This is because of all the legal aspects involved in finalizing the purchase. For this reason, you do need to have a solicitor when you decide to purchase a home and this carries a price tag that you can either pay on your own or have added to the mortgage.

The rates charged by various solicitors vary, but almost always include:

Bank Transfer Fee

This is the fee charged for a CHAPS transfer to pay off the outstanding balance of a mortgage, to transfer the funds to a seller’s account or, if you are the seller, to transfer the profit from the sale to your bank account. Such a fee is usually in the range of £20.

Bankruptcy Search Fee

Anyone who takes out a mortgage to purchase a home is subject to a search to determine if you have declared bankruptcy in the past. This cost runs about £2 for each name that is searched. In the case of a couple buying a home, a search has to be conducted for both names.

Chancel Liability Search Fee

In the past, homes that have been purchased with a mortgage have been repossessed because the homeowner failed to live up to the responsibility of contributing towards the repairs needed by the parish or chancel. Such a search, which usually costs £17, must be carried out before the lender will finalize the loan documents.r

Disbursements

Some solicitors do not charge for disbursements, which involves the paying of amounts of money to others on your behalf.

Water and Drainage Search

For an average fee of £45, the lender requires that the solicitor conduct a search to make sure that property you are purchasing is connected to a public drain.

Environmental Search Fee

If you or the lender suspects that there may be environmental concerns associated with the property you are buying, this search will determine if there is any risk of flooding, industrial contamination, or subsidence that would leave you vulnerable. This search usually costs £40.

Freehold/Leasehold Land

Determining whether the land is freehold or leasehold is an important part of doing the background check on any property that is to be sold and therefore is the most costly part of the process. This usually carries a fee of £100 and is necessary in order to determine if the seller has full ownership of the land.

Land Registry Document Fee

All government offices charge a fee for issuing documents. A copy of your title to the land costs between £6 and £12.

Land Registration Fee

When you buy a piece of property, it has to be registered in your name or in the names of those who are taking out a mortgage. In order to have the work done to establish your full ownership, solicitors charge £220.

Land Registry Search Fee

A further fee of £ is charged to check out previous titles for the property that you are buying to make sure that the land has not already been registered in a different name. Once the land is registered in your name, another party has 30 days in which they must come forward with documentation that disputes your claim. If this does not occur in the 30-day period, then you won’t have any problems.

Local Authority Search Fee

It is essential that your solicitor check to make sure there are no liens against the property by local authorities for any unpaid fees owed by the seller. The fees for this service can vary a great deal from £40 to £300 depending on the amount of work such a search entails.

Legal Fees

In addition to the fees charged for the various searches and dispersal of funds, solicitors charge for their time. This usually depends on the amount of money you borrow. A typical £200,000 mortgage will cost between £300 and £500.

Mortgage Fees Purchase

This is an additional charge of £50 to £75 when the solicitor has to act as the lender in making sure that all the documents are signed.

Mortgage Fees Sale

In the case of these fees of between £50 and £75, they are for the work performed by the solicitor in receiving the funds for the sale of a home, paying off the balance of a mortgage and sending the rest of the money to the seller.

SDLT Completion Fee

For every sale, the Stamp Duty Land Tax return has to be completed and sent into HM revenue. The solicitor will complete this form for you for a fee of £25.

Search Fees

While most solicitors include these in the overall work of handling the purchase or sale of property, online conveyances may also charge extra fees of £80 to £140 for the various searches that must be carried out.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Also called the SDLT, this is a government tax that you must pay on the value of the home you purchase. If the selling price is less than £25,000, you won’t have to pay any tax. When the price is more than that amount, there is schedule in place to determine the amount of tax you owe, which is:

• 1% of the price up to £250,000
• 3% of the price if it is between £250,000 and £500,000
• 4% of the price over £500,000

VAT

This is the amount of tax you must pay on the legal fees you pay the solicitor for his/her work.

A Glossary of Home Buying Costs is a post from: Glitec