O’Hara Solicitors offer many years of experience with property law in the UK and have represented buyers, sellers and property developers.
Our solicitors can offer assistance with property law in the following ways:
- Help you fully understand the issues involved in purchasing or selling property in England and Wales
- Assistance with buying or selling at public auction/private treaty
- Information about the costs involved (including taxes)
- Advice for your Contract for Sale
- Negotiating terms and conditions for the sale or purchase of property
- Advice in regard to sale or purchase of vacant land, units, flats and rural land
- Advice for meeting lender requirements
- Arrange title searches and land enquiries
- Help with the legal requirements for subdivisions and property developments
- Advice in regard to building contracts
- Advice and negotiation in regard to neighbourhood disputes including dividing fence disputes
- Representation in dispute resolution and at Court
Contact us to find out more or to arrange a consultation with an experienced property solicitor in Waterlooville.
Residential Conveyancing
WE ARE REQUIRED BY THE SOLICITORS REGULATION AUTHORITY TO PUBLISH COSTS INFORMATION IN RELATION TO CERTAIN SPECIFIED SERVICES ONLY. FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE FULL RANGE OF SERVICES WE OFFER, PLEASE VISIT OUR ONLINE QUOTING SYSTEM WHICH WILL GIVE YOU A FULL AND COMPREHENSIVE QUOTE
About this page
This page is intended to provide guidance on this firm’s charges for potential residential conveyancing clients buying and/or selling their own homes or re-mortgaging their homes in England or Wales.
It is not intended to relate to residential property traders/dealers, non-residential property, auction sales, freehold ground rent transactions, nor homes outside England and Wales.
When you instruct us, our retainer letter will provide more details on the scope of our work and what you can expect. This page is intended only to be an initial guide to our charges for this type of work.
A guide to residential conveyancing
There are various guides to residential conveyancing available online and we do not seek to repeat these here. For example, please see the Legal Choices website.
We are of course happy to discuss with you any queries you have in relation to the process.
Perhaps the most common question asked is “how long will it take?”. Unfortunately, it is impossible to answer this with any certainty at the beginning of a transaction. The speed of a transaction will depend on a number of factors, such as whether the parties are in a chain, any other related transactions (or proceedings), requirements for mortgage finance, the speed of the solicitors acting for other parties, whether the parties are resident in this country, critical dates (such as school holidays or entry dates), and whether there are any other barriers to a transaction proceeding (such as a requirement to vary or extend a lease). A realistic estimate is 6-8 weeks to exchange contracts on a standard transaction, but this really could be significantly quicker or slower. Should you instruct us to handle your conveyancing, we will always keep you abreast of progress.
Conveyancing Services at O’Hara Solicitors
O’Hara Solicitors provides a full range of property law services, including residential conveyancing.
We are proud to have achieved the standards of practice and integrity required to be accredited by the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. More details on the CQS are available from the Law Society.
The firm also holds the Lexcel Legal Practice Quality Mark. More information on Lexcel is available from the Law Society.
Stages of the process
The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, these are some typical key stages for a purchase:
- Establish your identity to comply with UK anti-money laundering requirements, and request money from you on account of costs and disbursements.
- Take your instructions and give you initial advice
- Check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender’s solicitors if needed
- Receive and advise on contract documents
- Carry out searches
- Obtain further planning documentation if required
- Make any necessary enquiries of seller’s solicitor
- Give you advice on all documents and information received
- Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you
- Send final contract to you for signature
- Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
- Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
- Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
- Complete purchase
- Deal with payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax
- Deal with application for registration at Land Registry
- Send completed documents to you
Our standard charges
Our standard charges for this type of work are based on a percentage of the purchase or sale price.
Costs on a Purchase
On the purchase of a freehold or leasehold residential property you should budget for the following fees and disbursements (disbursements are costs relating to your matter which are paid by us to third parties on your behalf, for example to the Land Registry).
| This firm’s basic charges | We will charge you for our services an amount equivalent to 0.5% of the purchase price plus VAT (subject to a minimum charge of £1,500 plus VAT). This assumes the matter does not become unexpectedly complicated or protracted, in such cases additional charges may be due, though these will be explained to you at the earliest opportunity (see below). |
| Bank and Administration Fees | A bank transfer fee and our administration costs for setting up the bank transfer of £38 plus VAT (per bank transfer. |
| Conveyancing searches | Typically around £210.00 (the cost of these searches depends on the third-party providers. Usually the costliest is the Local Authority search, and this varies between local authorities). |
| Land Registry registration fee | This fee is charged by the Land Registry is based on the purchase price, and the amount (“Scale 1”) can be see seen here. For example, on the purchase of a freehold house for £500,000 the fee is £270. We will register online (through the Land Registry’s Portal) where possible. Note that when registering new leases, there is no discount for applying to register online. |
| Land Registry copy documents | Although usually title documents are to be provided by the seller’s conveyancers, often we need to obtain documents from the Land Registry as well. The cost would not be expected to exceed £50. |
| Lawyer Checker | Where we do not know the seller’s solicitors, we will carry out an online check against them for your protection. This costs £10.plus vat |
| Landlord’s notice fee (leasehold only) | Usually when a lease is assigned (purchased) there will be a fee charged by the landlord (usually the freeholder) to give notice of that assignment. That fee depends on the lease but is often between £30 and £200. There may be a separate fee for notice of charge (mortgage, if you are buying with a mortgage) and that will likely be the same amount again. There also may be a requirement for a deed of covenant with the landlord, and these cost typically £200-£500 plus VAT. |
| Stamp Duty Land Tax | You usually pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on increasing portions of the property price when you buy residential property, e.g. a house or flat. If you are buying the name of a company, or if you already own another property anywhere in the world (and are not selling it at the same time as buying the new one) then there will be an additional payment due.SDLT for your purchase can be calculated by using the Revenue & Customs calculator here. (Transactions for properties in Wales are now liable for Land Transaction Tax rather than Stamp Duty Land Tax and the rates are likely to be different and we will calculate these for you when instructed). |
Costs on a Sale
On the sale of a freehold or leasehold residential property you should budget for the following fees and disbursements (disbursements are costs relating to your matter which are paid by us to third parties on your behalf, for example to the Land Registry).
