.00	£36.00
Smart Search Fee	£5.00	£1.00	£6.00
Onboarding	£25.00	£5.00	£30.00
Additional Charge Redemption	£150.00	£30.00	£180.00
Help to Buy/Equity Release Redemption	£250.00	£50.00	£300.00
Expenses Paid on Your Behalf (Disbursements)
HM Land Registry Title & Plan	£15.60	£0.00	£15.60
(copy titles at additional cost for Leasehold properties)

Transaction timescales

Timeframes are very difficult to estimate at the start of the conveyancing process. We will provide an estimate of our fees at the start of the transaction and these fees assume that the transaction will follow a straightforward path.

In order for our fee estimate to be accurate, we assume the following:

Correspondence between us is kept to an amount that is necessary and practically achievable. This means that we will keep you updated when progress is made on your file and will chase other parties where necessary. However, excessive additional correspondence may need to be charged at an additional cost, be that with you or with third parties such as estate agents, mortgage brokers or other parties involved in the chain.

The transaction does not need to complete within a short timescale. We estimate that from receipt of the Contract papers, a Freehold purchase should take around 12 weeks to reach exchange (slightly longer for Leasehold properties), with completion usually taking place 1-2 weeks later. As leasehold properties involve a large amount of additional work and with the additional complication of some flats now being affected by the Building Safety Act (BSA 2022) we are noticing significant delays where affected properties are part of the chain you are in. If a shorter timescale is required by our clients or by other parties in the chain, we will need to be made fully aware of that at the outset of the transaction (and may decline to assist if we consider the timescales unreasonable) and will make an additional charge for the expedited service provided.

The property involved is a standard residential freehold/leasehold property and does not include any additional elements which would incur extra costs. Please see below our list of work which will incur an additional fee (this information is also included in our initial fee estimate). We will advise you as soon as we become aware of any of these matters being applicable to your transaction. It would be helpful if you could notify us immediately if you are aware of any such matters.

The information you supply to us at the start of the process is accurate, for example in respect of how you intend to fund a purchase, the parties to be involved in the transaction, your status for Stamp Duty purposes and/or other related matters.

Where any of the above assumptions prove incorrect, we reserve the right to make an additional charge for our professional fees involved in dealing with any elements which we did not envisage at the start of the process.

Hourly rates of our solicitors

If complicating factors arise then we will charge for the extra time involved. Our standard hourly rates (excluding VAT) range from £260 to £350.

VAT

For legal advice provided in relation to UK sited real estate, VAT is always chargeable at the prevailing rate (currently 20%) on that advice.

Re-mortgaging a residential property

Our fees cover all the work required to complete the re-mortgage of your property as step out below in the key stages of a re-mortgage transaction.

Transfer of equity

Freehold - £1,000 + VAT – acting for Transferor

Leasehold - £1,250 + VAT – acting for Transferor

Additional £200 + VAT – for acting for Transferee

Our approach to fees

Our fees will be determined by the complexity of the transaction and will also take into account any work required to deal with any unusual aspects of the re-mortgage.

We offer a standard fixed fee for our residential property transactions on the basis that there are no complicating factors such as; lack of certification for any alterations or building works carried out, title defects that need to be reported to lenders, remedied or indemnity insurance put in place or nonstandard mortgage conditions to be complied with.

Additional charges to cover complicated factors will be based upon the time needed to deal with them. The hourly rates charged will be dependent on the experience of the Solicitor dealing with the transaction.

Very occasionally, we may need to liaise with other solicitors in other departments within the firm, at which point their hourly rates will be charged. We will provide you with an estimate of the total additional charges either at the outset of the transaction or when we become aware of any complicating factors.

If your re-mortgage falls through before it is completed, our charges will be based on the time spent in dealing with a case. Time spent on your affairs will include meetings with you and perhaps others; any time spent travelling; considering, preparing and working on papers; correspondence including reading and writing letters and emails; and making and receiving telephone calls. (copied from our T&C’s)

Typical Disbursements

Disbursements are costs relating to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as the Land Registry.

On a re-mortgage we would expect disbursements to include:

Fee for transferring any money as a same day payment, for example to redeem an existing charge or account due for the balance: £40 plus VAT
Identification check to satisfy money laundering requirements: £25 plus VAT per person
Searches (if required) including but not limited to, a search of the local land charge register and standard enquiries of the local authority, drainage search, environmental search, planning history and also any other recommended searches such as mining or flood risk. Prices depend on the area and search provider so we can only estimate that these will be between £200-500 plus VAT.
Search indemnity insurance (taken in lieu of the above searches if your lender accepts the same): price depends on value but are usually in the region of £50 - £100
If the property is leasehold, a sales information pack from the landlord/managing agent: these fees vary on the provider and can range from around £100 to in excess of £500 (this fee is not included in our quotations)
Pre completion searches at the Land Registry: £3.00 plus VAT per title
Pre completion bankruptcy search: £2.00 plus VAT per name searched
Land Registry fees. The fee will dependent on the value and nature of the transaction and we recommend that you use the official Land Registry fee calculator to ascertain the likely charge
Fees payable to a third party such as a rent charge collector or landlord/managing, when providing notice of the new charge to them: these will be set by the third party

Additional Fees	Amount	VAT	Total
Photocopying/Postage/Telephone	£35.00	£7.00	£42.00
Telegraphic Transfer Fee	£40.00	£8.00	£48.00
Documents/File Storage	£30.00	£6.00	£36.00
Redemption of Charge	150.00	£30.00	£180.00
Smart Search Fee	£5.00	£1.00	£6.00
Onboarding	£25.00	£5.00	£30.00
Additional Charge Redemption	£150.00	£30.00	£180.00
Help to Buy/Equity Release Redemption	£250.00	£50.00	£300.00
Expenses Paid on Your Behalf (Disbursements)
Search Pack (estimated)	£150.00	£30.00	£180.00
H M Land Registry Search Fee	£3.90	£0.00	£3.90
Bankruptcy Search	£2.90	£0.00	£2.90
Government Fees
Land Registry Fee	£455.00	£0.00	£455.00

What's involved?

The stages involved in the re-mortgage of a residential property vary according to each particular transaction, however, we have listed below the key stages that will be covered by our legal fee:

Taking your instructions and providing you with initial advice;
Obtaining contract, title and supporting information documents from the Land Registry and any documents you may hold
Obtaining an information pack from any landlord or managing agent if the property is leasehold
Reviewing the title and supporting documents and raise any necessary enquiries with you or a third party such as a landlord or managing agent if your property is leasehold
Obtaining the usual searches for a property in the area in which your property is located and reviewing the contents or if your lender accepts insurance, obtain quotes in lieu of searches for a policy on completion
Receiving mortgage instructions, reviewing the same and ensuring compliance with any conditions
Meeting with you to obtain your signature on the Mortgage Deed and any other relevant documents
Taking your instructions on suitable completion dates
Obtaining settlement figures for any existing charges which are being repaid on completion
Preparing a statement of account and obtaining any balance required from you
Completing the new mortgage and redeeming any existing charges, as agreed with you and the new lender
Registering the new mortgage with the Land Registry
Serving a notice of charge on any relevant third parties
Implementing any search indemnity insurance as necessary
Providing you with confirmation of the registration of the new charge
Providing your mortgage lender with a copy of the updated title documents

VAT

For legal advice provided in relation to UK sited real estate, VAT is always chargeable at the prevailing rate (currently 20%) on that advice.