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What are conveyancing disbursements? They can form a significant portion of the cost of moving home. Residential property specialist What are conveyancing disbursements?
Disbursements are part of your conveyancing costs. They are fees your conveyancing solicitor must pay to others, rather than forming part of their own costs. Solicitors itemise disbursements separately in a conveyancing quote and again on your completion statement. It’s important to remember that they cannot be avoided. Put another way, all solicitors approached for a quote will detail the same disbursements.
The following are some of the most common disbursements payable, depending upon whether you are selling, buying, remortgaging, or transferring equity:
Disbursements on a sale
| Land Registry fees – we incur these when we obtain details of your property from the Land Registry. The fee will be higher if we also need copies of any documents. | £7 for each title document (no VAT payable) |
| Indemnity insurance policy premium – if your property has a title defect (such as a long-standing breach of covenant or a missing title document) or there has been a breach of building regulations, or a certificate is not available, it may be necessary to issue an insurance policy. | dependent on the nature of the breach and the value of the property |
| Freeholder/Management Company fee – if your property is leasehold, we must obtain certain details relating to the annual service charge, building insurance and other information. We will not normally know what this fee is when you first contact us, but we will advise you once it is known, as it will normally need to be paid upfront. | £150 – £350 + VAT |
Disbursements on a purchase
Searches – we will conduct a range of searches, including a search at the local authority, a water/drainage search and an environmental/flood search. Depending on the property’s location, additional searches may be required, such as:
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approximately £300 (including VAT) |
| Land Registry and bankruptcy searches | £7 for each title; £6 for each name searched (no VAT payable) |
| Land Registration fee – this is the fee we must pay to the Land Registry to register you as the new owner of your property. The fee is based on the property’s value, and the Land Registry’s online calculator will help you. We will always advise you of the fee when we provide our fee estimate. | |
| Stamp Duty Land Tax – this is a tax payable on the purchase of a property. It is based on the price paid for the property, but there are other factors. The rules are complex, but HMRC’s online calculator (or this calculator for properties in Wales) will help you. | |
| Notice of transfer/mortgage fees – for some properties, it may be necessary to notify third parties of your purchase and mortgage – usually with leasehold properties. | typically £50 – £150 + VAT per notice |
| Deed of covenant/certificate of compliance fees – these typically only apply to leasehold properties and will be payable to the freeholder and/or management company. | typically £150 – £250 + VAT |