Our fees cover all work that we anticipate will be required to complete the purchase of your new home.
Unlike a number of conveyancing firms, we do not charge additional fees for acting for your mortgage lender. Nor do we make an additional charge if your chosen completion date is shortly after the exchange of contracts.
The costs of your transaction will include:-
In addition, if you are Buying a Property costs will include:-
Alternatively, if you are selling a Property costs will include
Please see below for full details.
The fee we charge for our legal services will vary depending upon:-
Our standard fees for residential sales and purchases are set out below:
| Price | Fees for a Sale (£) | Fees for a Purchase (£) | Additional Charge for a Leasehold (£) | Additional Charge for a New Build Purchase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £300,000 | 1,700.00 | 1,700.00 | 400.00 | 500.00 |
| £300,001 – £400,000 | 1,835.00 | 1,835.00 | 400.00 | 600.00 |
| £400,001 – £500,000 | 1,955.00 | 1,955.00 | 400.00 | 700.00 |
| £500,001 – £600,000 | 2,080.00 | 2,080.00 | 400.00 | 800.00 |
| £600,001 – £700,000 | 2,210.00 | 2,210.00 | 400.00 | 900.00 |
| £700,001 – £1,000,000 | 2,400.00 | 2,400.00 | 400.00 | 1,000.00 |
| £1,000,001 – £1,500,000 | 2,800.00 | 2,800.00 | 400.00 | ENQUIRE |
| £1,500,001 – £2,000,000 | 3,200.00 | 3,200.00 | 400.00 | ENQUIRE |
If you are buying a New Build Property we may be able to offer some variation to the above “Additional Charge for a New Build Purchase” if the Property is part of a Development where we have recently acted for other house purchasers.
If you are buying a property in excess of £2,000,000 we are able to offer a bespoke service so please contact us for details.
Our fees for a remortgage will usually be £1,200.00 – £1,500.00 plus VAT where we are acting for both you and your lender (with an additional £200 plus VAT where the property is leasehold).
We will charge a fee of £40.00 plus VAT for each electronic money transfer we make on your behalf.
This would include for example when we:-
We will charge you a fee of £75.00 plus VAT for preparing your Stamp Duty Land Tax / Land Transaction Tax Return and filing this on your behalf at HM Revenue and Customs.
This fee will only be charged on a purchase transaction. The return needs to be filed in order to be able to register the purchase at HM Land Registry.
Due to the size of the return and the increasing complexity of the Stamp Duty / Land Tax regime, we do make an additional charge for preparing the returns as mentioned above. However, advice regarding the tax itself and any reliefs that you may be able to claim is included within our Legal Services Fees.
VAT will be charged at the applicable rate on all of Our Fees (Legal Services Fee, Electronic Money Transfer Fee and Stamp Duty/ Land Tax Return Fee).
Our Fees assume that:-
that if you are purchasing a Property that it has an existing registered title at HM Land Registry.
In addition to Our Fees, you will also incur “Disbursements” on your transactions. Disbursements are costs related to your transaction that are payable to third parties. We handle payments of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
The amount of Disbursements will vary depending on whether the transaction is a sale or purchase and whether it is a freehold or leasehold.
The Disbursements that we anticipate will apply are set out separately below. This list is not exhaustive and other disbursements may apply. For example the cost of obtaining duplicates of any Planning or Building Regulation documents or the cost of any premium payable for any defective title indemnity insurance that may be required.
As you would expect, the use of digital technology is key to being able to provide our clients with a fast and efficient service which is easy for everyone to use. Where it can be avoided, we never use paper-based forms and deal with everything that we can using online services.
Common examples of these are:
our own “on boarding” forms;
the third-party ID verification products that we use such as InfoTrack and ThirdFort;
the online Property Information Forms that we use for residential conveyancing transactions; and
electronic signing platforms such as DocuSign.
Whilst this technology is mostly very convenient, it does come at a cost. Often this cost is difficult to predict as our software vendors not only frequently change their individual prices, but often alter their whole pricing structure. This is making it increasingly difficult to provide accurate costs estimates at the start of each transaction, and also makes it difficult accurately pass on “item by item” costs.
