Our Fees Are Transparent And Straightforward
At Butterworths Solicitors, we know that buying and selling a property can be one of the most stressful times in your life. Whether you are a first-time buyer, a home mover, buying a new-build or using an auction house, Butterworths Solicitors have a designated, first-class team who will guide you through the process to ensure things are handled as quickly and efficiently as possible and will provide you with your own dedicated and experienced conveyancing solicitor or experienced conveyancing legal adviser to work on your matter. Take a look at our team of expert conveyancers.
At Butterworths Solicitors, we believe that the cost of providing legal services should be transparent so that you get no surprises. We provide our residential property conveyancing services on a fixed fee basis. Auction sales or purchases and new-build purchases have a different Pricing structure, details of which are available upon request.
Standard Sale & Purchase Transactions – Freehold
This fee information relates to residential property matters only. This information does not relate to commercial property or sales of property portfolios. This information is a guide to assist you in estimating the costs of your conveyancing transaction but is not a binding quotation. Once we have full details of your matter, we will be able to provide you with a more accurate estimate. If our estimate changes for any reason, we will provide you with a revised estimate of our charges.
| Property Price | Fees | +20% VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £80,000 | £550 | £110 |
| £80,001 - £125,000 | £600 | £120 |
| £125,001 - £150,000 | £650 | £130 |
| £150,001 - £200,000 | £700 | £140 |
| £200,001 - £250,000 | £750 | £150 |
| £250,001 - £275,000 | £800 | £160 |
| £275,001 - £300,000 | £850 | £170 |
| £300,001 - £350,000 | £900 | £180 |
| £350,001 - £400,000 | £950 | £190 |
| £400,001 - £450,000 | £1,000 | £200 |
| £450,001 - £500,000 | £1,100 | £220 |
| £500,001 - £550,000 | £1,200 | £240 |
| £550,001 - £600,000 | £1,300 | £260 |
| £600,001 - £700,000 | £1,400 | £280 |
| £700,001 - £800,000 | £1,500 | £300 |
| £800,001 - £900,000 | £1,600 | £320 |
| £900,001 - £1,000,000 | £1,700 | £340 |
| £1,000,001 - £1,500,000 | TBC | |
| £1,500,001 - £2,750,000 | TBC | |
| £2,000,001 - £3,000,000 | TBC | |
| £3,000,001 - £4,000,000 | TBC | |
| £4,000,001 - £5,000,000 | TBC | |
| Nothing over 5 million PII | TBC |
* For a Leasehold fee – Please see the ‘Leasehold Fee’ section in the additional fee table.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable by you to third parties, such as search fees, HM Land Registry fees and Stamp Duty Land Tax. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process, but you may be required to pay the funds to us on account before we incur these.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
This applies to purchases only. First-time buyers paying £425,000 or less for a residential property will pay no Stamp Duty Land Tax and first-time buyers paying between £425,001 and £625,000 will pay Stamp Duty Land Tax at 5% on the amount of the purchase price in excess of £425,001. If you are not first-time buyers, when you buy a property that costs more than £250,000, the Stamp Duty Land Tax you will pay to HMRC depends on the purchase price of your property. If you already own a property, in the UK or abroad, you pay an extra 3%.
You will not pay the higher Stamp Duty Land Tax rates if the property you are buying is replacing your main residence and that main residence has already been sold. If you buy a new main residence but the sale for your previous main residence is delayed, you will pay the higher rate (as you own 2 properties) but you can get a refund for the amount above the normal Stamp Duty Land Tax rates if you sell your previous main residence within 3 years of buying the new property. The refund must be claimed within 12 months of the sale of the previous mai residence or within 12 months of the filing date of the return, whichever comes later. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s Stamp Duty Land Tax calculator here.
H&L Composite Fee
This refers to the fee charged for handling both the sale of a house and the loan associated with the purchase. This fee covers the legal work involved in the conveyancing process related to both the property sale and the associated mortgage or loan.
| Property Price | Fee | +20% VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £150,000 | £650 | £130 |
| £150,001 - £250,000 | £750 | £150 |
| £250,001 - £350,000 | £850 | £170 |
| £350,001 - £450,000 | £950 | £190 |
| £450,001 - £600,000 | £1,100 | £220 |
| £600,001 - £750,000 | £1,200 | £240 |
| £750,001 - £900,000 | £1,300 | £260 |
| £900,001 - £1,000,000 | £1,400 | £280 |
| £1,000,001+ | £1,600 | £320 |
Conveyancing Additional Fees
This is notification of potential additional charges in addition to your estimate of costs. This is not an exclusive list, but an example of additional services and fees we provide. All fees are subject to VAT.
