Thank you for considering B&M Law LLP for your residential property transaction.
Whether you are buying your first home, moving property, investing in the UK or selling an existing property, our aim is to make the conveyancing process as clear, efficient and straightforward as possible.
We provide a personal, solicitor-led service tailored to the circumstances of each transaction. From the outset, we will explain the process, identify any issues requiring particular attention and guide you through each stage through to completion.
Our clients include UK-based and international buyers, sellers and investors, and we have particular experience assisting clients who live overseas or whose transactions involve funds, assets or advisers in other jurisdictions. Our multilingual team can assist clients in English, Italian, French and Spanish, helping to make communication easier where English is not their preferred language.
Where appropriate, we can also work alongside or recommend other professionals involved in your transaction, including surveyors, mortgage advisers, valuers, tax advisers and other specialists.
We believe that good conveyancing is not simply about completing the legal formalities. It is about identifying problems early, giving clear and practical advice and ensuring that you understand the legal and practical implications of the decisions you are making.
Our objective is to provide a high-quality service at a transparent and proportionate cost, combining the personal attention of a specialist firm with the experience required to deal with both straightforward and more complex residential property transactions.
Why Choose B&M Law LLP?
A personal, solicitor-led service
Your transaction will be handled by experienced legal professionals who understand that buying or selling a property is an important financial and personal decision. We do not operate as a high-volume conveyancing service. Our focus is on providing attentive, responsive and commercially sensible advice throughout your transaction.
Clear and responsive communication
We know that one of the greatest frustrations for clients during a property transaction can be uncertainty about what is happening and what needs to happen next.
We therefore place particular emphasis on communication. We will keep you informed of material developments, explain legal issues in clear language and tell you when a decision or action is required from you.
Experience with international clients
A significant part of our work involves clients who live outside the UK or whose financial and personal circumstances have an international dimension.
We are accustomed to dealing with matters such as overseas source of funds, international transfers, foreign documentation, powers of attorney and coordination with professional advisers in other jurisdictions.
Where specialist tax or other advice falls outside the scope of the conveyancing transaction, we will identify this and, where appropriate, help you obtain the necessary specialist advice.
Multilingual assistance
Our international outlook is reflected in our team. In addition to English, members of our firm can assist clients in Italian, French and Spanish.
Being able to discuss a transaction in the language with which you are most comfortable can be particularly valuable when dealing with technical legal issues or important decisions concerning your property.
Experience with freehold and leasehold property
We advise on both freehold and leasehold residential transactions.
Leasehold transactions can involve additional issues relating to the lease, service charges, management companies, ground rent, consents and other obligations. Our solicitors have the legal and technical experience to identify and address these issues and explain their implications clearly.
Transparent and proportionate fees
We want you to understand the likely cost of your transaction from the outset.
Our published fees cover the work involved in a standard residential conveyancing transaction. If your matter involves additional work or unusual complexity which may result in an additional charge, we will explain this to you and agree the position with you before that additional work is undertaken.
We believe this approach provides genuine value for money: experienced legal advice, personal attention and transparent pricing without the cost structure associated with larger City or traditional private-client firms.
For many clients, a property purchase represents one of the largest investments they will make. Our role is to ensure that the legal side of that investment is handled carefully, efficiently and with the level of attention it deserves.
The Team
Our Residential Conveyancing Fees
We understand that cost is an important consideration when choosing a solicitor for your property transaction. Our aim is to provide clear and transparent pricing while ensuring that your transaction receives the level of legal attention it requires.
For most residential property transactions, we work on a fixed-fee basis. The fee quoted at the outset will cover the work involved in a standard transaction of the type described below.
Our fees take into account the value of the property, but property value is not the only factor that determines the amount of legal work involved. Some transactions require significantly more work because of the nature of the title, the property itself, the financing arrangements or other legal or practical complexities.
If circumstances arise which materially change the scope or complexity of the work, we will explain this to you and agree any additional fee with you before undertaking that additional work.
There are no additional charges simply because you are an international client or because you wish to communicate with us in another language. However, where a transaction requires additional legal or compliance work – for example, because of complex overseas source of funds, corporate ownership, powers of attorney or unusual foreign documentation – we will discuss this with you at the outset wherever possible.
Leasehold and Freehold Residential Property
The fees below are our standard fees for a straightforward residential sale or purchase.
