A man who successfully challenged his mother's final will is likely to recover the lion's share of his legal costs after the High Court ruled that his brother, who attempted to uphold the will's validity, should pay his costs on the indemnity basis . In...
Thank you for looking at our property services.
We offer conveyancing services for all types of residential transaction whether it be the sale or purchase of a first home, an investment property or a “forever home” for many millions of pounds. Whatever, the size of your transaction, we have a team of staff with the appropriate experience to look after you.
We work on the basis that whatever the size of the transaction, it will be hugely important to you and it may well be a very stressful time for you. This means that we like to have a team of staff working on a transaction so that there is always somebody available for you to talk to. Our service is bespoke and tailored to meet your individual needs depending on the property you are selling and/or buying. We believe in a personal approach and you will get as much involvement from us as you need depending on not just the property you are buying or selling but on your personality too.
In order to provide this kind of service, we acknowledge that we will not be the cheapest firm of lawyers. We do not provide fixed rate quotations for conveyancing services but prefer to give a range of pricing indicating what our fee is likely to be.
Sometimes, a “curveball” will be thrown at us during a conveyancing transaction. This is when something unforeseen arises that may affect the legal title or use of property or your lender’s decision to lend you the money to purchase it. Such instances can have an effect on our final fee but if you are still keen to proceed we will work hard to find a solution for you. Where we anticipate costs may rise, we will always try not to incur any additional cost to resolve such an issue without talking to you first. This means that you can be sure that, unless we tell you otherwise, your final fee will be within the range we have given at the outset of the transaction.
All the figures given below are correct as at April 2023.
Why Us
There will be plenty of firms of lawyers who will say that they are experienced professionals. However, we have a number of “USPs” (unique selling points):
- Our head of department worked for a number of years as an estate agent in France and then for Savills selling country houses. His contacts in the country house estate agency world are unrivalled.
- A number of our lawyers started off their careers in London law firms. This gives our team an unrivalled depth of experience.
- Many of our lawyers have lived in the area all their lives. This gives us unrivalled local knowledge.
- We do not pay any referral fees to estate agents. Our business is generated from returning clients or from recommendations from estate agents who choose to forgo a cash incentive to ensure that the legal work in a transaction will be in safe hands.
- Very often a transaction becomes so time sensitive or delicate that it cannot be dealt with during normal working hours. Sometimes too, our clients are resident in foreign time zones. If any transaction requires us to be available in the evenings or weekends, we will be.
- It is often impossible to understand the practicalities of a property or its boundary without visiting it. If we feel that a site visit would be worthwhile, we will visit the property with or without you.
- Between the property conveyancers, there is around 180 years of legal experience. If any of us comes across a tricky problem, there will almost certainly be somebody else in the team who will have experience of how to deal with it.
- We genuinely pride ourselves on finding solutions. We do not operate a “tick box” attitude to conveyancing and will use all of our imagination to find an answer to any problem generated through the conveyancing process..
We are proud to hold the Conveyancing Quality Scheme Accreditation, issued by the Law Society. This involves the firm undergoing a rigorous audit process which ensures we maintain high levels of client care and conveyancing excellence. It also means we are on the panel of accepted law firms for most high street and specialist lenders and can act for your lender alongside your purchase.
Our Fees
The amount you will pay for the transaction will be made up of our fees and certain fixed costs often referred to as disbursements.
Our fees
Remember that every transaction is different and so the banding below is an indication of our fees. There are a number of parts to a sale or purchase that can have an impact on the fees and this can be discussed with you directly if you feel your transaction may be slightly out of the ordinary. The fees listed below include items that many firms charge extra for such as carrying out your identity checks, completing the SDLT form for you to check and acting for a lender. These fees apply to both sales and purchases of freehold land. A supplement of £300 - £500 plus VAT applies to leasehold transactions which tend to involve more documents and therefore be more time consuming.