In order to ensure that we are providing you with a quality service, we may have to charge you an additional fee, where extra work is required. If any apply to your transaction, we will notify you of any specific further fees prior to carrying out the work.
| Additional Service | Cost (+20% VAT) |
|---|---|
| Additional Title Fee - If you are buying or selling where the property is split over two or more titles, we will charge for checking and transferring both titles. Please note there may also be an additional charge made by the Land Registry. | £50.00 (+£10.00 VAT) |
| Auction Pack - Sale - If you wish to sell your property at auction, this is the fee that we will charge you to create the auction pack for that property, prior to the auction taking place. This fee excludes any disbursements required to create the pack and we require this fee from you before we carry out the work. | £450.00 (+£90.00 VAT) |
| Auction Fee - Purchase - If you are buying a property at auction, this is the fee that we will charge you to review the contract pack for that property, prior to the auction taking place. We will require this fee from you before we carry out the work. | £450.00 (+£90.00 VAT) |
| Auction Exchange Deadline - Under Auction conditions, there is a compulsory period of time between exchange of contracts which will take place at the Auction and completion. We will charge an additional fee to deal with the work involved. | 14 Day £200.00 (+£40.00 VAT) 28 Day £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) |
| Bridging Loan - A bridging loan (or 'bridge loan') can be useful if you need to borrow money for a short period. It can help to 'bridge the gap' if you want to buy a new home before selling your old one. Bridging loans can also be used if you buy a property at auction, where you'll need the money immediately but may not have sold your current property yet. | From £750 (From £150.00 VAT) |
| Buy to Let Fee – Compliance with Lender Requirements - If you are buying or selling a property that has a current tenant, or one you wish to rent out, this may require us to do additional work. For example, your mortgage lender may have additional conditions that we must satisfy. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Certificate of Compliance - Sometimes the Freehold owner of the property will place a restriction on the Leasehold title. A Certificate of Compliance is needed by the Land Registry as proof that the Buyer has complied with the necessary requirements stated in the Lease. So that the restriction can be taken off the Leasehold title | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Companies House Due Diligence Fee - If there is a UK Limited Company involved in the purchase, it will be necessary to obtain documents from Companies House. We will charge for checking that documentation. Companies House will also charge a registration fee. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Contaminated Land Fee - If there is a contaminated land entry revealed on the Environmental or Local Search and you require us to investigate this matter and try to have the entry removed, we will charge you this fee for the extra work involved. | £95.00 (+£19.00 VAT) |
| Court Order Fee - If you are buying or selling a property under a Power of Attorney (either a general, lasting or enduring power) or a Court Order made by the Court of Protection, we will charge for checking that the Power or Court Order is correct and that the seller has the legal power to sell. This fee is charged for each Power or Court Order in force. | £250.00 (+£50.00 VAT) |
| Dealing with a Third Party on Your Behalf - A fee is payable to us in relation to the additional work we have to carry out in liaising with third parties on your behalf. | £250.00 (+£50.00 VAT) |
| Declaration of Trust Fee - If you are buying/re-mortgaging a property with another person and you wish to set out in detail how you own the property together, we will charge for preparing a Declaration of Trust (also known as a Deed of Trust). | From £175.00 TBC on document review (From £35.00 VAT) |
| Deed of Covenant Fee - If you are buying/re-mortgaging a leasehold property, or a freehold property with obligations to abide by a covenant (i.e., a promise made in a deed), we will charge for preparing the deed and registering the signed deed with the correct party on completion. This fee is charged for each Deed of Covenant. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Deed of Easement - A deed of easement grants simple rights over the grantor's land in return for a payment made by the grantee to the grantor. It contains optional clauses for a lender to give consent to the grant of the rights. | £600.00 (+£120.00 VAT) |
| Deed of Guarantee Fee - If your lender requires a Deed of Guarantee from a third party to support your mortgage, we will charge this fee for the extra work involved. | £250.00 (+£50.00 VAT) |
| Deed of Postponement Fee - If you are buying/re-mortgaging a property with the assistance of more than one mortgage or finance product and the lenders require a deed setting out which legal charge comes first, we will charge for preparing or approving the deed of postponement. This fee is charged for each deed. | £175.00 (+£35.00 VAT) |
| Deed of Variation Fee - If we have to rectify the title you are selling. | £300.00 (+£60.00 VAT) |
