Non-residential conveyancing...

[handpaper]

Any idea why putting a house on a patch of land immediately makes it half as expensive to buy or sell?

I can do a house sale or purchase for ~£600 (+...), but a field that has nothing on it and never has had? £1500+ VAT + search fees, (vastly inflated) land registry fees, etc.

Grrr.

[Elysium]

House sales are very simplified and regulated compared to commercial property transactions where every deal is different.

To illustrate think about the difference between Exchange of Contracts and Completion.

When buying a house it is very rare for anyone to be required to do anything between these milestones. You exchange contracts and then a short time later complete by exchanging the cash and yeilding up vacant possession.

In commercial transactions the the contract very often sets out obligations on the parties that need to be complied with before completion can occur.

That complexity means you pay for a slightly more bespoke service.

[Sarnie]

A house will be registered on the Land Registry, the searches will be simple.

A field, could possibly never have been registered or have all sorts of restrictive agricultural covenents that need exploring, which could go back hundreds of years........