Conveyancing - WHN Solicitors

Expert advice to get you moving:

Woodcocks Haworth and Nuttall has a wealth of experience dealing with residential conveyancing, helping clients make important decisions relating to buying or selling property.

Although an exciting time in most people’s lives, buying or selling a house is considered to be one of the most stressful things people do, particularly when unforeseen difficulties arise; here at WHN Solicitors we provide the support, information and vital details you require in order to make the transaction as smooth as possible.

Transferring property can often be a lengthy and sometimes complicated process, so it is important you have solicitors on hand to guide you through the process and provide regulated and expert advice.

We are proud to be accredited by the Law Society as a member of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme. In order to achieve this accreditation a firm must have in place a number of robust policies, processes and procedures and residential conveyancing staff must undergo training and pass annual assessments.

WHAT CONVEYANCING SERVICES DO WE OFFER?

We provide a wide range of conveyancing services for individuals and investors, including, (but not limited to);

  • Buying a property
  • Selling a property
  • Re-mortgages
  • Equity Release
  • Transfer of Equity
  • Deeds of Gift
  • Adverse Possession claims
  • Voluntary First Registrations
  • Help to Buy
  • Right to Buy
  • Shared Ownership
  • Islamic Finance
  • Purchase of Freehold

BUILDING SAFETY ACT 2022 – PLEASE NOTE WE CANNOT ACT IN PURCHASES OR RE-MORTGAGES OF FLATS IN BUILDINGS OF AT LEAST 5 STOREYS, OR MORE THAN 11 METRES IN HEIGHT IF YOU ARE OBTAINING A MORTGAGE WITH NATIONWIDE, THE MORTGAGE WORKS, HSBC OR BARCLAYS.

WHAT DOES THE CONVEYANCING PROCESS INVOLVE?

Watch our video to learn about your solicitor’s role and the key steps that they will take on your behalf when you sell or buy a property.

THE TEAM

Our team has decades of experience in delivering high quality work and customer service in all matters relating to Residential Conveyancing.

We have numerous members in the team who may act for you. Regardless of who acts for you, they will be supervised by Jennifer Prysiaznyj, our Head of Residential Conveyancing.

The team is comprised of:

SALES

The best way of obtaining an estimate for your sale is to contact us by phone or e-mail. We will then be able to take all relevant details from you and provide you with a detailed, bespoke quotation tailored to your needs.

However, an indication of our fees and possible additional expenses may be found below:-

Legal Fees  (fees effective from 22 January 2024):

Selling Price Minimum Legal Fees
£0 – £100,000 £595 plus VAT of £119, total £714
£100,001 – £200,000 £645 plus VAT of £129, total £774
£200,001 – £300,000 £695 plus VAT of £139, total £834
£300,001 – £400,000 £775 plus VAT of £155, total £930
£400,001 – £500,000 £845 plus VAT of £169, total £1014
£500,001 or over 0.175% of the Sales Price plus VAT

Additional legal fees for complex transactions

The figures shown on the table above are representative of a standard residential sale without complications. Some matters are much more complex and as a result additional legal fees may be payable due to the extra work involved. Examples of these types of matters and an indication of the anticipated additional fees are as follows:-

  • Flats/Apartments = £200.00 – £300.00 (plus VAT of £40.00 – £60.00)
  • Flats/Apartments in buildings of at least 5 storeys or more than 11 metres in height = £350.00 (plus VAT of £70.00)
  • Properties subject to Islamic Finance = £100.00 – £200.00 (plus VAT of £20.00 – £40.00)
  • Unregistered Title = £50.00 – £100.00 (plus VAT of £10.00 – £20.00)
  • Redemption of Help to Buy equity mortgage = £100.00 plus VAT of £20.00, totalling £120.00
  • Shared Ownership sale – £100.00 – £200.00 plus VAT of £20.00 – £40.00)

Other Costs and Disbursements

  • Bank Transfer fee for each chaps payment – £35.00 plus VAT of £7.00, totalling £42.00 each.
  • Electronic Identity Check for each seller- £30.00 plus vat of £6.00, totalling £36.00 each.
  • Indemnity Policy administration fee (if we need to arrange a legal indemnity policy during the course of the transaction) – £25.00 plus vat of £5.00, totalling £30.00
  • Land Registry documents – minimum of £14.00 plus vat of £2.80, totalling £16.80.
  • Lawyer Checker Fee (if the solicitor acting for the other party is unknown to us) – £25.08 (inc.vat)
  • If the property is leasehold you may also need to order a Management/Sales Pack from the Freeholder and/or Management Company. The cost for the pack may be in the region of £400.00 depending on the identity of the Freeholder/Management Company.

What services do the sale legal fees include?

