Buying House - No chain - Legal Costs Uk

[ATM]

Hello

My friend was just explaining that she is buying her first house. She is a first time buyer and therefore she is not selling. She said her legal costs were going to be about £1100 based on the documentation she has been sent. I thought this sounded a bit high so thought I'd ask on here if that's the going rate or should she shop around some more?

Thanks

[SydneyBridge]

ATM said:

Hello

My friend was just explaining that she is buying her first house. She is a first time buyer and therefore she is not selling. She said her legal costs were going to be about £1100 based on the documentation she has been sent. I thought this sounded a bit high so thought I'd ask on here if that's the going rate or should she shop around some more?

Thanks

I work for a medium sized firm of solicitors in Hampshire and we charge about the same- a lot depends on where you live and how much hourly rates are etc

[Sarnie]

ATM said:

Hello

My friend was just explaining that she is buying her first house. She is a first time buyer and therefore she is not selling. She said her legal costs were going to be about £1100 based on the documentation she has been sent. I thought this sounded a bit high so thought I'd ask on here if that's the going rate or should she shop around some more?

Thanks

Sounds about right if it's all in.......

[Jockman]

Sounds high for a basic purchase only.

Depends on geography and complexity of process.

[eldar]

I've just bought a house, no sale or mortgage involved, very straightforward. About £800 all in, all done by email and post. So the op's quote doesn't sound unreasonable. May be worth getting a second quote, though.

[ATM]

Jockman said:

Sounds high for a basic purchase only.

Depends on geography and complexity of process.

West Midlands.

I'm not sure what contributes towards complexity but she will be having a mortgage.

[Berz]

Looks right based on what it cost me in June. I was buying and selling in one go but they still quoted for both separately and treated them as separate processes. I've removed stamp duty, mortgage fees and homebuyer report and it matches what you've said.



ETA you can skip some things like a mining search and chancel policy if you are sure you don't need them, some of the other things vary from firm to firm (e.g. some don't charge to 'verify ID', etc.)

Edited by Berz on Thursday 10th September 09:35

[Jockman]

ATM said:

West Midlands.

I'm not sure what contributes towards complexity but she will be having a mortgage.

Mortgage is the main complexity, along with possibility of extra searches for drainage? Radon? A vendor living abroad? Covenants on the Property? A child renting and refusing to leave etc.

All surmountable by any decent legal but there will be a cost implication.

[Rich_W]

Like your friend currently FTB.

I'm down for about £700 for "legal fees"

But it's all the other stuff they're charging for that bumps it up

Local authority £340
Leasehold Supplement £150

etc etc

Going to be roughly £1800 all in (plus of course a shed load of Stamp Duty. Though good job I didn't buy last year as it would have been double under the old criteria!)

[Jakg]

Does the quote include stamp duty?

I live in East Anglia (although I used a firm in Northumberland) and paid about £975 earlier this year (FTB) including all disbursements.

I didn't go for the cheapest, but several firms quoted a lot more - so it doesn't sound ridiculous.

Rich_W said:

Going to be roughly £1800 all in (plus of course a shed load of Stamp Duty. Though good job I didn't buy last year as it would have been double under the old criteria!)

Me and my friends were in the process of buying houses just as the criteria changed - we'd saved up the cash for the stamp duty but overnight we suddenly had £hundreds left over. Was great!