We have therefore made a decision that in future we will provide our clients with an “all inclusive” digital forms package which will be charged as a cost depending on the type of service that we are carrying out for you. This cost will attract VAT as it is a service that we provide to you. Your invoice will automatically include the following services if we provide them to you.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
If we electronically submit an SDLT return on your behalf we will make a charge of £75 plus VAT. This fee includes the cost not only of preparing the return and submitting it, but also includes any platform fees that we get charged by our software vendors. This, in fact, is not a new charge and we have been passing on this cost for a number of years.
DocuSign Charge
We use different electronic signing platforms depending on the circumstances and the nature of the transaction. Even within those platforms there can be different types of charges for different types of documents. It can also be difficult to identify in advance how many signing envelopes might be needed, and also charges might sometimes be accrued after an invoice has been prepared. If we do adopt electronic signing on your file we will make a one-off charge of £15 plus VAT. This fee includes the cost of not only preparing the documents for electronic signature, but also the platform fees that we get charged by our software vendors. This fee will cover all of the documents required as part of the transaction unless we agree otherwise (which will usually only be the case for complex commercial matters).
Electronic ID Charge
We use different third-party ID verification services depending on the circumstances, and they charge in different ways. Where we adopt third-party ID verification we will make a charge of £20 plus VAT per person. This fee includes the cost of not only preparing the ID verification request, but also the platform fees that we get charged by our software vendors.
Property Information Forms
If the service provider InfoTrack, is dealing also with your ID verification there will no longer be a charge for dealing with Property Information Forms. This is included in the £20 plus VAT electronic ID charge.
If, however, you do not need ID verification (for example, because we have only very recently acted for you) we will make a charge of £20 plus VAT per person for setting up the Property Information Form, Leasehold Information Form (where needed) and the Fittings and Contents Form. This fee includes the cost of not only preparing the forms, but also the platform fees that we get charged by our software vendors.
From time to time we may incur additional disbursements that are not anticipated when preparing the Costs Information Sheet. Typical examples would include courier fees or additional Land Registry fees if we need to renew a search or examine other titles. We will always try to advise you beforehand of this additional expenditure but by its very nature it will not always be possible to do so. In any event, however, we will need to pass these costs on to you.
In additon to the above “all inclusive” digital forms package disbursements on a freehold sale Transaction are usually limited to:
Disbursement | Cost | Payable to |
Register Entries | £7.00 per entry | HM Land Registry |
Title Plan | £7.00 per entry | HM Land Registry |
Additional Land Registry Filed Documents | £7.00 per document | HM Land Registry |
In additon to the above “all inclusive” digital forms package disbursements on a freehold purchase Transaction are usually limited to:
| Disbursement | Cost | Payable to |
|---|---|---|
| Local Search Fee | £250.00 (estimated) | Local Authority or Online Search Provider |
| Drainage and Water Search Fee | £110.63 (estimated) | Thames Water or Online Search Provider |
| Chancel Indemnity Insurance | £17.22 (estimated) | Indemnity Insurance Provider |
| Environmental Search Fee | £158.20 (estimated) | Online Search Provider |
| Planning Search | £38.00 (optional) | Online Search Provider |
| Pre-Completion Land Registry Search | £7.00 per title | HM Land Registry |
| Pre-Completion Bankruptcy Search (payable if you have a mortgage) | £7.00 per name | HM Land Registry |
In additon to the above “all inclusive” digital forms package disbursements on a leasehold sale Transaction are usually limited to:
| Disbursement | Cost | Payable to |
| Register Entries (Freehold and Leasehold) | £7.00 per entry | HM Land Registry |
| Title Plan (Freehold and Leasehold) | £7.00 per entry | HM Land Registry |
| Additional Land Registry Filed Documents / Copy of Lease | £7.00 per document | HM Land Registry |
| Landlord or Managing Agents Fees for providing management information about the Property / “Pre-Sale Management Pack”) | £300 to £500.00 plus VAT (estimated) | Landlord or Managing Agents |