| Deed Storage Fee - When you legally complete on a purchase the property is registered at Land Registry. Deeds will be produced for your property and these should be stored in a secure place along with any original documents depending on the age of your property. If there is a Lender, they may hold the Deeds or they will be given to you for safe keeping. We can store the deeds on site in a secure area. You can request these at any point for collection or delivery. | £40.00 (+£8.00 VAT) |
| Defective Titles - Title defects can affect the value of a property and may influence a lender’s willingness to lend against the property or a buyer or tenant’s interest in acquiring the property. Title defects range from deal-breaking issues to minor problems. | From £75.00 TBC on document review (From £15.00 VAT) |
| Document Translation Fee - If any documents that we receive that are not in English, a fee will be charged to translate these from the original language into English. | £200.00 (+£40.00 VAT) |
| Duplicate Correspondence Fee - If duplicate paperwork is to be issued throughout the transaction due to matrimonial, non-matrimonial separation or probate matters, a fee will be charged for the additional work involved. | £75.00 (+£15.00 VAT) |
| Flying Freehold – Deed of Covenant - A flying freehold is a freehold property where a section of that property overhangs, extends, or protrudes onto another freehold property or land. We will charge an additional fee to deal with the work involved in producing a Mutual Deed of Covenant. | £200.00 (+£40.00 VAT) |
| Freehold Property with a Management Company/Rent Charge Fee - If you are buying, selling or re-mortgaging a freehold property which has a legal obligation to make contributions to a Management Company or a rent charge, we will charge for the extra work involved in making enquiries of the Management Company. Such enquiries may include obtaining receipts to check that all payments are up-to-date, what the future payments may be, and obtaining accounts for previous years to check for short falls. This fee is charged for each Management Company or rent charge in place. Please note that the Management Company may also charge a fee. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Funds Transfer Fee (Same day within UK) - If we make a same day funds transfer within the UK, we will charge for arranging each payment made. | £35.00 (+£7.00 VAT) |
| Funds Transfer Fee (International) - If we make an international payment, we will charge for arranging each payment made. | £50.00 (+£10.00 VAT) |
| Funds Transfer Fee (3 Working Days within UK) - If we make a 3 working days funds transfer within the UK (also known as a BACS payment, we will charge for arranging each payment made. | £15.00 (+£3.00 VAT) |
| Gifted Deposit Fee - If you are buying/re-mortgaging a property with the assistance of a gift of money from a friend or family member, we will need to obtain various additional documents from the person giving the gift (also known as the Giftor) and satisfy any additional conditions that any lender may have. This fee is charged for each Giftor. | Within the UK - £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) Outside the UK - £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) No Lender - £80.00 (+£16.00 VAT) |
| Grade II Listed Buildings - A Grade II Listed Building is defined as a UK building or structure that is ‘of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve it’. Grade II is a classification that can be applied to a wide variety of buildings and other structures, in a range of ages, styles and locations. We will charge a fee to deal with the additional work involved. | £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) |
| Help to Buy Equity Loan Fee - If you are buying or selling a property with the assistance of a Help to Buy Equity Loan, we will charge for the extra work involved in liaising with the Help to Buy agent, resolving any conditions relating to each mortgage and registering their legal charge against the property, or in the case of a sale, obtaining a redemption valuation and redeeming the same on completion. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| HTB Forces Loan - If you are buying a property with the assistance of a Help to Buy Forces Loan, we will charge for the extra work involved in liaising with the Help to Buy agent, resolving any conditions relating to each mortgage. | £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) |
| Help to Buy/Lifetime ISA Fee - If you are buying a property with the assistance of a Help to Buy/Lifetime Individual Savings Account, we will charge for the extra work involved in liaising with the Help to Buy agent and obtaining the bonus payment. This fee is set at a maximum of £50 plus VAT per ISA. | £50.00 (+£10.00 VAT) |
| Homes in Multiple Occupation Fee - If you are buying, selling or re-mortgaging a property which has or will have a House in Multiple Occupation Licence, this may require us to do additional work. For example, your mortgage lender may have additional requirements that we must satisfy. | £300.00 (+£60.00 VAT) |
| ID Verification Fee - To comply with Money Laundering legislation, we must carry out due diligence to verify your identity. This fee is charged per person. | £15.00 (+£3.00 VAT) |
