Sale of a freehold registered residential property

Our fees cover all of the standard work required to complete the sale of the property, including dealing with the preparation of the contract paperwork, dealing with enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitors, attending to exchange of contracts and completion including paying off a High Street mortgage (if any).

Our range of fees

Anticipated disbursements

These are payments which are additional costs that are payable to third parties.

The disbursements you may have to pay are:

• Fee for official copies of title – £7.20 (including VAT) for title entries and plan only – per title
• Fees for any missing documents (e.g. planning permissions, other title documents held by the Land Registry, certificates for works carried out, etc.) you do not hold – the fees vary and range from £3 to £50.

We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the sale of a freehold registered residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below are the key stages generally included in the fees quoted for standard work:

• Taking instructions and giving initial advice
• Forwarding appropriate Seller’s Property Information Form and Fixtures and Contents Form to you for completion
• Checking registered title and preparing contract paperwork
• Forwarding contract paperwork to buyer’s solicitors
• Obtaining your replies to enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitors and assisting with replies where necessary
• Assisting you with obtaining copies of standard planning or further documentation (if required)
• Obtaining redemption statement for current mortgage (if any)
• Sending final contract to you for signature or seeing you in person
• Approving and/or amending Transfer paperwork and obtaining signatures to necessary paperwork
• Corresponding with the buyer’s solicitors regarding completion date (date from which you will have to vacate)
• Exchanging contracts and notifying you that this has happened
• Obtaining up to date redemption statements (if any)
• Completing sale
• Dealing with repayment of mortgage (if any) and selling agent’s fees
• Accounting to you for any net proceeds

Standard work does not include preparation of any epitome of title for unregistered land; additional work in relation to any existing tenancy including information on deposits, statements of rent and apportionment of rental income; obtaining any missing documents; new build properties; shared ownership sales; staircasing; sale by a company; auction repossessions; any additional mortgages, charging orders, Islamic mortgages or equitable loans registered against the title; any commercial mortgage or mortgage from a limited company; dealing with any solicitors acting on behalf of the buyer’s lender; dealing with retentions; any unforeseen matters or complexity such as, but not limited to, deeds of covenant or compliance with rent charges, listed buildings, more than one piece of land or title, flying freeholds, compliance with restrictions on the register; resolving or suggesting ways to resolve any title defect including arranging any indemnity insurance policy, dealing with any shares in freehold or management company for common facilities, preparing or approving a statutory declaration, and any other unusual features.

This is not an exhaustive list and does not include all possible exclusions. Examples of additional fees for common items of non-standard work are listed here.

Standard work assumes all parties are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from third parties.

How long will my sale take?

How long it will take from when you have accepted an offer on the property until the sale completes will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 8 and 16 weeks, but this will very much depend on any chain and is for information purposes. However, it can be quicker or slower and will be affected by matters outside our control. For example, the matter may be prolonged if a buyer needs a mortgage while the lender’s survey is carried out, or parties in the chain may be buying or selling a leasehold. Every party in the chain will need to agree a completion date. Please let us know if you have any specific time requirements and we will do our best to achieve this.