Our purchase fee includes the legal work required to complete the transaction, including:
- investigating and reporting on the title;
- reviewing the contract documentation;
- raising and dealing with the usual conveyancing enquiries;
- carrying out the usual property searches;
- reviewing and reporting on your mortgage offer, where applicable;
- dealing with exchange and completion;
- preparing and submitting the standard Stamp Duty Land Tax return to HMRC, where applicable; and
- submitting the application to register your ownership and any mortgage at HM Land Registry.
Our sale fee includes the usual legal work required to prepare the contract package, respond to standard conveyancing enquiries, deal with exchange and completion and redeem any existing mortgage.
The following fees include VAT at the current rate of 20%, where applicable.
Price |
Costs on Sale
| Cost on Purchase |
| Leasehold supplement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Up to £300,000 | £2,250.00 | £2,250.00 |
| £600 |
300,001 - 400,000 | £3,000.00 | £3,000.00 |
| £600 |
400,001 - 500,000 | £3,600.00 | £3,600.00 |
| £600 |
500,001 - 600,000 | £4,300.00 | £4,300.00 |
| £600 |
600,001 – 700,000 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 |
| £600 |
700,001 - 1,000,000 | £5,900.00 | £6,300.00 |
| £600 |
£1m – £1.5m | £6,800.00 | £7,000.00 |
| £600 |
£1.5m – £2m | £7,300.00 | £7,550.00 |
| £600 |
£2m - £3m | £8,000.00 | £8,250.00 |
| £600 |
For properties above £3 million, please contact us for an individual quotation.
Leasehold transactions
Leasehold transactions generally involve additional work because we must review not only the title to the property but also the lease and, where applicable, information provided by the landlord, management company or managing agent.
The leasehold supplement shown above covers the additional work ordinarily involved in a standard leasehold transaction.
More complex leasehold matters – for example, transactions involving a lease extension, deed of variation, defective lease provisions, significant management issues, unusual restrictions or building safety issues – may require additional work. If this applies, we will explain the position and any additional fee to you.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Our standard purchase fee includes preparation and submission of the standard Stamp Duty Land Tax return to HMRC.
Stamp Duty Land Tax itself is a tax payable to HMRC and is not included in our legal fees.
The amount payable will depend upon your circumstances as well as the purchase price and nature of the property.
We do not provide tax advice as part of our standard conveyancing service. Where the correct SDLT treatment requires specialist tax advice or analysis outside the scope of a standard conveyancing transaction, we will explain this to you and, where appropriate, recommend that you obtain advice from a specialist tax adviser.
You can obtain further information and use HMRC's SDLT calculator on the HMRC website.
For properties in Wales, Land Transaction Tax applies instead of SDLT. Further information is available from the Welsh Revenue Authority.
Disbursements and Third-Party Costs
Disbursements are costs payable to third parties in connection with your transaction. They are separate from our legal fees.
We normally collect these amounts from you and make the relevant payments on your behalf.
Typical purchase disbursements include:
Search Fees | Approximately £300 to £500 |
|---|---|
HM Land Registry Search (per title) | £7 |
Bankruptcy Search (per name) | £6 |
Bank Transfer fee (per transfer) | £30 |
VAT is included where applicable.
HM Land Registry registration fees are also payable on purchases. The amount depends upon the purchase price, the nature of the application and whether the application qualifies for HM Land Registry's reduced electronic fee.
Other disbursements may arise depending upon the property and the transaction. We will advise you of these when they become known.
Additional Leasehold Disbursements
Leasehold transactions may involve additional fees payable to a landlord, management company or managing agent.
These are not fees charged by B&M Law LLP and are normally determined by the lease or by the relevant landlord or managing agent.
Typical examples include:
Item | Range from | Range to |
|---|---|---|
Notice of Transfer fee, this fee if chargeable is set out in the lease. Often the fee is: | £35 | £200 |
Notice of Charge fee (if the property is to be mortgaged), this fee is set out in the lease. Often the fee is: | £35 | £200 |
Deed of Covenant fee, this fee is provided by the management company for the property and can be difficult to estimate. Often the fee is: | £50 | £350 |
Certificate of Compliance fee – to be confirm upon receipt of the lease, as the range can be | £50 | £350 |
These figures are indicative only. The actual charges vary considerably between properties and can sometimes be significantly higher.
