Residential Property Pricing

Our residential property team collectively have over 70 years of collective experience in delivering outstanding service to our clients in all aspects of Residential Property; with particular expertise in sale, purchases, re-mortagages and transfers.

We have six members of the team who may work on your matter, all with extensive knowledge and expertise in this area, and all of whom are supervised by Kelly Myatt, Legal and Commercial Director and Head of Residential Property.

Residential Property Purchase Or Sale

The costs associated with purchasing or selling a residential property are dependent on the individual circumstances of the transaction and the agreed purchase/sale price.

We charge a fixed conveyancing fee for our conveyancing services.

For freehold sale/purchase of properties with an agreed price of up to £125,000 we charge a fixed fee of £625 + VAT charged at 20%.

For freehold properties with a sale/purchase value between £125,000 and £750,000 we charge a fee in the range of £700 – £975 + VAT charged at 20%.

Freehold properties sold/purchased over £750,000 are charged at a rate of 0.25% of the sale/purchase price + VAT charged at 20%.

For leasehold sale/purchase of properties with an agreed price of up to £125,000 we charge a fixed fee of £875 + VAT charged at 20%.

For leasehold properties with a sale/purchase value between £125,000 and £750,000 we charge a fee in the range of £950 – £1225 + VAT charged at 20%.

Leasehold properties sold/purchased over £750,000 are charged at a rate of 0.25% of the sale/purchase price + VAT charged at 20% plus £250 leasehold fee + VAT charged at 20%.

The following factors will also be taken into account:-

Whether the transaction is purchased or sold via an auction.
Complexity or urgency for completion and/or exchange of Contracts; this would be discussed before agreeing to instruct Tinsdills.
Length of chain.
If the tenure of the property is leasehold, additional costs will be incurred.
Whether or not you are having a mortgage.
The number of people involved in purchasing the property.
If you discover building regulations or planning permission has not been obtained for alterations to the property.
Cost related to the property being registered or unregistered at HM Land Registry. Our conveyancing fee only covers legal matters as we are not qualified to and cannot advise you on any tax, finance or structural matters.

Additional Charges

In dealing with your sale or purchase we will also incur further costs known as ‘disbursements’.

These are charges made by third parties for obtaining other documents which we will need to complete your transaction. These can be searches, land registry copy documents, identity checks etc. The requirements will be specific to your transaction and will be set out in the bespoke quotation provided to you. Example charges are set out below.

What’s Included

Our fee will only cover legal matters. We are not qualified to advise you on any tax, financial or structural matters. You must seek independent advice if required.

Sales

Obtaining full instructions from you and providing any initial advice;
Obtaining copies of the property title and preparing the contract and supporting documents;
Dealing with any enquiries raised by the purchaser’s solicitors;
Settling the final form Contract and Transfer Deed and then attending to signing these documents;
Agreeing a completion date;
Requesting a redemption figure for any existing mortgage and accounting to you with details of any balance due to you on completion.
Exchanging contracts and dealing with legal completion;
Redeeming any existing mortgage secured on the property;
Accounting to your chosen estate agent;
Forwarding the net sale proceeds to you.

Our fee will also be based on the following assumptions

Any joint sellers are in agreement, and they do not require separate correspondence or representation or are unrepresented.
You own the entire property and there is no shared ownership element to the sale.
There are no title defects that need to be rectified or insured against.
There are no restrictions on the title that must be complied with before completion.
The title is a registered freehold or leasehold title.
You have one recognised lender who is cooperative in respect of providing settlement figures when required and there are no second charges / mortgages to be dealt with.
Any landlord or management company is cooperative in respect of providing information required for the sale.
If the property has been extended or altered that you are in possession of all the necessary documentary evidence of compliance with planning and building regulations.
You have full records and compliance certificate for all utilities / services.
The property is sold with vacant possession.

If any of these key assumptions are incorrect or change over time, we will provide you with a revised fee estimate, which we will ask you to approve before undertaking further work on your sale.

Example

Sale of a freehold property at an agreed price of £125,000 in Stoke-on-Trent, which is not used for letting, is registered, and is owned by one person.

Fixed Legal Fees – £700 plus VAT

Telegraphic transfer charge – £30 plus VAT

Official Copies – £6 plus VAT

Total Price – £736 plus VAT

(VAT charged at standard rate 20%)

Purchases

Obtaining full instructions from you and providing any initial advice;
Review the finances available for your purchase;
Request the contract and supporting documentation from the seller’s solicitors;
Review the contract papers and raise any relevant enquiries;
Submit the pre-contract searches and review the results when received;
Prepare and send to you our comprehensive report containing the results of our legal investigations of the property;
Advise you on joint ownership;
Preparing the draft Transfer Deed, SDLT return and Mortgage Deed;
Attending on you to sign the purchase papers;
Agree a completion date;
Request mortgage funds from your lender and account to you for any balance due from you in order to complete;
Exchange and complete the purchase;
Submit the SDLT return and make payment of any duty payable;
Attend to the registration formalities at HM Land Registry.

