PURCHASE: When you get in touch with us regarding your residential property purchase we will provide you with a quote, based on your individual circumstances, so you will know what everything is likely to cost and what we will need paying for in advance. We detail below the costs that you will need to budget for if you are purchasing a residential property and which of these costs we will include in our quote.

Once all of the work has been done and you are ready to complete on your purchase we will send you a completion statement detailing all of your final costs. The balance on your completion statement will need to be paid before we can complete your property conveyancing.

When you are purchasing a Residential Property you will need to consider and budget for the following costs:

TSP Charges for the Legal Work on Your Property Purchase

The detailed quote that we provide to you, before we start work on your matter, will include a fixed fee for TSP to carry out the legal work on your residential property purchase. Our standard fixed fee, on which we will charge you VAT, will include all of the work necessary to complete your purchase taking account of whether your purchase is freehold or leasehold and with or without the aid of a mortgage. It will include completion and submission of the Stamp Duty Land Tax Form and we will not charge any extra for storing your documents following completion of your matter.

We will quote a separate fee for the following:

Identification Verification: We are required by law to verify our client’s identity and also a number of other types of individual such as executors for example. We will charge £10 plus VAT (£12 in total) per individual / UK Company that we check. Where a company is located overseas the charge will be £35 plus VAT (£42 in total). More information on the types of individuals we are required to check can be found in our Terms of Business.

TSP Bank Telegraphic Transfer (TT): We will charge you an additional fee, including VAT, for each telegraphic transfer that we execute on your behalf. For a purchase transaction there will usually be at least one charge when we send your purchase money to the seller’s solicitor.

Administration of the Help to Buy Scheme: Our standard fixed fee does not include administration of the Help to Buy Scheme. If you are purchasing your property with the aid of this scheme then there will be additional work that we need to undertake. We will add a VAT inclusive fixed fee to our quote to carry out this work on your behalf.

Work of a Non-Routine Nature: Occasionally, additional work, of a non-routine nature, may be required, such as:

• Lease Extension
• Attending to first registration
• Drafting a deed of postponement
• Drafting a declaration of trust
• Drafting a statutory declaration

Should any of these items be needed we will advise you of the impact on our fee and any additional costs. In some non-routine circumstances an Indemnity policy may also be required. If this is the case we will explain why this is needed and any additional costs that are associated with it.

Purchase Additional Costs

These are the additional costs that TSP will usually incur in the process of supplying our services to you. These charges will include VAT.

Searches: The standard package of searches (enquiries) that TSP will undertake on your behalf usually includes the following:

Different Local Authorities charge different amounts for these searches so the cost you incur will depend on where your property is located, however, these costs will generally be the same whichever lawyer you choose to work with. We will advise you of these in our detailed quote. We handle the payment of these additional costs to ensure a smoother process.

If you are purchasing the property with the assistance of a mortgage, as part of the instructions from the mortgage lender we are expected to submit a Local search, a Drainage search, an Environmental search and (if applicable) a Chancel search.

If you are purchasing the property with your own funds it is your choice as to whether you have these searches carried out against the property. We strongly advise that the searches are carried out as you are purchasing the property subject to all the matters that could have been revealed in the searches. If the searches are not carried out, you will not be aware of the information which may have been revealed in the same. 

A further consideration for you is that when you come to sell the property, your potential purchaser will probably wish to carry out the searches and issues may be revealed which could have been dealt with on your purchase but will fall to you to resolve with the seller.

There will also be additional costs incurred by TSP when buying goods or services on your behalf. They are payable to third parties. We will pass this charge onto you, including VAT, where applicable. The additional costs that will need to be paid on a standard transaction are as follows:

The following additional costs will usually be payable on all purchase transactions regardless of whether your purchase is freehold or leasehold, or with or without a mortgage

We will advise you of the cost of these in our detailed quote.

For Leasehold purchases only there are some additional costs that you should be aware of as follows. These fees vary from property to property:

We will not be able to tell you how much these costs will be until we see your specific documents.