The services included within the above anticipated legal fees are –

  • Taking instructions;
  • Obtaining suitable evidence of identity;
  • Preparing a Client Care pack, including Terms and Conditions, Property Information, Fittings and Contents Forms;
  • Making contact with the Estate Agents or Solicitors acting for the buyers requesting confirmation of their instructions;
  • If the sale is of a leasehold property, where appropriate, requesting information from the Freeholders and/or Management Company;
  • Downloading Land Registry Office Copies, or, if the title is unregistered, obtaining the paper Title Deeds in order to establish and confirm ownership of the property;
  • Preparing a draft Contract Pack;
  • Forwarding the Contract Pack to the buyer’s solicitors;
  • Dealing with any enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitors;
  • Approving a draft Transfer Deed;
  • Obtaining the seller’s signature to the Contract and Transfer Deed;
  • Negotiating a completion date and exchanging Contracts on that basis;
  • Obtaining any redemption figures necessary to repay any mortgages secured against the property;
  • Preparing a completion statement;
  • Completing the sale;
  • Repaying any mortgages secured against the property;
  • Forwarding completion documents to the buyer’s solicitors;
  • Accounting to the sellers for the net sale proceeds.

PURCHASES

The best way of obtaining an estimate for your purchase is to contact us by phone or e-mail. We will then be able to take all relevant details from you and provide you with a detailed, bespoke quotation tailored to your needs.

However, an indication of our fees and possible additional expenses may be found below:-

Legal fees (fees effective from 22 January 2024):

Purchase Price Minimum Legal Fees
£0 – £100,000 £645 plus VAT of £129, total £774
£100,001 – £200,000 £745 plus VAT of £149, total £894
£200,001 – £300,000 £795 plus VAT of £159, total £954
£300,001 – £400,000 £895 plus VAT of £179, total £1074
£400,001 – £500,000 £995 plus VAT of £199, total £1,194
£500,001 or over 0.25% of the Purchase Price plus VAT

Additional legal fees for complex transactions

The figures shown on the table above are representative of a standard residential purchase without complications. Some matters are much more complex and as a result additional legal fees may be payable due to the extra work involved. Examples of these types of matters and an indication of the anticipated additional fees are as follows:-

  • Flats/Apartments = £200.00 – £300.00 (plus VAT of £40.00 – £60.00)
  • Flats/Apartments in buildings of at least 5 storeys or more than 11 metres in height = £600.00 (plus VAT of £120.00)
  • Newbuilds = £300.00 – £400.00 (plus VAT of £60.00 – £80.00)
  • Islamic Finance = £200.00 – £300.00 (plus VAT of £40.00 – £60.00)
  • Unregistered Title = £50.00 – £100.00 (plus VAT of £10.00 – £20.00)
  • Equity Release = £350.00 plus VAT of £70.00, totalling £420.00
  • Company Purchases = £100.00 – £200.00 (plus VAT of £20.00 – £40.00)
  • Shared ownership = £200.00 – £400.00 (plus VAT of £40.00 – £80.00)

Other Costs and Disbursements

Payable in most cases

  • Stamp Duty Land Tax Admin Fee – £50.00 plus vat of £10.00, totalling £60.00
  • Acting for your Mortgage Lender – £100.00 plus vat of £20.00, totalling £120.00
  • Bank Transfer fee for each chaps payment of £35.00 plus VAT of £7.00, totalling £42.00 each.
  • Electronic Identity Check for each purchaser or giftor- £30.00 plus vat of £6.00, totalling £36.00 each.
  • Search Fees – a standard search pack to include full local authority search, chancel check, drainage search, environmental search and mining search (if required) costs in the region of £450.00 (inc. vat).
  • Official search – £7.00 plus vat of £1.40, totalling £8.40
  • Bankruptcy searches – £6.00 plus vat of £1.20, totalling £7.20 (per purchaser and giftor)
  • Registration fee (based on purchase price). Please click on the link below for details of the current Land Registry fees payable.https://fee-calculator.landregistry.gov.uk/
  • Stamp Duty Land Tax. Please click on the link below to calculate the amount payable. https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro

Less frequently encountered

  • Indemnity Policy Admin fee (if we need to arrange a legal indemnity policy during the course of the transaction) – £25.00 plus vat of £5.00, totalling £30.00
  • Lender Panel Admin fee (fee we are charged if the mortgage is sent to us by the LMS or ULS Portals) – £25.00 plus vat of £5.00, totalling £30.00 (ULS) and £35.00 plus vat of £7.00, totalling £42.00 (LMS)
  • Help to Buy Isa/Lifetime Isa fee – £50.00 plus vat of £10.00, totalling £60.00
  • Lawyer Checker Fee (if the solicitor acting for the other party is unknown to us) £25.08 (inc.vat)
  • Declaration of Trust – minimum of £100.00 plus vat of £20.00, totalling £120.00
  • On a Company purchase – Companies House Fee for registering the charge at Companies House – £15.00 (inc.vat)
  • If the property is leasehold you may also need to pay post-completion fees to a Freeholder and/or Management Company. These fees could vary from a few pounds to a few hundred pounds.