| Indemnity Policy Arrangement Fee - If there is a legal issue with the property that you are buying or selling and it is necessary for a policy or indemnity insurance to be put into place, this is the fee that we will charge for obtaining the correct policy. Indemnity Insurance policies provide financial protection against specific legal issues. This fee is charged for each policy arranged or approved. | £50.00 (+£10.00 VAT) |
| Key Undertaking Fee - If you are selling a property and you agree to give your buyer access before completion, or you are buying a property and have negotiated such access, it will become necessary for the buyer to enter into a key undertaking. We will charge for the preparation or approval of the key undertaking. | £125.00 (+£25.00 VAT) |
| Leasehold Fee - If you are buying, selling or re-mortgaging a leasehold property, we will charge for the extra work involved in checking the lease and the leasehold information from the landlord and dealing with any Management Company. | £300.00 (+£60.00 VAT) |
| Lender Service Fee - If you are selling a property with a mortgage that is needing to be redeemed or purchasing a property that requires a mortgage, we will charge an additional fee to deal with the work involved. | £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) |
| Licence to Occupy Fee - If occupation of the property is required before completion has taken place, we will charge a fee for drafting or approving the Licence to Occupy. | £125.00 (+£25.00 VAT) |
| Maintaining the Archive, Storage and Retrieval of Files - To cover the costs of maintaining an archive of the documents associated with your case. No further charge will be made should you require us to retrieve these documents at a later date. We will keep your file of your papers for up to 7 years, except those papers that you ask to be returned to you. We keep files on the understanding that we can destroy them 7 years after the date of the final bill. We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody. | £30.00 (+£6.00 VAT) |
| Negative Equity Fee - If you are selling your property and there are insufficient funds to repay your mortgage, we charge a fee for dealing with the additional work required to deal with a source of funds and removing the mortgage. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| New Build Fee - If you are buying a newly built property, or a property that is currently under construction, we will charge for checking that it has been constructed in accordance with current planning law and building regulations. We will also ensure that the property will have the benefit of a new build warranty (such as the NHBC 10 year guarantee) and place that warranty on risk. | £250.00 (+£50.00 VAT) |
| Non Standard Undertaking - An undertaking is a commitment by a solicitor to do something. It can be enforced against the solicitor by the courts. | £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) |
| Notice to Complete - If completion does not take place on the date stated in the contract, the non-defaulting party may choose to have their solicitor serve a notice to complete on the delaying party’s solicitor. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Overseas Clients - If you are not a resident in the UK, we will have additional due diligence to carry out to verify your identity, funds related to the transaction and ownership of the property. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Personal Guarantee – Directors - A personal guarantee is an agreement that means a business director takes a certain level of responsibility for his or her company's debts in the event that they cannot be paid back by the business itself. We will charge an additional fee to deal with the work involved. | £250.00 Per Guarantee (+£50.00 VAT Per Guarantee) |
| Registering a Restriction Fee - If you are selling/re-mortgaging a property and we are required to register a restriction, we will charge for preparing and registering the restriction. This is charged for each entry. This fee will not be charged on any standard restrictions associated with a leasehold title, new build or mortgage. This fee does not apply to Absent Owner Restrictions. Please not there may also be an additional charge made by the Land Registry. | £95.00 (+£19.00 VAT) |
| Repossessed Properties - If you are buying from a lender in possession, there is a compulsory period of time to exchange and complete. We will charge an additional fee to deal with the work involved as priority. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Restrictions, Cautions or Notices Fee - If you are buying, selling or re-mortgaging a property which has a restriction, charge or notice registered, we will charge for preparing, amending, complying or removing any. This is charged for each entry. This fee will not be charged on any standard restrictions associated with a mortgage. Please note there may also be an additional charge made by the Land Registry. | £95.00 (+£19.00 VAT) |
| Second or Subsequent Mortgage Fee - Sale - If you are selling/re-mortgaging a property which has more than one legal charge registered, we will charge for arranging for the removal of the second or subsequent legal charge. This includes Legal Aid Board Charges. This fee is charged for each legal charge registered in addition to the main legal charge. Please note that this does not apply to a private mortgage. | £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) |
