Conveyancing Fees Explained: What's Included, What Isn't

Buying or selling a property is one of the biggest financial transactions most people will ever make. Alongside the purchase price, mortgage, survey and moving costs, there is another important expense to budget for: conveyancing fees.

But what exactly are conveyancing fees? What should a conveyancing quote include? Why can two quotes from solicitors look very different? And what additional costs could you be asked to pay?

This guide explains conveyancing fees in the UK, including what is normally included, what may be charged separately, and how to compare conveyancing quotes properly.

What are conveyancing fees?

Conveyancing is the legal process involved in buying or selling a property and transferring ownership from one person to another.

Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer handles the legal work involved in the transaction. This can include reviewing the contract, checking the property’s legal title, raising enquiries, dealing with your mortgage lender, exchanging contracts and completing the transaction.

Conveyancing fees are the charges you pay for this legal work and for certain third-party costs associated with the transaction.

A conveyancing bill is usually made up of two broad categories:

• Legal or professional fees charged by the conveyancer

• Disbursements, which are payments made to third parties on your behalf

Understanding the difference is essential when comparing quotes.

How much are conveyancing fees?

There is no single standard conveyancing fee because the cost depends on the property, transaction and level of legal work required.

For example, a straightforward freehold purchase may require considerably less work than a leasehold purchase, a property being bought through a Help to Buy-style arrangement, a shared ownership property, an unregistered property or a transaction involving a complex title.

Your quote may also vary depending on:

• Whether you are buying or selling

• Whether the property is freehold or leasehold

• The property’s purchase price

• Whether you have a mortgage

• Whether you are buying and selling at the same time

• Whether there is a property chain

• Whether additional legal work is required

• Whether the property is new build

• Whether the title has restrictions or unusual issues

• Whether the transaction requires additional searches or enquiries

The cheapest conveyancing quote is therefore not necessarily the cheapest overall option.

What is normally included in conveyancing fees?

A good conveyancing quote should clearly explain what work the conveyancer will carry out for the quoted legal fee.

For a typical residential purchase, this can include:

Checking the legal title

Your conveyancer will investigate the property’s legal title to establish what you are buying and whether there are restrictions, rights, covenants or other matters affecting the property.

Reviewing the contract

The conveyancer reviews the draft contract and supporting paperwork supplied by the seller’s conveyancer.

They will check the legal documents and raise appropriate enquiries where necessary.

The Law Society’s Conveyancing Protocol provides a framework for residential conveyancing and is designed to make the process more consistent and transparent.

Property searches

Your conveyancer will normally arrange searches relevant to the property and transaction.

Depending on the circumstances, these can include:

• Local authority searches

• Water and drainage searches

• Environmental searches

• Chancel searches

• Mining or other location-specific searches

Not every property requires exactly the same searches, so your quote should make clear which searches are included.

Mortgage work

If you are purchasing with a mortgage, your conveyancer will normally need to deal with the lender’s legal requirements as well as your own.

This can include reviewing the mortgage instructions and ensuring the lender’s charge is properly dealt with as part of the transaction.

However, some firms charge an additional fee for acting for a mortgage lender, so check your quote carefully.

Raising enquiries

Your conveyancer will review the information provided by the seller and raise relevant legal enquiries.

The aim is to identify issues that could affect the property, your ownership or your ability to use it as intended.

Exchange of contracts

Once the legal work is sufficiently advanced and you are ready to proceed, your conveyancer handles the exchange of contracts.

Exchange is an important milestone because it makes the agreement legally binding, subject to the terms of the contract.

Completion

Your conveyancer deals with the legal and financial work required for completion.

For a purchase, this normally includes transferring the purchase money and completing the transfer of ownership.

For a sale, your conveyancer receives the completion funds, deals with repayment of any mortgage and transfers the relevant documents and money as required.

Post-completion work

The legal work does not necessarily finish on completion.

For a purchase, your conveyancer may need to deal with:

• Stamp Duty Land Tax

• Registration of your ownership

• Registration of your mortgage

• Final searches or applications

• Other post-completion requirements

HM Land Registry charges statutory registration fees for applications to register property transactions, with the applicable fee depending on factors including the transaction and property value.

What are conveyancing disbursements?

Disbursements are costs that your conveyancer pays to third parties as part of your transaction.

They are not usually the conveyancer’s own legal fees.

Common conveyancing disbursements can include:

• Property searches

• HM Land Registry fees

• Land Registry title documents

• Bankruptcy searches

• Electronic money transfer fees

• Stamp Duty Land Tax

• Leasehold information or management pack costs

• Notice fees

• Registration fees

• Certain certificate or compliance fees

The exact disbursements will depend on the property and transaction.

A useful conveyancing quote should identify these costs rather than simply presenting one large figure.

What isn’t necessarily included in conveyancing fees?

One of the biggest mistakes buyers and sellers make is assuming that every property-related legal cost is included in the headline conveyancing fee.

It may not be.

Depending on the firm, additional charges could apply for:

• Leasehold property

• New-build property

• Shared ownership

• Help to Buy or other schemes

• Unregistered land

• Transfers of equity

• Additional properties

• Bridging finance

• Gifted deposits

• Trust arrangements

• Acting for a mortgage lender

• Dealing with unusual title issues

• Additional searches

• Statutory declarations

• Indemnity policies

• Complex legal enquiries

• Telegraphic transfers

• SDLT returns

• Post-completion work

This does not mean an additional fee is unreasonable. Some transactions genuinely require more legal work.

The important thing is that you understand when additional charges may apply before you instruct the firm.

What should a conveyancing quote show?

