New Homes Sales

The SRA Transparency Rules require all regulated law firms, who publish as part of their usual business that they offer certain services, to supply information on the prices they charge for those services. For pricing on other types of work, we can provide an estimate upon request.

Our team has over 50 years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to purchase transactions. The team has particular expertise in new homes and dealing with the related sales transactions when purchasing from a new development.

You will be allocated one of our conveyancers who, together with their assistant, will run your transaction under the supervision of one of our named supervisors. They are supported by a strong technical team and a separate management team is in place to ensure we give you the best possible service. Rebecca Kibby is the partner with overall responsibility for the work carried out within Conveyancing Services, regardless of who works on your matter. Rebecca’s details are at this link and details of her team can be found here.

Related sales can vary greatly in complexity. Your sale will be dealt with by people whose expertise is appropriate to the task in hand.

You will see that there is a difference between freehold and leasehold properties which will affect your costs:

1. Owning the Freehold of a property means owning the property outright, including the land it’s built on.
2. Owning a Leasehold property means you own the property for the length of your lease agreement with the Freeholder.  When the lease ends, ownership returns to the freeholder unless the lease is extended (and there are different ways in which you can extend a lease, including a statutory right under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (as amended).

Fees

We charge a fixed legal fee for a standard sale, with some additional fixed fees for supplemental activities that can be associated with your instruction.

Our legal fees cover all of the work required to complete the related sale or part exchange of your existing property.

Our legal fees are as follows but note that transactions can become more complex than originally thought (for example if there is a title defect such as unknown covenants or missing deeds and an indemnity policy is needed, so needing extra disbursements, an uncooperative management company or other issues requiring remedy and/or additional documents prior to completion such as a private lender with a charge on the title which requires redemption.  If so we will of course contact our clients to ensure they are kept updated with any additional unexpected costs before they are incurred.

Standard example of costs involved in selling a home:

Other possible sale costs (all +VAT):

• Discharging any additional mortgages (per mortgage/secured loan) – £150
• Dealing with sale of shared ownership property – £150
• Dealing with management company – £150
• Sourcing an indemnity policy (+ cost of policy itself) – £50

Other possible sale third party charges:

• Management company fees to answer standard buyer enquiries – Priced by management company (approx. £250).

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry registration and search fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure your transaction proceeds smoothly. These are:

Up-to-date copy of title certificate (if obtained online): £6

How long it will take from an offer being accepted until you can complete the purchase of your property will depend on a number of factors. This is largely linked to your own circumstances, and whether you are intending to move into your new home once it is ready for you to move into, or whether you intend to sell your property, move into temporary accommodation and if this sale is unconnected to the purchase of your new property.

In our experience though, you can expect your sale to take between 6 and 12 weeks depending on any chain and the exchange deadline/estimated completion of build date set by the developer.

The precise stages involved in the sale of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages:

1. Obtain appropriate identification and proof of funds.
2. Disclosing your title(s) to the property to the buyer’s solicitors.
3. Drafting and negotiating the contract and reporting to you on its terms and effect.
4. Responding, after consultation with you if correct, to the buyer’s solicitor’s formal enquiries about the property and your title to it.
5. Dealing with formal exchange of contracts and payment of the deposit.
6. Checking the transfer.
7. Corresponding with you as required to arrange exchange and completion and the execution of all appropriate documentation.
8. Dealing with completion of the transfer.
9. Receiving the purchase price and arranging payment to you.
10. Providing you with an itemised statement of the funds due to you (or from you as appropriate) following completion.
11. Dealing with the redemption of any mortgages or charges secured on the property.
12. Carrying out any necessary post-completion formalities.

Some transactions will involve additional features which will result in your Conveyancer having to carry out additional work. We will charge an additional fee in the following scenarios:

1. Indemnity Policy – £50 plus VAT (£60) – this may be charged in the event that your buyer’s Conveyancer insists that an indemnity policy is obtained for varying reasons.
2. Leasehold Properties – where you are selling a leasehold property or property on an estate with a service/maintenance charge your Landlord or Management Company are likely to charge a fee for obtaining an information pack from them. This includes documents such as up to date insurance documents, service charge accounts and details of any problems, etc. and will be required by the buyer’s solicitors in all sales where such a management company is involved.The cost for this information is set by the Landlord or Managing Agent to whom the fee is payable.  We most often see fees between £100 and £300 plus VAT but it will vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the range given above. We can give you an accurate figure once we have confirmation from the Landlord or Managing Agents.
3. Management Company/Managing Agent – £150 plus VAT (£180) – this may be charged if there is a management company and/or managing agent which manages your property and/or any communal area.
4. More than one Legal Charge – £150 plus VAT (£180) – this may be charged per charge if the title to the property that you are selling has more than one Legal Charge.
5. Retention Money – £150 plus VAT (£180) – this may be charged in circumstances where it is necessary for a sum of money to be held for a period after completion has taken place.
6. Unregistered Title – £150 plus VAT (£180) – this may be charged if the title to the property is currently unregistered.