You should also be aware that ground rent and service charge are likely to apply on an annual basis throughout your ownership of a leasehold property. These charges will also be specific to your property and again we will not be able to tell you how much these are going to be until we see your specific documents. You will pay these directly to the landlord / management company.

If the property you are purchasing is a new build then you may also incur the following additional costs which are specifically associated with purchasing a new build property.

  • UN1 Unilateral Notice Fee
  • Engrossment Fee charged by Developer’s Solicitor

If you have a Help to Buy ISA you will also incur a Help to Buy ISA fee.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

SDLT is a progressive tax on the purchase price of a property. The amount you will pay depends on your circumstances and the purchase price of the property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website here, or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s website here.

You can find more detailed information on how SDLT is calculated, depending on your circumstances, here. We will let you know, in the detailed quote that we provide, how much you can expect to pay.

Valuation and Survey

We will not include this cost in our quote but you should be aware that if you are purchasing with a mortgage your mortgage company will require you to have a valuation survey. You can find out more about your survey here.

SALE: When you get in touch with us regarding your residential property sale we will provide you with a quote, based on your individual circumstances, so you will know what everything is likely to cost and what we will need paying for in advance. We detail below the costs that you will need to budget for if you are selling a residential property and which of these costs we will include in our quote.

Once all of the work has been done and you are ready to complete on your sale we will send you a completion statement detailing all of your final costs. The outstanding balance on your completion statement, if there is one, will need to be paid before we can complete your property conveyancing.

When you are selling a Residential Property you will need to consider and budget for the following costs:

Estate Agent’s fee

These are usually charged at a percentage rate of the final sale price of your property. You will be charged VAT on your estate agent’s fee. You will need to agree the rate / cost of the service with your estate agent at the outset. TSP will not discuss this cost with you. However, your estate agent will submit their invoice for payment to TSP. We will include the amount that you owe them in the completion statement that we send to you which must be settled, if there is a balance due, before we can complete the sale of your property.

TSP’s Charges for the Legal Work (Sale)

The detailed quote that we provide to you, before we start work on your matter, will include a fixed fee for TSP to carry out the legal work on your residential property sale. The fee that we estimate, on which we will charge you VAT, will include all of the work necessary to complete your sale taking account of whether your purchase is freehold or leasehold and whether or not you have a mortgage to discharge. We will not charge you any extra for storing your documents following completion of your matter.

We will quote a separate fee for the following:

Identification Verification: We are required by law to verify our client’s identity and also a number of other types of individual such as executors for example. We will charge £10 plus VAT (£12 in total) per individual / UK Company that we check. Where a company is located overseas the charge will be £35 plus VAT (£42 in total). More information on the types of individuals we are required to check can be found in our Terms of Business.

TSP Bank Telegraphic Transfer Charge (TT): We will charge you an additional fee, which will attract VAT, for each telegraphic transfer that we execute on your behalf. For a sale transaction this will be charged where there is a mortgage to repay and also if there is a balance of funds to be returned to you for which you require payment the same day. If you choose to receive any balance of funds via BACs transfer or as a cheque you will not incur this charge.

Non-Routine Additional Work: Occasionally, additional work, of a non-routine nature, may be required, such as:

• Drafting a statutory declaration
• Attending to the removal of second legal charge
• Attending to the removal of further charges / cautions

Should any of these items be needed we will advise you of the impact on our fee and any associated additional costs. In some non-routine circumstances an Indemnity policy may also be required. If this is the case we will explain why this is needed and any additional costs that are associated with it.

Additional Costs

In addition to our fixed fee you will also incur the following costs as part of your sale. These are costs that TSP will usually incur in the process of supplying our services to you. Some will attract VAT. For your sale these are likely to be

Abortive Purchase or Sale: If a sale does not complete then the fee we will charge will depend on the amount of work which we have carried out at the time the transaction becomes abortive. This will be based on a percentage of the fixed fee quoted. We will discuss this with you.

We have put together a Guide to Moving Home, a PDF copy of which you can download by clicking here. The Guide covers everything you need to know about the buying and selling process. Alternatively contact us here or email movinghome@tsplegal.com to request your free, no obligation, quotation.