| Second or Subsequent Mortgage Transfer Fee - Purchase - If you are buying/re-mortgaging a property with the assistance of more than one mortgage or finance product, where the lender requires a legal charge over the property (including porting over an existing mortgage), we will charge for the extra work involved in liaising with the second or subsequent lender, resolving any conditions relating to each mortgage and registering their legal charge. This fee is charged or each lender that we liaise with. Please note that this does not apply to a private mortgage. | £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) |
| Septic Tank Investigation Fee/Private Drainage - If the property has a septic tank, we will charge this fee for dealing with the extra enquiries this generates. | £200.00 (+£40.00 VAT) |
| Share of Freehold Fee - If you are buying/re-mortgaging a leasehold property where the seller is also selling their share in the freehold title of the building, we will charge for checking the freehold title and dealing with the transfer of the share into your name at the same time as your purchase of the property. The seller’s share in the freehold property may be in their own personal name or they may hold a share in a separate limited company which owns the freehold. Please note there will also be an additional charge made by the Land Registry. | £300.00 (+£60.00 VAT) |
| Shared Ownership / Equity Fee - If you are buying or selling a shared ownership or shared equity property, the lease and the legal title may contain extra restrictions and the landlord may have additional conditions that we will need to satisfy and there may also be a second charge to remove. We will charge for this extra work. | £300.00 (+£60.00 VAT) |
| Sitting Tenants - A sitting tenant is a person who is renting a house that the owner (their landlord) has decided to sell. If they have an ongoing agreement or ongoing contract with their landlord (the seller), the sitting tenant will be able to stay in the property after the sale is completed. A fee is charged for the additional work involved. | £200.00 (+£40.00 VAT) |
| Solar Panels Fee - Many properties have solar panels attached to the roof. If you are selling a property with a defective solar panel lease, we will need to rectify it. If you are buying/re-mortgaging a property which has solar panels and a mortgage we will have to check that the solar panel lease meets your mortgage lender’s requirements. | £250.00 (+£50.00 VAT) |
| Special Delivery Post - If you require us to send items of post to you via Royal Mail Special Delivery Post, we will charge a fee for this to cover the extra cost charged to us. | Tracked Delivery - £10.00 (+£2.00 VAT) Special Delivery - £20.00 (+£4.00 VAT) |
| Statement of Truth - A statement of truth is a method of providing evidence in support of an application you send to HM Land Registry. | £50.00 (+£10.00 VAT) |
| Statutory Declaration Fee - If there is an issue with the property which you are buying, selling or re-mortgaging and it is necessary for a Statutory Declaration or a Statement of Truth to be prepared, we will charge for preparing or approving the same. This fee is charged for each Declaration/Statement. Please note the document needs to be declared in the presence of an independent solicitor who will also charge a small fee, payable to them directly. | £100.00 (+£20.00 VAT) |
| Third Party Matrimonial Lawyers Fee - If you are going through a divorce, separation or other matrimonial proceedings and we have to liaise with a family lawyer acting for a co-owner, we will charge or the extra work involved in liaising with them, resolving any issues relating to the property and keeping them updated concerning the transaction. This fee is charged for each lawyer that we liaise with. | £200.00 (+£40.00 VAT) |
| Tyneside Lease - A Tyneside lease, also known as a crisscross or cross-over lease is an arrangement where the leaseholder of each flat is also the landlord of the other flat. We will charge an additional fee to deal with the work involved. | £150.00 (+£30.00 VAT) |
| Unregistered Title - If you are buying or selling a property which is not registered with the Land Registry, we will charge for drafting/checking the Epitome of Title and dealing with the first registration (including an additional Leasehold Title). This fee is charged for each Epitome of Title. | £200.00 (+£40.00 VAT) |
The Conveyancing Process
Resale Sale and Purchase
The average resale sale or purchase transaction takes between 8 to 12 weeks from instruction to legal completion. For purchases, the property is then registered at the Land Registry.
New Build
The average new-build conveyancing transaction takes between 6 to 8 weeks from instruction to exchange of contracts. Legal completion then usually occurs within 2 to 4 weeks after the developer advises that the property build has completed. The property is then registered at the Land Registry.
Auction
Preparation of the legal pack usually takes approximately 5 working days from when we receive all the paperwork. The average auction transaction completes within 28 days after the contracts are exchanged at auction. For purchases, the property is then registered at the Land Registry.
For more information on the conveyancing process, take a look at our step-by-step guide.
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