[tobytoby]

Hi all,

I have just been quoted around £700 to make an offer on a peice of land, this will include all fees and nothing else to pay should my offer be accepted? It has been 20 odd years since i last employed a legal eagle and i thought this was a bit pricey, does anyone have any recent cost experience with these guys?

[doganjo]

Just like any other property there are titles to search and conveyancing, as well as submitting an offer and clearing clause negotiations.  The very basic for transferring title is £350 plus VAT.  You may have VAT to pay on top of the £700, have you asked if that is inclusive or exclusive of VAT?  It seems reasonable to me.

[tobytoby]

The quote included VAT, by your reckoning it is doesn't look bad. My legal fees 23 yrs ago were about £800 when i bought my house.

[doganjo]

My nephew and niece in law bought their house about a year ago (value about £200,000)and that cost them £800, with VAT and postage/phone calls on top.  I think they paid about £1100 altogether.  Don't know if the value of the property affects it - can't remember now, but I know they also had stamp duty to pay, you won't have that on land.

[Cavendish]

I am very near to exchanging on my first house and our legal fees are in the region of £1250 inclusive of VAT.

[pgkevet]

One has to take away the tax aspect of the bill to make this a level playing area.. tax and duties, searches etc have fixed costs although some may try to inflate them with 'extras' such as interpretations and handling.
Location of both the legal service and the property also matter as does the property type - with a field you will have concerns re rights of way, chancel dues, old workings and so forth that are unlikely to be the case with a simple terrace. And that may colour your decision re using a bog standard web based conveyancing service and a more familiar local solicitor.
The other obvious aspects is that land is likely to be out in the country as opposed to city solicitor fees... often worth using an out of town solicitor to get costs down.

If the extra few quid matters more than your time then get several written quotes and read them carefully.

[robert waddell]

a good solicitor is in the region of £200 per hour     and i quote from clement Freud being a solicitor is a licence to print money
they are affected by the recession and may well go the same way as the construction industry cutting there rate
go to 20 solicitors with the same problem you will come back with 21 different solutions to that problem      even buying a field the best legal minds can get it wrong      they are in the end only humane

[Slavo]

It can very often be proportional to the price you pay (for houses anyway).

I've just paid £675 for all conveyancing and fees inclusive of VAT for a house bought for £58k.

4 years ago, I bought a house for £150k and the fees were much nearer £1k.

It is also dependent on the mortgage lender; different lenders will have different requisite searches be performed before the release of funds.

[doganjo]

a good solicitor is in the region of £200 per hour ...............     they are in the end only humane

That doesn't sound very humane to me Robert!    I'm not even convinced that lawyers are human 

[princesspiggy]

a good solicitor is in the region of £200 per hour ...............     they are in the end only humane

That doesn't sound very humane to me Robert!    I'm not even convinced that lawyers are human 

lol 

[Sudanpan]

We've just done a couple of simple transfers of land - the solicitors bit was about £500 (+ VAT) then it cost £200 for the registration fees at Land Registry for each transfer
Tish

[ambriel]

A very good friend of ours is a solicitor and barrister and he once explained just how little work is actually involved in buying or selling a house. Most of it is done by a secretary/assistant anyway.

As with most things in modern-day Britain, we're being ripped-off.

[melodrama]

I'm not even convinced that lawyers are human 
[/quote]
Thank goodness I gave up being a solicitor and plumped for my own business instead