Our Services
At Simply Conveyancing, we can provide the following legal services;
Our Lawyers can act on your behalf and complete all the legal work from the point when your offer on a house is accepted or you agree the price to sell your property, and finishes when you receive or handover the keys.
Remortgaging is the process of switching your existing mortgage to a new lender, often to change to a better deal and/or to release equity from your home.
A Declaration of Trust is an agreement between two or more owners setting out what share of the property is owned by each person. The Declaration of Trust will be tailored to
your individual needs and circumstances for example where one owner is contributing a greater sum towards the purchase of the property or the running costs of the property.
The Declaration of Trust is designed to protect the disproportionate investment made by each party when the property is sold.
A lease extension is the process of agreeing terms with the freeholder or leaseholder to extend the term of the lease. If the number of years remaining on the lease is too
low, the value of the property will suffer, therefore a lease extension may be necessary to secure a good price for the property and improve its saleability. In addition mortgage
lenders will not lend to buyers if the length of the lease is too short.
A Transfer of Equity is when someone is added or removed from the ownership of a property; this could be one owner adding a husband or wife, a parent, adding a son or daughter,
or a separating couple removing one of them from the property ownership.
Equity release mortgages are specialist mortgages allowing you to release a cash sum from your property without you having to sell the property.
How long will my conveyancing take?
As every property is different and every clients requirements and situations vary, it is difficult to give a precise timescale for how long it will take to complete your transaction. Factors to take into consideration are the length of the chain, obtaining a mortgage offer, delays from local authorities in providing search information, or unusual circumstances such as lease extensions.
The national UK average time to complete a home buying or selling transaction is between 2 to 3 months* but at Simply Conveyancing we will do our utmost to fit in with the timescale that suits you.
*Statistics provided by Gov.uk 2018
How much will my conveyancing cost?
Transparent charges and making an informed decision.
In response to the Legal Services Market Study carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), our regulator, has made amendments to the CLC Code of Conduct, Estimates and Terms of Engagement Code and the Complaints Code.
The purpose of these changes is to provide better transparency and more information for consumers so they may make more informed decisions about their choice of legal service provider. It is also the aim of the changes to foster innovation and competition in the legal services market.
Simply Conveyancing Property Lawyers pride themselves on customer service and their innovations in the provision of residential conveyancing services to their customers. For this reason Simply Conveyancing wish to embrace the findings of the CMA.
We give below a full explanation of fees and disbursements, so there are no surprises. Other firms may not give such detailed information.
Our fees include charges carried out to protect you so far as possible, against seller imposter fraud, so that bogus law firm fraud is identified. Charges for carrying out work on behalf of your lender are specified. Registration at the Land Registry is carried out using the online e-Portal so that a secure audit trail is created and your transfer documents are lodged as early as possible. All your conveyancing documents are retained in electronic format and kept securely should they be needed at any time in the future.
Not all law firms offer or provide such services. We do, to protect and benefit our clients in what may be the most expensive and important transaction of their lives.
Fixed Fees
We charge legal fees as a fixed sum, except where we discuss this with you in advance.
Legal Fees
As every property is different and every clients requirements vary our fees will be tailored to suit your individual requirements. We will always give you an individual cost estimate at the start of the transaction and should complications be discovered as your sale or purchase progresses which might not have been known at the outset, we will advise you immediately and discuss the potential impact on fees before any additional charges are incurred.
Our legal fees for a typical house sale at an average house price * range from £915 plus £183 VAT (at 20%) for a simple transaction to £2,300 plus
£460 VAT (at 20%) for a more complicated transaction such as, the sale of a new build shared ownership property. We will also charge for the following as additional legal fees: Archive fee £45 plus £9.00 VAT (at 20%), ID verification £30 plus £6 VAT (at 20%) per name, File Set up Fee £150 plus £30 VAT (at 20%).
Our legal fees for a typical house purchase at an average house price * range from £1005 plus £201 VAT (at 20%) for a simple transaction to £2,575 plus £515 VAT (at 20%) for a more complicated transaction such as, a new build shared ownership property. We will also charge for the following as additional legal fees: SDLT application £95 plus £19 VAT (at 20%), Land Registry e-lodgement fee £28 plus £5.60 VAT (at 20%), Archive fee £45 plus £5.80 VAT (at 20%), ID verification £30 plus £6 VAT (at 20%) per name, Lawyer check £20 plus £4 VAT (at 20%), Telegraphic Transfer £45 plus £9 VAT (at 20%) for transfer of money to the seller’s conveyancer’, File Set up Fee £150 plus £30 VAT (at 20%).
Additional Legal Fees
The following examples of additional legal fees may be charged based on individual requirements:
- Mortgage Administration Fee £150 plus £30 VAT (at 20%)
- Telegraphic Transfer £45 plus £9 VAT (at 20%) for each additional transfer of money.
The examples given above are examples however a higher or lower charge may apply if your instruction involves, for example: a higher or lower priced property, a leasehold property, a flat with a management company, freehold with a management company, shared ownership, help-to-buy, a new-build, unregistered title, gifted deposit from a third party, preparing a trust deed to protect your financial interests, insurance cover against potential Chancel Repair liability, solar panel lease, or a marital split dealing with third party solicitors.
We will charge the rate of VAT current at the time of providing you with an estimate.
Disbursements, Including Stamp Duty
In addition to legal fees we will charge you for disbursements. These are costs paid to third parties that relate to your transaction, for example stamp duty when buying a house.
For a typical standard freehold purchase at an average house price * examples of disbursements include:
- Property Searches £350.40 (to include personal local, environmental & flood and water & drainage searches)
- Bankruptcy Search £2 per name
- Land Registry Searches £3 per title search
- HM Land Registry registration fee £150
- Stamp Duty Land Tax £2,000
The rates of Stamp Duty change with each Budget announcement. You can calculate what the current stamp duty payable on your purchase might be, using the following websites:
Calculate Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
Welsh Revenue Authority
For a typical standard freehold sale at an average house price * disbursements include:
Copy documents from Land Registry £6
Disbursements are likely to be different for each customer as they depend on individual circumstances however we will always give you an individual cost estimate at the start of the transaction and should complications be discovered as your sale or purchase progresses which might not have been known at the outset, we will advise you immediately and discuss the potential impact on fees before any additional charges are incurred.
See examples below examples of how legal fees and disbursements may apply for a typical standard freehold property at £225,000 with a mortgage:
- The total cost for legal fees and disbursements would be £1,255 for a sale
- The total cost for legal fees and disbursements would be £3,895 for a purchase
*https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-house-price-index-for-january-2018
Referral Arrangements
We have some referral arrangements with estate agents and brokers. If we pay a referral fee, we will tell you.
For a typical transaction, the average referral fee may be £225.
If Things Go Wrong
Customer service is of paramount importance at Simply Conveyancing and we invite you to check out our ratings on Google, Trustpilot & Feefo.
Sometimes however, things do not go the way that we had hoped and if you are not happy with any part of your transaction you can view our complaints procedure by clicking on the link below.
Simply Conveyancing Complaints Procedure
You can obtain advice from the Legal Ombudsman Service and if applicable can make an application for compensation from the CLC Compensation Fund.