Sellers' legal expenses
This content applies to England only.
Housing laws vary between England and Scotland. Get advice relating to Scotland
You will probably have to pay fees and other expenses for the legal work involved in selling a property. These can be expensive and probably won't be refunded if the sale falls through. If you are buying somewhere else at the same time, you will also need money for the legal work involved in buying.
Most people use a solicitor, but it's possible to do the legal work involved in selling your home yourself. There are self-help books available. However, the process can be complicated. If you don't have legal experience, it's usually less risky to hire someone as a legal adviser.
Fees for services
Solicitors and conveyancers charge fees for their time. Fees vary, so ask how they are calculated before you hire someone. It may be a percentage of the sale price (such as half a per cent or one per cent) or a fixed amount.
The amount you have to pay will also vary depending on how much work is involved in the sale and whether you are buying somewhere else at the same time. Depending on your circumstances, your solicitor may need to:
- examine the legal documents confirming who owns the property
- check details of the lease and arrange for it to be changed if necessary
- draw up a draft contract
- negotiate with the buyer's solicitor
- arrange payments of relevant taxes and other expenses
You will also have to pay your lender's expenses for the legal work involved in paying off your mortgage and/or setting up a new one. You can ask your lender or independent financial adviser to explain the fees involved.
Expenses
You will have to pay for all of the expenses (disbursements) that are part of selling. This may include capital gains tax if the property you are selling has increased in value since you bought it and it is not your main home or it has been rented out to tenants. Capital gains tax can be very expensive.
If you are selling one home to buy another, you will also have to pay for all the costs involved in buying, which may include stamp duty.
The bill
Some fees and expenses are paid in advance and the rest are normally paid on the day you exchange contracts. Any bills you receive should be clearly itemised and you should ask your solicitor to explain if there's anything you don't understand. Legal fees aren't normally refundable, even if the sale falls through. If the buyer pulls out, you can ask her/him to help with your legal costs but s/he doesn't have to.
Unreasonably high legal fees
If you think your solicitor's bill is too high, you should contact her/him immediately and ask for an explanation of the costs involved. If you can't come to an agreement about the bill, it can be independently checked by the HM Courts Service. This service is free but there are strict time limits for applying, so it's important to speak to your solicitor immediately. You can't usually apply more than a month after you get the bill.
Ask her/him to apply for a 'remuneration certificate' from the Consumer Complaints Service (you can't apply for one yourself). Your solicitor will have to fill in a form and send it to you for your comments. S/he will then send the application form, your comments and the original paperwork to the Consumer Complaints Service remuneration department. If the Consumer Complaints Service believes that the service you received from your solicitor was unsatisfactory, it can:
- reduce the bill
- order your solicitor to pay you compensation (up to £5,000)
- make your solicitor correct a legal error and pay any costs involved.
If it's too late to ask the Consumer Complaints Service to check your bill, you may want to consider taking your solicitor to court. If you want to do this, you should get advice from an independent solicitor first. You can find details of solicitors from the Legal Adviser Finder.