House value | Our fee excluding VAT |
|---|---|
£200,000 - £500, 000 | £1,750-£2,500 |
£500,000 - £1,000,000 | £2,500-£3,500 |
£1,000,000 - £2,000,000 | £3,500-£4,500 |
£2,000,000 - £5,000,000 | £4,500-£6,500 |
£5,000,000 - £10,000,000 | £6,500-£10,000 |
£10,000,000 and above | £10,000 plus |
Fixed Costs for a Purchase
These are the fixed costs and an explanation of each of them:
Stamp Duty Land Tax:
This has become one of the most complex parts of a conveyancing transaction. Many buyers will pay the standard rate. However anybody buying a property as a second home or where there is a commercial element to the property will pay a different rate. There are also tax reliefs for a transaction which incorporates more than one residential property or for first time buyers. There is a helpful (but not fool proof) government calculator here: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro
Land Registry Fees
These are fixed by the Land Registry and must be paid on any purchase transaction of a property where the title is registered at the Land Registry.
| Value of Property | Transfer of whole electronic Fee | Transfer of part or first registration |
| 0-£80,0000 | £20 | £45 |
£80,001 - £100,000 | £40 | £95 |
£100,001 - £200,000 | £100 | £230 |
£200,001 - £500,000 | £150 | £330 |
£500,001 - £1,000,000 | £295 | £655 |
£1,000,001 and over | £500 | £1105 |
Pre exchange search fees:
- There are a number of searches which are carried out in a conveyancing transaction. These are designed to flush out matters which might affect the value or marketability of the property. Searches are made at the Local Authority and the Local Water provider. We also carry out and Environmental search combined with an Energy Search and a Plan Search
Some properties are based in areas where further local searches are needed. For example in areas where there is a history of mining, a search is carried out to see if the property is likely to have been or to be affected by any mining subsidence.
As each search package depends on the nature and locality of the property, it is difficult to give precise pricing for searches in a general document such as this. However, you should budget for a figure of between £350-750 plus VAT.
Other search fees:
- There are some further pre-completion search fees for which you should budget for anywhere between £30-50
Electronic money transfer and client induction:
- £30 plus VAT for each transfer made and a fixed charge of £50 plus VAT per client for carrying out our regulatory and anti-money laundering due diligence and identification processes
Other document costs:
- Sometimes for pro-active reasons, we make the decision to obtain copy documentation from the Land Registry or the local planning authority rather than wait for a seller’s solicitor to send us the documentation. If we do, the costs for obtaining these documents are set out in the table below for the fixed costs on a sale.
Fixed Costs for a Sale
The fixed costs on a sale are much less than those for a purchase.
Land Registry titles | It is the seller’s responsibility to obtain copy title documentation from the Land Registry. These are charged at £7 per document. Some titles are more complex and we may need to obtain many documents. However, it would be unusual for there to be more than around ten documents and in some cases there are only two. So, budget for a cost of between £14-70 |
Planning Documents | Sometimes we need to obtain copies of planning permissions or other planning documents from the Local Authority. These are normally charged for by the Planning Authority at around £15 - £30 per document. |
Electronic money transfer and client induction | £30 plus VAT for each transfer made and a fixed charge of £50 plus VAT per client for carrying out our regulatory and anti-money laundering due diligence and identification processes. |
Fees and Costs Example Table – Purchase
You will see from all the above that it is impossible to be precise about the final costs for a purchase transaction. The table below sets out some example costs. The costs assume that the buyer will pay standard rate Stamp Duty Land Tax, standard rate Land Registry fees and require a straightforward search pack. The figures include VAT:
Property Value | Tanners fees at the upper range figure (incl VAT) | Stamp Duty Land Tax | Land Registry fee (electronic) | Pre Exchange Search fee | Bank transfer fee | Pre completion search fee | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
£250,000 | £2,500 | £0 | £150 | £350 | £36 | £10 | £3,046 |
£500,000 | £3,500 | £12,500 | £150 | £500 | £36 | £10 | £16,696 |
£1,000,000 | £4,500 | £41,250 | £295 | £500 | £36 | £10 | £46,591 |
£5,000,000 | £8,000 | £511,250 | £500 | £750 | £36 | £10 | £520,546 |
Fees and Costs Example Table – Sale
Property Value | Tanners fees at the upper range figure (incl VAT) | Electronic transfer fee | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
£250,000 | £2,500 | £36 | £2,536 |
£500,000 | £3,500 | £36 | £3,536 |
£1,000,000 | £4,500 | £36 | £4,536 |
£5,000,000 | £8,000 | £36 | £8,036 |
Our fee earners
Below is a table of our fee earners, their experience and charge out rates
Name | Qualification/Role | Year of Qualification if any | Basic Hourly Charging Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
