Mortgages & Remortgages for Residential Property Costs

Introduction

Our legal fees cover all of the work required to complete a mortgage or re-mortgage of your property.

Legal fees and disbursements

Legal fees are the amount you will be required to pay for all of the work performed by us in actioning your instructions, from the commencement of your matter to a conclusion. If at any stage our fees change, we will notify you and discuss the reason for any changes. This would typically occur if you change your instructions or your case involves an unforeseen complexity.

Our average standard legal fee for a residential mortgage / re-mortgage is between £500 and £750 plus VAT (£600 to £900 incl. VAT).

Our fee varies from property to property and can, on occasion, be significantly more than the range given above. We can give you an accurate figure once we have had sight of your specific documents.

VAT will be payable on our fees and some disbursements, and we will clearly confirm which disbursements carry VAT in our formal quotation or as we advise you to incur them.

We will charge the sum of £40 plus VAT (£48 incl. VAT) for electronic money transfers.

Below we detail what services are covered in our standard fee.

We are required by our regulator to undertake Client Due Diligence (CDD) which is made of up KYC (Know Your Client) and AML (Anti Money Laundering,) details of which are contained within our terms of engagement which will be sent to you when instructing us.

In addition to our standard charges as referred to above, our firm will apply a charge of £10 (£12 incl. VAT) for undertaking KYC.

Our fee assumes that:

  1. this is a standard transaction and no unforeseen matters will arise
  2. the transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complications will arise
  3. all parties to the transaction are cooperative and there is no unreasonable delay from any party providing documentation

Disbursements and other costs

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

You will be provided with a full list of the disbursements in our formal estimate of costs.  If we need to incur any further disbursements during your matter, you will be notified in advance of the reason and the amount.

Typical disbursements are:-

Search fees

Search fees vary from case to case depending on the local authority. We will advise you which searches you need for your transaction and the cost of each search. Our average fee for a standard property search pack is £162 plus VAT (£194.40 incl. VAT)

Typical local searches include:-

  • Local land charges search;
  • Enquiries of the local authority;
  • Environment search;
  • Planning Search;
  • Chancel repair liability indemnity; and
  • Water and Drainage Search

Your conveyancer will use his or her local knowledge to confirm which local searches you will need.   Other official local searches may be required by your lender and

Conversely, your lender may agree to waive the requirement for searches and proceed with a search indemnity policy which would cost substantially less than the searches. We can obtain a cost once know your lender’s requirements.

  • Land Registry Priority Search fees (per title) £3.00
  • Bankruptcy search fees £2.00 each
  • HM Land Registry fee. The fees chargeable by the Land Registry can be found here.
  • Notice of Charge fee – if the property is leasehold.  This fee is set out in the lease and is often between £0 and £250 plus VAT (£0 to £300 incl. VAT)
  • If re-mortgaging as a corporate vehicle, there is a charge of £15 plus VAT (£18 incl. VAT) payable to Companies House

How long will my mortgage or re-mortgage application take?

The average mortgage or re-mortgage will take between 4 and 8 weeks.

It may be quicker or slower, depending on a number of factors and we will notify you if we believe your transaction may take longer than average or if something occurs in your case to extend your transaction. Matters that can typically delay a transaction include delays in searches, issues with a mortgage offer or issues raised in a survey.

Stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the mortgage of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. We have set out the key stages of a standard transaction: –

  • Taking your instructions and giving you initial advice
  • Undertaking regulatory checks
  • Receiving and advising you on the documents pertaining to the property
  • Advising you on the mortgage offer and its conditions
  • Sending the mortgage deed to you for signature
  • Discharging any existing charges
  • Registering the new charge on the property
  • Registering the new charge with the landlord/management company if the property is leasehold

Other factors

Other factors to consider which may affect your legal fees: –

  • Multiple owners
  • Shared ownership scheme
  • Mortgaging where there is a help to buy scheme, equity loan or ISA
  • Mortgaging a property under right to buy

Fee earners

The following fee earners handle Mortgage and Re-Mortgage matters:

Rahat Munim is a partner and solicitor in our residential conveyancing department. Rahat qualified as a Solicitor in 2015 having studied Law at the University of Buckingham (LLB) where he went on to complete a Masters degree (LLM). He specialises in all aspects of residential conveyancing and his particular areas of expertise include leasehold and freehold sales and purchases including auction sale and purchase, transfers of equity and re-mortgages, new builds, lease extensions and collective freehold purchases. During his career, Rahat has built up an extensive clientele and network, gaining the trust of many estate agents and mortgage brokers locally and nationwide.

Geraldine Agin is a solicitor in our conveyancing department and assists Esther Hudson in all aspects of residential conveyancing with an interest in Social Housing. Geraldine graduated from the now named University of Hertfordshire and completed her Law Society finals at the College of Law Guildford, qualifying as a solicitor in 1989. Geraldine has extensive local knowledge and expertise having been based in the South East since 1996.  She enjoys client contact and tries to see a straightforward legal solution to any problem. Geraldine specialises in leasehold and freehold sales and purchases, remortgages, transfers of equity, shared ownership, buy to lets and new build properties.

Natasha De Canha is a qualified solicitor in our residential conveyancing department. Natasha qualified as a solicitor in 2009 and has many years’ experience in all areas of residential conveyancing. Natasha believes that the key to a happy client is communication.  Her areas of expertise include leasehold and freehold sales and purchases, remortgages, transfers of equity, shared ownership, buy-to-lets, right to buys and deeds of variation.

Questions

If you have any questions relating to our services and our fees, please contact us on 020 8852 4433 or email us at enquiries@beverleymorris.co.uk.