A good conveyancing quote should be detailed enough for you to understand what you are actually paying for.

Ideally, it should separate:

1. Professional legal fees

This is the firm’s charge for carrying out the conveyancing work.

The quote should make clear what services are covered.

2. VAT

If VAT applies to the firm’s professional fees, the quote should clearly identify it.

3. Disbursements

Third-party costs should be identified separately where possible.

This could include search fees, Land Registry fees and other transaction-specific costs.

4. Potential additional fees

The quote should explain circumstances in which additional charges may arise.

For example:

Leasehold supplement: £X

is much more useful than discovering halfway through the transaction that leasehold work costs extra.

5. What happens if the transaction falls through?

This is particularly important.

Some conveyancers charge a fixed fee only when the transaction completes, while others may charge for work already undertaken if a transaction does not proceed.

Check the firm’s terms carefully before instructing them.

Why are some conveyancing quotes much cheaper than others?

If one conveyancer quotes £X and another quotes significantly less, it is worth asking why.

There are several possible explanations.

The cheaper quote may:

• Exclude certain disbursements

• Charge extra for leasehold properties

• Charge extra for mortgage work

• Have a lower headline legal fee but more additional fees

• Use a different pricing structure

• Assume a particularly straightforward transaction

• Charge certain costs later in the process

Conversely, a higher quote does not automatically mean a better service.

The key is to compare like for like.

How to compare conveyancing quotes

Rather than comparing only the headline price, ask each conveyancer:

What is your total estimated cost, including VAT and expected disbursements?

Then ask:

Are there any circumstances in which I will pay more?

You should also check:

• Is the quote fixed or only an estimate?

• Is VAT included?

• Are searches included?

• Is the Land Registry fee included?

• Is acting for the mortgage lender included?

• Is leasehold work included?

• Are bank transfer fees included?

• Is SDLT filing included?

• What happens if the transaction falls through?

• Are there any likely additional charges?

• Who will actually handle the transaction?

• How will you communicate with me?

• Are there any fees for dealing with a chain?

This can reveal significant differences between apparently similar quotes.

Conveyancing fees for buyers vs sellers

The costs involved in buying and selling are not identical.

Conveyancing fees when buying

A buyer’s conveyancer may deal with:

• Title investigation

• Property searches

• Contract review

• Legal enquiries

• Mortgage requirements

• Exchange

• Completion

• Stamp Duty Land Tax return

• Registration of ownership

• Registration of the mortgage

Conveyancing fees when selling

A seller’s conveyancer may deal with:

• Preparing the contract pack

• Title documents

• Property information forms

• Fixtures and fittings information

• Responding to enquiries

• Reviewing the buyer’s proposed contract

• Exchange

• Completion

• Repaying the mortgage

• Paying off registered charges

• Transferring the balance of sale proceeds

The Law Society’s transaction forms are designed to support the residential sale process alongside the Conveyancing Protocol.

Leasehold conveyancing fees

Leasehold properties can involve additional legal work.

Your conveyancer may need to review:

• The lease

• Ground rent

• Service charges

• Transfer requirements

• Restrictions

• Management company information

• Building insurance arrangements

• Planned major works

• Notices and registration requirements

There may also be third-party charges payable to the freeholder or managing agent.

If you are buying a leasehold property, ask specifically:

Is the leasehold supplement included in your conveyancing quote?

And:

Are management company or landlord fees included?

What about Stamp Duty?

Stamp Duty Land Tax, commonly known as Stamp Duty, is separate from your conveyancer’s professional fee.

Your conveyancer may calculate the tax, submit the return and arrange payment on your behalf, but the tax itself is not a legal fee.

The amount you pay depends on your circumstances and the property transaction.

It is therefore important to budget for Stamp Duty separately from your conveyancing fees.

Are conveyancing fees negotiable?

Sometimes.

Some firms have relatively fixed pricing structures, while others may have more flexibility depending on the transaction.

However, rather than simply asking for a discount, it can be more useful to ask:

“Can you confirm your best total price, including VAT, searches, registration fees and all expected disbursements?”

That gives you a much better basis for comparison.

How to avoid unexpected conveyancing fees

Before instructing a conveyancer, ask for a written quote and terms of business.

Look for:

A clear legal fee

You should know what the firm’s professional charge covers.

A list of disbursements

You should be able to see the expected third-party costs.

Additional fee triggers

The quote should explain what could cause the price to increase.

VAT

Check whether VAT is included or added separately.

Leasehold charges

If applicable, make sure the quote covers leasehold work.

Mortgage charges

Check whether acting for your lender is included.

Fall-through fees

Find out what happens financially if the transaction does not complete.

The bottom line: what should you pay for conveyancing?

There is no single “correct” conveyancing fee for every property.

The right quote is one that gives you a realistic picture of the total cost of your particular transaction.

When comparing conveyancing quotes, don’t simply choose the lowest number.

Instead, compare:

Legal fees + VAT + disbursements + possible additional charges = likely total cost.

A transparent conveyancing quote should make these components easy to understand.

The cheapest headline price can become expensive if important services are excluded. Equally, a slightly higher quote may represent better value if it includes more of the work you actually need.

Conveyancing fees checklist

Before instructing a solicitor or conveyancer, check:

• Professional legal fee

• VAT

• Search fees

• HM Land Registry fee

• Mortgage lender fee

• Leasehold supplement, if applicable

• SDLT return and payment arrangements

• Bank transfer fees

• Additional legal work

• Possible third-party fees

• What happens if the transaction falls through

• Whether the quote is fixed or estimated

Looking for a conveyancing quote? Make sure you compare the total expected cost rather than simply the advertised headline fee.