Nicholas Tanner | Partner Solicitor | 1978 | £330 Plus VAT |
Hugo Richardson | Partner Solicitor | 1976 | £310 Plus VAT |
Christopher Alexander | Partner Solicitor | 1982 | £330 Plus VAT |
Julian Archard | Head of Property Partner Solicitor | 1996 | £330 Plus VAT |
Lisa Holmes | Partner Solicitor | 2015 | £320 Plus VAT |
| Edward Scott | Partner Solicitor | 2017 | £310 Plus VAT |
Richard Lloyd | Senior Associate Solicitor | 2003 | £310 Plus VAT |
Roger Bird | Senior Associate Solicitor | 2003 | £310 Plus VAT |
Rob Draper | Senior Associate Solicitor | 1994 | £310 Plus VAT |
Nigel Edge | Senior Associate Solicitor | 2007 | £310 Plus VAT |
Joanna Bisco | Solicitor | 2020 | £240 Plus VAT |
Sheila Read | Conveyancer | - | £240 Plus VAT
|
| Abbie Robins | Paralegal | - | £160 Plus VAT |
| Sevgim Harper | Paralegal | - | £160 Plus VAT |
Exclusions
We do not generally provide tax advice but we can recommend specialist accountancy firms that do.
Our fees are not fixed as there are many factors that affect the likely fees that will apply. Where there is likely to be any additional cost above the estimate we provide you with at the outset, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.
Factors that may lead to an increase in cost include:
- If a legal title is defective or particularly complicated or part of the property is unregistered
- If any investigations reveal onerous results that require further investigation
- If there is an additional layer to the transaction, such as a sale of part or any additional drafting such as declarations of trust, additional contractual clauses or perhaps additional negotiation that is required with your seller or buyer
- If the transaction is required to exchange and/or complete in a particularly short time frame
- If you require simultaneous exchange and completion
Time Scales
For any transaction, the timescales are subject to change depending on when your offer is accepted and other factors involved, such as:
- Number of parties in the chain
- Whether the buyer has a mortgage in place
- Whether the buyer requests a lease extension for a leasehold property
- Whether the searches reveal any issues
- Whether the buyer’s Survey shows up any issues
- The number of buyer’s enquiries to be investigated and answered
A typical transaction will take between 8-14 weeks. However, if any of the above apply or there are other factors we need to take into consideration, it may increase the time by a further 4-6 weeks and additional charges may occur. We will discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity, so you always have a clear picture of how long things are likely to take.
Key Milestones
With every transaction there are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. On a purchase, the important steps are as follows:
- Taking your instructions and giving initial advised based on the information you have provided
- Checking finances are in place for the buyer to fund the purchase
- Receiving a draft contract package from the sellers with title documents and other practical information and reviewing these with you
- Submitting your searches and investigating the title
- Providing advice on all legal documents and information received
- Finalising the contract and drafting the legal transfer deed and sending to you for signature
- Agreeing a completion date (the date from which the buyer will legally own the property)
- Exchanging contracts and notifying you that this has happened
- Completing the purchase
- Submitting the SDLT return and paying any duty due
- Applying for registration at the Land Registry
On a sale, the important steps are as follows:
- Taking your instructions and giving initial advice based on the information you have provided.
- Preparing information forms for you to complete and advising you on the contents and your replies
- Preparing and submitting a draft contract package with legal title documents and other practical information to your buyers
- Receiving enquiries from your buyers and preparing responses. Advising you on the replies to be provided.
- Finalising the contact and approving the legal transfer deed and sending to you for signature.
- Agreeing a completion date (the date from which your buyer will legally own the property)
- Exchanging contracts and notifying you that this has happened
- Completing the sale
- Repaying any secured mortgages/charges and facilitating a release of the charge(s) at the Land Registry
Buying and selling a property is often a major decision which can involve a large emotional and financial investment. We are here to guide you through that as much or as little as you need. Please call us on 01285 659061 and ask to speak to a member of the Property Team and we would be delighted to help.
And finally, here is some sage advice from John Ruskin:
It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When
you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay
too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you
bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The
common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a
lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well
to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will
have enough to pay for something better.
Tanners Solicitors LLP - April 2023