What are my legal fees going to cost?
Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the mortgage or re-mortgage of your property, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry.
Our costs for acting in a freehold residential mortgage or re-mortgage will range upwards from £600.00 plus VAT and for acting in a leasehold residential mortgage or re-mortgage they will range upwards from £700 plus VAT. There will be additional costs of £60 plus VAT if your mortgage lender issues their mortgage instructions to us through a mortgage lender panel management portal. Over and above this there are various expenses (sometimes called disbursements) which are charges related to your matter that are payable to third parties (not Bower & Bailey), such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of these expenses on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
An illustration of our total costs and other expenses on a freehold residential property mortgage where the amount you are borrowing is say £450,000 and our costs are say £750 plus VAT is set out below:
| Costs | £750.00 | |
| VAT at 20% | £150.00 | |
| Costs re Telegraphic Transfer | £40.00 | |
| VAT at 20% | £8.00 | |
| Costs re Identity Verification | £40.00 | |
| VAT at 20% | £8.00 | |
| Expenses | ||
| Office Copy Entries | £6.00 | |
| VAT at 20% | £1.20 | |
| Land Registry Fees | £45.00 | |
| Local Search | £24.00 | |
| VAT at 20% | £4.80 | |
| Bankruptcy and Land Registry Searches (estimated) | £7.00 | |
| VAT at 20% | £1.40 | |
| TOTAL | £1,085.40 | |
The Land Registry fee will depend on the amount you are borrowing. If you speak to one of our experienced lawyers they will be able to tell you what the Land Registry fee will be.
If the property is leasehold there may be additional expenses which should be set out in the lease and include a Notice of Charge fee and a Certificate of Compliance fee (if there is a restriction, which we can explain to you). These additional expenses are payable to either the landlord or the property management company for the property, but not Bower & Bailey.
Factors which may affect and increase our costs will depend on whether your chosen lender has any particular requirements and also on the results of the various searches we have to undertake.
How long will my property mortgage/re-mortgage take?
For a freehold residential property on average it takes about 4 weeks from the date of a mortgage offer. For a leasehold property, it can take longer, between 4 – 8 weeks.
Stages of the mortgage/re-mortgage process
- Making the pre-completion searches and checks;
- Paying off your existing mortgage(s), if any;
- Sending any surplus to you, if any;
- Registering your new lender’s charge at the Land Registry;
- Dealing with the various notices, certificate and deed of covenant (leasehold only).
