Residential Property Costs Guidance

Here you will find information and guidance regarding the likely costs of undertaking your transaction and of the work involed

Purchase of a Residential Property
Nature of Property:
The nature of residential properties varies enormously from one property to another. Are you looking at a trendy new City Centre riverside flat or a three hundred year old listed cottage? A flat in a converted house or a Victorian terrace?

The legal work for the acquisition of a newly constructed flat in an extensive new development may entail checking lever arch files full of planning permissions, satisfaction of planning conditions, adoption of new roads, Building Construction warranties or insurances, complex service charge provisions for dealing with maintenance of communal garden areas and street lighting, building structures and the like. Buying a country retreat may involve questions of fishing rights, established rights of way or footpaths, common land or agricultural tenancies. On the other hand, a post war semi-detached house may involve a fraction of the documentation, reading or legal issues.

Some leasehold flats require a Licence to Assign which means a formal approval from the Landlord to the assignment of the lease to you. They may ask for bank or accountants references or a reference from a former landlord or the like.

Similarly, some freehold properties involve a communal roadway, a garden square or other facilities needing contribution to the costs and expenses. That may involve entering into a deed of covenant, acquiring an interest in a management company, obtaining a certificate to satisfy a restriction on title and the like.

None of these issues fall outside Woodroffes’ areas of expertise and we can smoothly and imperceptibly resolve these issues on your behalf. However they can have significant impact upon the amount of time which we spend dealing with the transaction and the overall costs of achieving your goal.

Varying Client Services and Advice Required

Our fees will cover all of the work required to investigate the title of the property, settle the contract and transfer and any other ancillary documentation between you and your seller and to complete the purchase of your new home or other residential property. It will also include dealing with registration at the Land Registry and drafting and settling your submission to the Revenue in respect of Stamp Duty Land Tax. However beyond this, our clients ask for a variety of differing levels of service.

Some of our long time clients, often second or third generations of a family, wish to leave us to deal with the legal and logistical issues of their acquisition whilst they get on with their life and business, trusting us to simply progress the transaction as smoothly as we are able and to refer commercial issues to them where appropriate. Other clients appreciate continuous updates, explanations and advice throughout the transaction, in some cases our clients like the reassurance of going over the same issues in depth on more than one occasion at the telephone and/or in meetings.

Some of our clients specifically approach us as a result of our experience with structuring transactions or funding in a manner aimed at complying with Sharia law and our established working relationship with some Islamic funders. There is no reason that acquiring your property in accordance with Islamic Law should create complications or significant additional costs but clearly this turns upon particular circumstances.

The sale and purchase of property can be the largest financial transaction in one’s life and it is important that our clients are comfortable with all aspects. Woodroffes have been providing bespoke and personal advice and solutions for nearly a century and a half and we do not wish to dissuade any client from going over each point as many times as they wish until they are content. Nevertheless if must be appreciated that the differing investments of time and work have significant impact upon our costs making any attempt at a One Size Fits All costing plan contrary to the interests of any of our clients.

We have a legal requirement to satisfy ourselves of the source of funds being used in the transaction. Whilst some of our clients are providing a modest amount of funds from their personal account saved over a period from their income, others have more challenging arrangements with money coming from foreign accounts, inherited wealth and earnings from foreign businesses. Its can be the case that the due diligence and compliance for some of our clients more complex situations can cost thousands of pounds in itself.

Finance and Acting for Mortgagees
If you are obtaining finance for your acquisition then it may be that you and your lender will ask us to act for Lender as well as for you. Alternatively, they may instruct their own solicitors and we will be required to liaise with them in the deduction of title and dealing with enquiries, searches and the like. Subject to the identity of the lender and nature of the loan, we may also have to act for you in the settlement of a Facility Letter and/or security documentation. Again the extent of our involvement and the costs thereof will need to be discussed in the particular context of your transaction.

Disbursements and Foundation Costs
In almost every purchase we will undertake a set of searches against the property. This will include a Local Search from the local authority to reveal planning history, local authority enforcement notices or other complaints, proposals for transport or other municipal changes in the area and generally matters with which Local Government are involved which could impact upon the Property. We will also undertake a Drainage and Water Search revealing the sewerage provision, surface water run off and mains water. We will obtain a desk top Environmental Search addressing the records in the area of flooding, contamination, subsidence and other environmental factors. Dependent upon the location and nature of the property, we may undertake additional searches relating to coal mining, railways, adoption of local roads and streets or title searches. The overall cost is generally of the order of £300 but can vary upon a number of factors and we can discuss with you at the time.