In additon to the above “all inclusive” digital forms package disbursements on a leasehold purchase Transaction are usually limited to
Disbursement | Cost | Payable to |
Local Search Fee | £250.00 (estimated) | Local Authority or Online Search Provider |
Drainage and Water Search Fee | £110.63 (estimated) | Thames Water or Online Search Provider |
Chancel Indemnity Insurance | £17.22 (estimated) | Indemnity Insurance Provider |
Environmental Search Fee | £158.20 (estimated) | Online Search Provider |
Planning Search | £38.00 (optional) | Online Search Provider |
Notice of Transfer Fee | £100 – £250 plus VAT (estimated) | Landlord or Managing Agents |
Notice of Charge Fee – this will be payable if you have a mortgage on the Property | £100 – £250 plus VAT (estimated) | Landlord or Managing Agents |
Pre-Completion Land Registry Search | £7.00 per title | HM Land Registry |
Pre-Completion Bankruptcy Search (payable if you have a mortgage) | £7.00 per name | HM Land Registry |
Sometimes a Lease will require that:-
the Landlord provides the Land Registry with a Certificate of Compliance to confirm that all of the Lease procedures relating the sale have been complied with. Again the amount of fee charged will vary depending on the Landlord. Often the cost of this will range between £150.00 to £300.00 plus VAT. Again it is usually the Buyer that pays these fees.
The Land Registry will charge a fee for registering a purchase. Therefore if you are buying a freehold or leasehold Property you will need to also pay HM Land Registry Registration Fees.
The fees charged vary depending upon the value of the Property and whether the transaction involves the transfer of an existing registered title or the “first registration” of a new title.
An example of a “first registration” transaction would be if you are buying a Property which is being granted a new lease.
Land Registry Fees also vary depending on whether it is possible for us to file the application for registration “online” or whether HM Land Registry will only accept a “postal application” for the transaction. Where possible we will always try to submit an application using their “online” facility. Unfortunately “first registration” applications can currently only be submitted by a “postal application”.
Full details of the fees charged by HM Land Registry can be found here: Click here
To provide you with an indication of likely fees please see the table below. This is based on the assumption that the Property you are buying already has a registered title.
Purchase Price | Fee |
£0.00 to £80,000 | £20.00 |
£80,001 to £100,000 | £40.00 |
£100,001 to £200,000 | £100.00 |
£200,001 to £500,000 | £150.00 |
£500,001 to £1,000,000 | £295.00 |
£1,000,001 and over | £500.00 |
If you are buying a property you will need to pay either Stamp Duty Land Tax (if you are buying a Property in England) or Land Transaction Tax (if you are buying a Property in Wales).
If you are buying a Property in England you can calculate the amount of SDLT you will need to pay here:- Calculate Stamp Duty Land
If you are buying a Property in Wales you can calculate the amount of Land Transaction Tax you will need to pay here:- Calculate Land Transaction Tax
Once instructed to act on your behalf we will be able to provide you with detailed advice on the amount of tax that you should expect to pay depending upon your own personal circumstances.
Mortgage Fees on a Purchase
If you are purchasing the property with a mortgage it is likely that you will need to pay a fee to the Lender for providing the mortgage to you. Details of those fees should be set out in your Mortgage Offer. You will also usually have to pay the fee the mortgage lender incurs for having a valuation of the property carried out.
If you have instructed a Mortgage Broker to act on your behalf you may also have to pay your Mortgage Broker a fee depending upon the terms of your contract with them.
Surveyors Fee on a Purchase
If you are buying a property we recommend that you instruct a full structural survey of the Property and you will need to pay for the costs of that Survey.
Estate Agents Fee on a Sale
If you are selling a property then it is likely that you will have to pay a fee to an Estate Agent for marketing the Property on your behalf.
The amount of the fee will depend upon the contract you have agreed with your particular agent and the agreed sale price. Often Estate Agent Fees will vary from between 1.25% to 3.5% of the agreed Sale Price plus VAT.
On completion of the Sale, unless you instruct us otherwise, we will ask the Estate Agents to provide us with a copy of their invoice and pay the quoted fee from the net proceeds of the sale.