Our fee will also be based on the following assumptions:

That the property is registered with freehold or leasehold title at the Land Registry.
There are no title defects that need to be rectified or insured against.
The seller owns the entire property and there is no element of shared ownership.
That our investigations do not reveal any complex legal issues which must be resolved prior to exchange of contracts.
That any landlord or management company is cooperative and provides information / document required for the purchase
That you are having only one mortgage with a recognised lender and the lender is not separately represented.
The remaining purchase funds are being provided by yourselves.
That you are buying the property for your own occupation.

If any of these key assumptions are incorrect or change over time, we will need to provide you with a revised fee estimate, which we will ask you to approve before undertaking further work on your purchase.

Example

Purchase of a freehold property at an agreed price of £125,000 in Stoke-on-Trent, which is not used for letting, is registered, and is owned by one person.

Fixed Legal Fees – £750 plus VAT

Telegraphic transfer charge – £30 plus VAT

Search Pack – £300 plus VAT

Official Copies – £6 plus VAT

Bankruptcy Search – £2 plus VAT

Land registry Priority Search – £3 plus VAT

Land Registration Fee – £100

SDLT – £TBC (see link below)

Total – £1,191 plus VAT

(VAT charged at standard rate 20%)

Stamp Duty

Stamp duty is a personal tax which is applicable if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland.

SDLT/LTT Price TBC – see calculator link below.

Stamp duty can be calculated using the government websites, for purchases or transfers in England, https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro.

For purchases and transfers in Wales follow this link for more information, https://beta.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-guide.

Timescales

The time it takes to complete your conveyancing transaction depends on a number of different factors, which are often outside our, or your own control. Our average timescale for the sale or purchase of a freehold property from initial instruction to completion is approximately 8-12 weeks. Leasehold sales and purchases can sometimes take slightly longer due to the involvement of third parties such as landlords, management companies and/or managing agents. Please note that this time estimate does not include any Land Registry registration timescales. For further information on Land Registry timescales please visit : HM Land Registry: processing times – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Remortgage

The cost for a residential property Remortgage with the team at Tinsdills is a fixed cost at £450 plus VAT, if the property is a Buy to Let, the fee for a Remortgage is £550 plus VAT. Other likely charges in association with a Remortgage include:

Telegraphic transfer fee of £30 plus VAT.
Depending on whether the property has a mortgage or not, and the instructions of your new lender, you may require either a search indemnity policy of around £40 to complete full searches on the property. The cost of the searches fluctuates depending on the location of the property; around the local area to Tinsdills, these are approximately £300 plus VAT.
Official copies of the register of title are £6 plus VAT per copy.
We will need to carry out a bankruptcy search; this is £2 per person plus VAT.
Fees are also due to the Land Registry, depending on whether the title of the property is registered or unregistered; this is on a sliding scale which depends on the price of the property (see Scale 1) https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees#scale-1-fees
If there is more than one tenant on the property or more than one agreement in place, then this would be classed as a commercial property, and costs listed here would not be applicable.

(VAT charged at standard rate 20%)

What’s included?

Our fee will only cover legal matters. We are not qualified to advise you on any tax, financial or structural matters. You must seek independent advice if required.

Remortgage

Obtaining full instructions from you and providing any initial advice;
Obtaining copies of the property title and reviewing the same;
Obtaining search indemnity insurers or submitting searches (as per lenders requirements);
Settling the final form Mortgage Deed and then attending to signing these documents;
Agreeing a completion date;
Dealing with legal completion;
Redeeming any existing mortgage secured on the property;
Forwarding any remortgage proceeds to you;
Attending to the discharge of any existing mortgage and registering the new mortgage at HM Land Registry.

Remortgage assumptions:

There are no title defects that need to be rectified or insured against.
There are no restrictions on the title that must be complied with before completion.
The title is a registered freehold or leasehold title.
You have one recognised lender who is cooperative in respect of providing settlement figures when required and there are no second charges / mortgages to be dealt with.
Any landlord or management company is cooperative in respect of providing information required for the remortgage.
If the property has been extended or altered during the term of the existing mortgage that you are in possession of all the necessary documentary evidence of compliance with planning and building regulations.

Example

Remortgage on a property of £120,000 in Stoke-on-Trent, which is not used for letting, is registered, has currently got a mortgage on it and is owned by two people.

Fixed Legal Fees – £450 plus VAT
Telegraphic transfer charge – £30 plus VAT
Search Indemnity Policy – £40 plus VAT
Official Copies – £6 plus VAT
Bankruptcy Search – £4 plus VAT
Land registry Priority Search – £3 plus VAT
Land Registration Fee – £30

Total Price – £563 plus VAT

(VAT charged at standard rate 20%)

Additional Disbursements

Depending on whether the Lender requires a Mining Search to be undertaken, this may incur an additional charge of £36.33 plus VAT. Local Authority Searches charged at £95.32 plus VAT (Stoke-on-Trent but does vary on location) may be undertaken as an alternative to Search Insurance and are also dependant on whether it’s a Lender requirement.

(VAT charged at standard rate 20%)

Timescales

The time it takes to complete your remortgage transaction depends on a number of different factors, which are often outside our, or your own control. Our average timescale for a remortgage transaction is approximately 6-8 weeks. Please note that this time estimate does not include any Land Registry registration timescales. For further information on Land Registry timescales please visit : HM Land Registry: processing times – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Meet Our Specialist Residential Property Team

Legal & Commercial Director

Kelly Myatt

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Andrew Burrows

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