Fees payable to the Land Registry to register your new purchase are based upon the price of the property but top out below £500 and again can be clarified in the context or your acquisition.

If you are acquiring a Leasehold Property then it is likely that you will need us to serve a formal Notice of Assignment (and Notice of Charge if you have granted a Mortgage to a lender). These vary from one lease and landlord to another but a general average is about £40-50 plus VAT for each Notice.

Stamp Duty Land Tax to the government is a very complex tax depending not only upon the price of the property but also upon your personal circumstances, whether you own another property and the like. It is important that you bear in mind that ownership of a property or even an interest in a property outside the UK may still impact significantly upon the level of tax. It is often overlooked whether the purchase represents moving home; if so then the ownership of other investment properties may not impact upon the Stamp Duty Land Tax or may entitle the recovery of Higher Rates on Additional Dwellings tax. Woodroffes will be able to discuss and advise you in respect of your detailed circumstances and we advise against relying upon online automated calculators which could result in you paying significantly more than is due.

Note that Woodroffes do not have any arrangements regarding referrals or introductions from their parties and do not share our fees nor account for commissions with regard to your transaction.

Subject to detailed structure and to the issues described above, almost all residential property purchases will include the following:

  • Taking your initial instructions and clarifying your wishes and goals for the transaction and your understanding of the Property
  • Dealing with compliance issues regarding your full identity and clarifying that finances are in place to fund purchase and details of the source of funds being used to acquire the property.
  • Agreeing with you the terms of the service you require and supplying written initial advice and formal Terms and Conditions
  • Receive and advise on contract documents
  • Carry out searches
  • Obtain further planning documentation if required
  • Raise additional enquiries of seller’s solicitor based upon an inspection of all the papers and discussion with you
  • Give you advice on all documents and information received
  • Send a full written report on the property to you, going through the same in person if you wish and arranging for you to sign the final contract
  • Obtain the deposit funds from you
  • Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)and exchange contracts on your behalf, paying the deposit to the Seller
  • Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
  • Complete purchase
  • Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax, registration at Land Registry and service of any Notices to a Landlord

By way of a very basic guide to our legal costs, exclusive of VAT and out of pocket expenses and disbursements mentioned above, we would suggest as follows:

Property Value Basic Fee Guide
Up to £750,000 £1,000-£1,500,
£750,000 – £1,500,000 £1,250 – £3,000
£1,500,000 – £3,000,000 £2,500 – £5,000
Over £3,000,0000 £3,000 to £8,000 +

Note that these are very broad guidelines and that our actual cost will be dependent upon your circumstances, the nature and detail of the property you are buying, the structure of your purchase transaction and level and nature of the services which you require

We do recommend that you bear in mind that the search fees, registration fees, Stamp Duty Land Tax, notices and other out of pocket fixed payments are likely to significantly outweigh the legal fees of your transaction. Not every solicitor is suited to every client or transaction but basing your decision strictly upon the estimated solicitors fees may well be a false economy.

How long will my house purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors and in particular how prepared your sellers are. It is sometimes the case that the Seller’s Solicitors have a complete set of papers to deliver on the first day, have worked through any issues and that the transaction can proceed very swiftly.

Alternatively it is sometimes the case that after agreeing a sale the Sellers must go out and locate and instruct solicitors who then need to deal with their own compliance issues and track down papers and details of the property, taking some weeks to even comply initial draft papers.

There may be problems or errors in the title which are capable of resolution but only with the investment of time, costs and even payment to third parties. The seller may be selling a property registered in the name of a family member who has died and the speed of the transaction will again be highly dependent upon the progress that has been made in the estate and probate.

The property may involve dealing with third parties and securing a Landlord’s Licence, a Consent from a management company, the acquisition of a share in a company, securing a release or certificate in respect of a title restriction or even preparatory work towards a Lease Extension. Naturally all such matters could impact upon timing as well as cost.

Our Team

Woodroffes property department has been offering a steady hand and pragmatic commercial approach to discerning clients for more than 140 years. The department is currently headed by Roger Brown who has more than 25 years of experience of dealing with properties from modest residential flats to residential homes worth tens of millions of pounds.