| This firm’s basic charges | We will charge you for our services an amount equivalent to 0.5% of the sale price plus VAT (subject to a minimum charge of £1,500 plus VAT). This assumes the matter is not unexpectedly complicated or protracted, in such cases additional charges may be due, though these will be explained to you at the earliest opportunity (see below). |
| Bank and Administration Fees | A bank transfer fee and our administration costs for setting up the bank transfer (per bank transfer) of £40 plus VAT |
| Land Registry registration fee | This fee is charged by the Land Registry is based on the purchase price, and the amount (“Scale 1”) can be see seen here. For example, on the purchase of a freehold house for £500,000 the fee is £270. We will register online (through the Land Registry’s Portal) where possible. Note that when registering new leases, there is no discount for applying to register online. |
| Land Registry copy documents | We will need to obtain up to date title documents from the Land Registry. This will normally cost £6-£50 depending on whether there is more than one title, and whether there are any leases involved. |
| Lawyer Checker | Where we do not know the buyer’s solicitors, we will carry out an online check against them for your protection. This costs £10. Plus vat |
| Management pack (leasehold only) | Where you are selling a leasehold property, we will need to write to your landlord (often the freeholder), or their managing agents, to obtain a management pack. This includes detail of the rent, service charge, and building insurance. It also contains replies to some standard questions that the buyer’s conveyancers will require. Even if you have kept good records, this will be necessary. The cost depends on the charge of the landlord or their managing agents. This is typically between £200 and £500, and VAT may be due in addition. |
| Estate agent’s commission | Where you are selling though an estate agent, usually their commission will be paid on completion. Unless you have instructed us otherwise, we would normally pay this on your behalf from the proceeds of sale. The figure will depend on what commission you have agreed with the estate agent (and we will not be involved in that). |
| Redemption of your mortgage | Where your property has an existing mortgage, this will be redeemed (paid off) by us on completion (there will be a bank transfer fee for doing so). You should ensure you know how much money you will need to pay to redeem, including any early repayment or other closing charges. |
Costs when re-mortgaging/mortgaging
On the re-mortgage of your home, you should budget for the following fees and disbursements (disbursements are costs relating to your matter which are paid by us to third parties on your behalf, for example the Land Registry).
| This firm’s basic charges | We will charge you for our services can be found on our website, when requesting and Online Quote this includes all fees and disbursements payable. This assumes the matter is not unexpectedly complicated or protracted, in such cases additional charges may be due, though these will be explained to you at the earliest opportunity (see below). |
| Bank and Administration Fees | A bank transfer fee and our administration costs for setting up the bank transfer (per bank transfer) of £40 plus VAT |
| Management pack (leasehold only) | Where you are re-mortgaging a leasehold property, we will need to write to your landlord (often the freeholder), or their managing agents to obtain a management pack. This includes details of the rent, service charge, and building insurance. It also contains replies to some standard questions. Even if you have kept good records, this will be necessary. The cost depends on the charge of the landlord or their managing agents. This is typically between £200 and £500 and VAT may be due in addition. |
| Redemption of your mortgage | Where your property has an existing mortgage, this will be redeemed (paid off) by us on completion (there will be a bank transfer fee for doing so). You should ensure you know how much money you will need to pay to redeem, including any early repayment or other closing charges. |
| Landlord’s notice fee (leasehold only) | For a leasehold property, it is likely we will need to give your landlord notice of the new mortgage and they usually charge a fee. That fee depends on the particular lease, but is often between £30 and £200. |
People dealing with your work
The following lawyers deal with residential conveyancing at our firm. All of our lawyers have broad property experience, and will deal with residential conveyancing as well as other property work (for example commercial property work, leases, investment sales and purchases). All work is supervised closely by partners of the firm.
Kevin O’Hara admitted 1974
Susan O’Hara Acliex
Debbie Merrilees Acliex
Factors which may increase the standard costs referred to above
If a matter is unexpectedly complicated, or protracted, we may need to make an additional charge, and we will advise you of this at the earliest opportunity.
Examples are:
- Abortive transactions (i.e. a buyer or seller pulling out of the transaction).
- Unregistered land.
- Title or lease defects.
- Planning problems.
- Specialist financing (for example Help to Buy, Islamic finance).
- Offshore or trust ownership.
- Transfers of equity.