What services do the purchase legal fees include?

The services included within the above anticipated legal fees are:

  • Taking instructions;
  • Obtaining suitable evidence of identity;
  • Preparing a Client Care pack;
  • Obtaining suitable evidence of the source of funds;
  • Contacting the seller’s solicitors to request a draft Contract Pack;
  • Upon receipt of the draft Contract Pack, reviewing the same and investigating title;
  • Ordering any relevant pre-contract searches;
  • Raising any relevant and appropriate enquiries arising from the draft contract, investigation of title and search results with the seller’s solicitors.
  • Upon receipt of the search results, interpreting them and reporting to the buyer;
  • Upon receipt of a Mortgage Offer, reporting to the buyer and raising any further necessary enquiries;
  • Reporting to the buyer in general in relation to the Contract, Title and other information received;
  • Obtaining the buyer’s signature to the Contract and all other relevant documents;
  • Negotiating an acceptable exchange and completion date;
  • Obtaining the deposit funds from the buyer;
  • Exchanging Contracts;
  • Ordering the mortgage advance from the lender if appropriate;
  • Ordering pre-completion searches;
  • Completing the purchase;
  • Obtaining the completion documents from the seller’s solicitors;
  • Serving any required Notices on the Freeholder and/or Management Company;
  • Submitting a Stamp Duty Land Tax return to HM Revenue & Customs and paying any tax due;
  • Submitting the application to register the transaction at the Land Registry and paying any relevant fees;
  • Following completion of registration, forward a copy of the completed registration to the buyer and any lender.

SEARCHES

It should be borne in mind that WHN has a policy of carrying out, what are known as, full searches. Organisations have been set up which carry out, what are known as, personal searches. Personal searches are generally much cheaper than full searches. In our opinion that is the only advantage of them. The disadvantages are several; namely;

  • they usually take longer to obtain because the person carrying out the personal search has to make an appointment at the Local Authority,
  • not all of the information revealed by a full search is available in a personal search;
  • the Local Authority do not guarantee that the information contained in a personal search is accurate and correct and,
  • if the buyer is obtaining mortgage finance, quite often, a lender may not accept personal search results.

RE-MORTGAGES, DEED OF GIFT, TRANSFERS OF EQUITY, AND OTHERS

The following anticipated legal charges apply –

  • Re-mortgages – minimum charge of £450.00 plus VAT of £90.00, totalling £540.00
  • Deed of Gift – minimum charge of £350.00 plus VAT of £70.00, totalling £420.00
  • Transfer of Equity – minimum charge of £395.00 plus VAT of £79.00, totalling £474.00
  • Settlement of Islamic finance – minimum charge of £395.00 plus VAT of £79.00, totalling £474.00
  • Equity Release – minimum charge of £750.00 plus VAT of £150.00, totalling £900.00
  • Purchase of Freehold – minimum charge of £450.00 plus VAT of £90.00, totalling £540.00
  • Adverse Possession claims – minimum charge of £500.00 plus VAT of £100.00, totalling £600.00
  • Settlement of Help to Buy Equity mortgages – minimum charge of £395.00 plus VAT of £79.00, totalling £474.00
  • Voluntary First Registrations – minimum charge of £450.00 plus VAT of £90.00, totalling £540.00

There will also be a number of additional costs and expenses specific to your transaction. Please contact us by phone or e-mail and we will be able to provide a detailed and bespoke quotation tailored to your needs.

TIMEFRAMES

Sales and Purchases

A completion timescale can be difficult to predict because it can be affected by a number of factors, for example, the number of parties involved in the chain of transactions or whether any of them need mortgage finance. Generally, a straightforward residential property transaction takes between 8 and 12 weeks.

Re-mortgages

Once mortgage instructions have been received on a standard re-mortgage, it should be possible to complete the re-mortgage within 4 weeks depending on the lender’s requirements.

Need expert advice? Let us help:

To discuss any aspect of residential conveyancing, please contact;

  • Jennifer Prysiaznyj, Nick Bennetts or Stacey Power at our Blackburn office on 01254 272640
  • Catherine Landale at our Bacup office on 01706 874487
  • Elizabeth Kelly at our Rawtenstall office on 01706 225621
  • Catherine Landale or Charlotte Ferguson at our Haslingden office on 01706 233448
  • Claire Birch or Lauren Cartledge at our Bury office on 0161 761 4611
  • Mathew Simkin at our Accrington office on 01254 236221
  • Carolynne Tovell at our Great Harwood office on 01254 884253
  • Carl Dodd at our Clitheroe Office on 01200 408300

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