Referral Fees
We do not pay or receive any third parties fees for referring any clients or work to us.
As a firm we like to act solely in the best interests of our client and so do not agree to pay any referral fees to estate agents or mortgage brokers. We believe that taking that stance ensures that when we are acting for a client our professional integrity and judgement is not clouded or compromised by any external business relationships.
How long will my transaction take?
How long your purchase or sale will take will vary depending upon a number of factors, including:-
If instructed our commitment to you is that we will throughout the transaction strive to progress the transaction with all due speed and diligence.
Our experience shows that:-
Key Stages in the Process
The keys stages that are involved in a standard sale transaction are:-
The keys stages that are involved in a standard purchase transaction are:-
Who will carry out my transaction?
If you instruct us to act on your sale or purchase you can be assured that your transaction will only ever be carried out by one of our fully qualified solicitors. That solicitor will then be your first port of contact with the firm throughout the transaction.
We pride ourselves on providing a bespoke service to our clients and we believe that can only be achieved by ensuring that your transaction is handled by an experienced fully qualified solicitor from start to finish. We do not allow any unqualified members of staff to conduct any of our conveyancing transactions.
As a firm, our solicitors collectively have in the region of 90 years of practical experience in handling property transactions for clients.
Details of our assistant solicitors can be found here:
The work of all of our assistant solicitors will be supervised by one of our four partners:-
If one of our partners is instructed to act on your behalf their work will in turn be supervised by one of the other partners within the firm.
We are confident that we will give you a high quality service in all respects. However, if you have any queries or concerns about our work for you or about our bill, please take them up first with your Case Handler. If that does not resolve the problem to your satisfaction or you would prefer not to speak to your Case Handler, then please take it up with our client care partner who is Brendan Dean.
All firms of solicitors are obliged to attempt to resolve problems that clients may have with the service provided. It is therefore important that you immediately raise your concerns with us. We value you and would not wish to think you have any reason to be unhappy with us. We are required to inform you however that we do operate a formal complaints procedure, a copy of which is available upon request.
If you are not satisfied about our own handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. Their address is PO Box 6167 Slough SL1 0EH (Tel: 0300 555 0333). Normally you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint (and no later than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about or one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint).
Contact us today and our
team will be happy to assist
with your enquiry.
I can only recommend Ashworths. Been using them for
over 15 years, simply the best.” Brendan Dean was recommended to us by our architect when we were selling our plot. He and his team dealt with the whole process from start to finish in a very timely and professional manner and we would highly recommend them to anyone.
AM Feb 13, 2026
Ashworths are an excellent firm of solicitors. I have retained them on a number of property related sales. Their attention to detail was impressive as was their very personal style of service.
Davif Farrell Jan 12, 2026
In handling my commercial leases and property transactions, Brendan at Ashworths Solicitors has demonstrated an exceptional level of professionalism and expertise. He approaches every matter with precision, efficiency, and a clear focus on achieving…
Alex Winchester Jan 31, 2025
James Simmonds looked after the sale and purchase of properties for my mother with competence, efficiency and compassion. I would not hesitate to recommend his services and I hope to be able to use him again in due course.
Susannah Sykes Oct 19, 2025
Brendan carried out first class work with the sale of our property on a matter that was not straight forward. He clearly demonstrated the ability to make things happen whilst using clear instructions that get to the point and deliver results.
John Baxter Oct 14, 2025
Areej was fantastic she was always quick to respond, cheerful and incredibly clear. Her advice as informed and precise and her conduct was professional and accessible. Thank you so much!
Oscar Pearce Oct 12, 2025
Ashworths matched my needs exactly. Local, focused on property and represented owell. I have no hesitation recommending them.
John Simmonds Oct 8, 2025
I’ve always used Ashworths for all my properties since being a first time buyer, I simply wouldn’t go anywhere else. They are brilliant at what they do, knowledgeable, efficient, and I can always trust the team will do a top level job. I recommend them to all my friends.
Lucy Sep 29, 2025
Rated 4.6 on