We will give you more accurate information once we have reviewed the lease and the relevant management information.
If you are purchasing a leasehold property, you should also be aware that service charges and, where applicable, ground rent may be payable during your ownership. We will report to you on these once the relevant information has been received.
What Can Affect Our Fees?
The fees set out above assume a standard residential conveyancing transaction.
We do not charge additional fees simply because an issue requires normal conveyancing enquiries or because a transaction requires the ordinary level of correspondence expected in a property transaction.
However, additional fees may apply where circumstances require legal work outside the normal scope of a standard transaction.
Examples include:
- a defective or unusually complex title;
- part or all of the property being unregistered;
- additional titles requiring investigation;
- missing or defective planning or building regulation documentation requiring substantial additional work;
- a new-build property;
- a lease extension, deed of variation or other amendment to the lease;
- unusual or defective lease provisions;
- building safety or remediation issues requiring additional investigation;
- a purchase at auction;
- a company, trust or other legal entity being involved in the transaction;
- complex gifted deposits or third-party funding arrangements;
- unusually complex overseas source-of-funds or source-of-wealth enquiries;
- foreign powers of attorney or other overseas legal documentation requiring additional consideration;
- a transaction involving additional security, bridging finance or unusual lender requirements;
- substantial additional documentation being required;
- preparation or negotiation of documents outside the normal sale or purchase documentation;
- an unusually accelerated transaction requiring significant work to be prioritised at short notice; or
- other circumstances which materially increase the amount or complexity of the legal work required.
Where we identify additional work, we will explain why it falls outside the standard fee and provide you with details of the additional cost before undertaking it wherever reasonably possible.
Timescales
Every property transaction is different and the time required will depend on matters outside our control as well as the work undertaken by us.
A straightforward residential conveyancing transaction will commonly take approximately 6 to 10 weeks from receipt of the contract documentation, although some transactions complete sooner and others take considerably longer.
Factors affecting the timescale can include:
- the length of the property chain;
- how quickly searches and mortgage offers are obtained;
- the time taken by other solicitors and third parties to respond;
- the complexity of the title;
- whether the property is leasehold;
- the time taken by landlords, management companies or managing agents to provide information;
- whether additional documentation or consents are required; and
- whether any unexpected legal issues arise.
Leasehold transactions can take longer than freehold transactions because additional information is normally required from the landlord or management company.
Transactions involving matters such as a lease extension, deed of variation, building safety issues or significant title defects may take substantially longer.
We will keep you informed of progress and let you know if any issue arises which is likely to affect the expected timetable.
What Our Standard Fee Assumes
Unless otherwise agreed, our standard fee assumes that:
- the transaction is a standard residential sale or purchase;
- the title is registered and does not contain significant defects requiring substantial additional work;
- all parties to the transaction are cooperative and there are no unreasonable third-party delays;
- the transaction proceeds in the normal way from instruction through to exchange and completion;
- in the case of a leasehold property, the transaction involves the transfer of an existing lease rather than the grant of a new lease;
- no lease extension, deed of variation or other substantial amendment to the lease is required;
- no substantial additional legal documentation needs to be drafted or negotiated; and
- no unusual legal, financing, regulatory or compliance issues arise.
Where these assumptions do not apply, we will discuss the implications with you.
Key Stages of a Purchase
The precise work required will depend on your transaction, but a typical purchase includes:
- taking your instructions and providing initial advice;
- carrying out our identification, source-of-funds and other regulatory checks;
- reviewing the draft contract and title documentation;
- carrying out the appropriate property searches;
- raising enquiries with the seller's solicitors;
- reviewing the replies to enquiries and supporting documentation;
- advising you on the title and other legal documentation;
- reviewing your mortgage offer, where applicable;
- advising you on joint ownership where there is more than one buyer;
- agreeing the contract and transfer documentation;
- reporting to you before exchange of contracts;
- arranging signature of the relevant documents;
- agreeing the completion date;
- exchanging contracts;
- carrying out the necessary pre-completion searches;
- arranging for completion funds to be received from you and your lender;
- completing the purchase;
- preparing and submitting the SDLT return and arranging payment of any SDLT due; and
- applying to HM Land Registry to register your ownership and any mortgage.
For a sale, the stages will be adapted accordingly and will include preparing the contract documentation, responding to the buyer's enquiries, dealing with any mortgage redemption, exchange of contracts and completion.