We have fee earners at an array of levels of experience and both trainee solicitors and qualified solicitors. More details are available elsewhere on this website. A suitably experienced solicitor will have conduct of the whole matter from start to finish and oversight of the whole transaction. Where practical and without interrupting that level of continuity, trainees or indeed paralegal staff may deal with procedural aspects such as requesting searches, drafting or sending tax and land registry submissions or the like. All work would be approved by a qualified solicitor before being sent out of the firm and Mr Brown will retain supervision of all matters.

Once we have discussed your proposed transaction and with you and agreed a level of service and likely issues involved we can agree with you the fee earners to be involved and confirm this in writing in conjunction with firming up a sensible fee budget.

Sale of a Residential Property

Nature of Property:

The nature of residential properties varies enormously from one property to another. You may be selling a City Centre riverside flat or a three hundred year old listed cottage, a flat in a converted house or a Victorian terrace.

The sale of property involved deducing title to your buyer and providing a full set of papers to satisfy the buyer’s solicitors and their mortgagees that you are offering all the necessary rights and permissions to fully enjoy your property. Whilst this may involve little more than the provision of the registered title from the Land Registry in the case of, for example, a 20th Century semi detached house, a recently constructed flat in an extensive new development may entail the checking and provision of lever arch files full of planning permissions, satisfaction of planning conditions, adoption of new roads, Building Construction warranties or insurances, complex service charge provisions for dealing with maintenance of communal garden areas and street lighting, building structures and the like. A country retreat may involve questions of fishing rights, established rights of way or footpaths, common land or agricultural tenancies. .

Some leasehold flats require a Licence to Assign which means a formal application to your Landlord to approve the assignment of the lease to your buyer. The Landlord will need us to obtain financial and perhaps social references for the Buyer and you may have to pay of the order of £1,000 for the Landlord’s fees.

Similarly, some freehold properties involve a communal roadway, garden square or other facilities needing contribution to the costs and expenses. That may involve a deed of covenant, management company, restriction on title and the like which is broadly similar to the Licence to Assign.

Whether either issue is relevant simply turns on the papers and the costs depends upon the landlord and his lawyers. We can advise properly when we see details of your property and a copy of your lease (if its leasehold).

None of these issues fall outside Woodroffes areas of expertise and we can smoothly and imperceptibly resolve these issues on your behalf. However they can have significant impact upon the amount of time which we spend dealing with the transaction and the overall costs of achieving your goal.

Varying Client Services and Advice Required

Our fees will cover all of the work required to collect in the relevant papers and deeds to establish your title of the property, settle s set of replies to standard form enquiries with you, obtain a set of management information from your landlord, management company or similar (if applicable) draft the contract and deal with the Buyer’s solicitors through to the settlement of the transfer and any other ancillary documentation between you and your buyer. Where applicable we may also need to liaise with your mortgagees over the discharge of a mortgage, agreeing the amount payable and mechanics in that regard and your Buyer’ Solicitors will look to us to guarantee that repayment. Upon completion of the sale we will normally pay the commission to your estate agent (subject to your instruction) and send the balance of money to you.

Some of our long time clients, often second or third generations of a family, wish to leave us to deal with the legal and logistical issues of their property matters whilst they get on with their life and business, trusting us to simply progress the transaction as smoothly as we are able and to refer commercial issues to them where appropriate. Other clients appreciate continuous updates, explanations and advice throughout the transaction, in some cases our clients like the reassurance of going over the same issues in depth on more than one occasion at the telephone and/or in meetings.

The sale and purchase of property can be the largest financial transaction in one’s life and it is important that our clients are comfortable with all aspects. Woodroffes have been providing bespoke and personal advice and solutions for nearly a century and a half and we do not wish to dissuade any client from going over each point as many times as they wish until they are content. Nevertheless if must be appreciated that the differing investments of time and work have significant impact upon our costs making any attempt at a One Size Fits All costing plan contrary to the interests of any of our clients.

We have a legal requirement to satisfy ourselves of the source of funds involved in a transaction. Whilst a sale of a property may appear less applicable, we do need to look at the circumstances of your acquisition, how long you have owned the property, why you are selling and whether you are buying a new property. We also need to establish that you really are the registered owner of the property that you are selling.

Disbursements and Foundation Costs

We will need to obtain office copies of your title to your property which is probably only £6.00. However if your property is made up of more than one title there may be two or more necessary and similarly if may be applicable to obtain copies of a landlord’s title, superior landlord’s title, title of common parts, roadways or gardens, copies of title deeds, historic conveyances, deeds etc and that may involve a small amount of additional payment.

