Conveyancing costs explained — what you are actually paying for

Legal fee versus disbursements

The legal fee is what the firm charges for the work. Disbursements are third-party costs the firm pays on your behalf — searches, Land Registry fees, bank transfer charges, Stamp Duty or Land Transaction Tax. A low headline fee with the disbursements listed vaguely underneath is the oldest trick in the quote book.

When comparing quotes, compare the total payable, and check that both quotes assume the same things: same tenure, same price, same mortgage status.

What a buyer typically pays

A purchase quote will usually contain most of the following lines:

• Legal fee for the purchase, plus VAT
• Search pack: local authority, drainage and water, environmental, and in South Wales a coal mining search
• Land Registry registration fee, which is scaled by property price
• Bankruptcy and Land Registry priority searches
• Telegraphic transfer fee for sending completion funds
• Stamp Duty Land Tax in England, or Land Transaction Tax in Wales — usually the largest single figure on the statement
• Anti-money-laundering and identity verification checks, which are a legal requirement

What a seller typically pays

A sale is generally cheaper because there are no searches and no tax to pay. Expect the legal fee, official copies of the title from the Land Registry, a transfer fee, and — if the property is leasehold — the cost of the management pack from the managing agent, which is set by them and can be surprisingly high.

If you have a mortgage to redeem, there may also be a redemption administration fee from your lender, which is separate from any early repayment charge.

The supplements that catch people out

Most firms price a standard transaction and then add supplements for anything that is not standard. These are legitimate — the work genuinely takes longer — but they should be disclosed at quote stage, not discovered later:

• Leasehold supplement, and separately a supplement for a deed of variation or a licence to assign
• New-build supplement, where the contract pack and developer deadlines add work
• Help to Buy, shared ownership or Right to Buy handling
• Gifted deposit checks, where funds come from a third party
• Unregistered land, transfers of equity, or a limited company buyer
• Expedited completion where a deadline is tight

No sale, no fee — read the small print

Around a third of agreed sales fall through, so a no-sale-no-fee arrangement has real value. Check what it covers: most protect the legal fee only, and disbursements already incurred on searches remain payable because the money has already gone out of the door.

Ask specifically whether the protection applies from instruction or only after a certain stage, and whether it applies if you are the one who withdraws.

Conveyancing costs explained — common questions

Should I use the cheapest quote?

Compare total payable and responsiveness, not the headline fee. A firm that answers enquiries within days rather than weeks can save you more in a shortened chain than the difference in fee.

When do I pay?

Most firms take a small payment on account at the start to fund searches, with the balance settled on completion out of the sale proceeds or your funds.

Is Land Transaction Tax the same as Stamp Duty?

No. Wales has Land Transaction Tax with its own bands and thresholds, which differ from Stamp Duty Land Tax in England.

Read next

• How long does conveyancing take? — Most transactions take 10 to 16 weeks from offer to completion. The variation between them is almost never the solicitor's typing speed.
• What searches does a conveyancer do? — Searches are how you find out what you cannot see from a viewing. Here is what each one covers and which ones matter in South Wales.

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