Preparing the Quote
Now that you have decided you are interested in taking on the instruction you'll need to work out how much you should be looking to charge. Conveyancing is generally charged on a fixed fee basis rather than an hourly rate. Think about the elements that go into every file - the time spent opening a file, carrying out diligence checks, paper and printing, postage, telephone calls, post-completion procedures and storage as well as general business overheads and then about the complexity of the specific matter - how much extra time will you spend on it compared to, say a basic registered freehold purchase.
You would typically start with a base fee (perhaps a different base fee depnding on whether it is a sale, purchase, remortgage or transfer of equity) and then add additional charges for the following:
- Leasehold house;
- Leasehold flat (under 11m);
- Leasehold flat (11m +);
- Shared ownership;
- New build;
- Unregistered land;
- Mortgage required/mortgage to redeem;
- Subject to existing tenancy
As well as a base fee you may wish to include extra charges for bank transfers and AML checks.
It is a good idea to include other costs on your quote such as search fees (including OS1/2 searches and bankruptcy searches), land registration fees and SDLT/LTT. A typical quote for a purchase might look like this:
It makes sense to add a date to the quote and a validity period. Unless you are happy to bound by it come what may, a statement that the actual fees might differ from the quote should be added.
Subscribers may use the quote creation tool in the Virtual Conveyancer menu.