If you pay rent or service charges (normally limited to leasehold properties but occasionally also applicable to freeholds) then we will wish to obtain a full set of management information, projected charges, historic receipts, copy insurance and the like. The cost from managing agents is sometimes of the order of £250-300 plus VAT but depends entirely upon the property, the landlord and its managing agents.

If a Landlord’s consent or Licence to Assign is required for your flat or maisonette or if a Certificate or approval is needed from a maintenance or management company then that may cost £300-1,250 plus vat depending upon circumstances.

Estate Agent’s fees for finding you a Buyer vary enormously from flat fees to 2% or even 3% plus vat.

Note that Woodroffes do not have any arrangements regarding referrals or introductions from their parties and do not share our fees nor account for commissions with regard to your transaction.

Subject to detailed structure and to the issues described above, almost all residential property sales will include the following:

  • Taking your initial instructions and clarifying your wishes and goals for the transaction and your understanding of the Property
  • Dealing with compliance issues regarding your full identity and clarifying how long you have owned the property, how you acquired it and what you propose to do with the proceeds
  • Agreeing with you the terms of the service you require and supplying written initial advice and formal Terms and Conditions
  • Preparing and send out a full set of contract documents
  • Give you advice on all documents and information received
  • Settling and exchanging contracts with your buyer for your agreed completion date
  • Obtain the deposit funds from the Buyer
  • Agree the redemption payment with any mortgagee/lender who has a mortgage on your property and addressing the discharge mechanic of that mortgage
  • Complete sale, repay your mortgage, pay your estate agent (if instructed) and distribute the balance of sale funds to you

By way of a very basic guide to our legal costs, exclusive of VAT and out of pocket expenses and disbursements mentioned above, we would suggest as follows:

Property Value Basic Fee Guide
Up to £750,000 £1,000-£1,250,
£750,000 – £1,500,000 £1,250 – £3,000
£1,500,000 – £3,000,000 £2,000 – £5,000
Over £3,000,0000 £3,000 to £8,000 +

Note that these are very broad guidelines and that our actual cost will be dependent upon your circumstances, the nature and detail of the property you are selling, the assumption that there are no flaws in title which require remedial work and nature of the services which you require

How long will my sale take?

How long it will take from your agreement of your Buyer’s offer until you can complete, secure the sale proceeds and where applicable, complete your related purchase and move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. In particular how prepared your Buyers are. Do they have a house of their own to sell? Do they have their money arranged? How quickly do they arrange their survey and valuation?

From your own point of view, how quickly can see send out papers? Have you instructed us in advance to deal with our necessary compliance? Have you enabled us to go through the title, collect in a full set of deeds and papers, prepare a set of Replies to standard form Enquiries, sort out management papers and the like before you settled the terms of your sale? It is sometimes the case that the Seller’s Solicitors have a complete set of papers to deliver on the first day, have worked through any issues and that the transaction can proceed very swiftly. Alternatively it is sometimes the case that after agreeing a sale the Sellers must go out and locate and instruct solicitors who then need to deal with their own compliance issues and track down papers and details of the property, taking some weeks to even comply initial draft papers.

There may be problems or errors in the title which are capable of resolution but only with the investment of time, costs and even payment to third parties. You may be proposing to sell a property registered in the name of a family member who has died and the speed of the transaction will again be highly dependent upon the progress that has been made in the estate and probate.

The property may involve dealing with third parties and securing a Landlord’s Licence, a Consent from a management company, the acquisition of a share in a company, securing a release or certificate in respect of a title restriction or even preparatory work towards a Lease Extension. Naturally all such matters could impact upon timing as well as cost.

Our Team

Woodroffes property department has been offering a steady hand and pragmatic commercial approach to discerning clients for more than 140 years. The department is currently headed by Roger Brown who has more than 25 years of experience of dealing with properties from modest residential flats to residential homes worth tens of millions of pounds.

We have fee earners at an array of levels of experience and both trainee solicitors and qualified solicitors. More details are available elsewhere on this website. A suitably experienced solicitor will have conduct of the whole matter from start to finish and oversight of the whole transaction. Where practical and without interrupting that level of continuity, trainees or indeed paralegal staff may deal with procedural aspects such as requesting searches, drafting or sending tax and land registry submissions or the like. All work would be approved by a qualified solicitor before being sent out of the firm and Mr Brown will retain supervision of all matters.

Once we have discussed your proposed transaction and with you and agreed a level of service and likely issues involved we can agree with you the fee earners to be involved and confirm this in writing in conjunction with firming up a sensible fee budget.