Buyers hit with higher conveyancing fees for home purchases

Agents may be regularly debating increasing their fees but property buyers and sellers are already used to paying more for conveyancing, research suggests.

Quick-buy firm Property Solvers’ annual research of legal practices in England and Wales has revealed that average residential conveyancing fees for a freehold tenured property sale and purchase in early 2023 stood at £1,119.10 and £1,184.21 respectively (inclusive of VAT).  

This represents annual increases of 2.61% for home sales and 8.02% for purchases, according to the research.

Average conveyancing costs for leasehold property sales saw more notable increases, by 22.6% annually for sales to £1,351.71 and by 38.24% for leasehold property purchases from £975.66 in 2022 to £1,436.92 in 2023. 

Property Solvers approached 100 conveyancing firms for direct quotes.  It was assumed that a mortgage was being redeemed upon sale completion or the property was being purchased with a mortgage. 

Property values in the quote request never exceeded £300,000 for purchase or sale.

The fees do not include disbursements such as telegraphic transfer charges, searches and ID checks.

Ruban Selvanayagam of Property Solvers said: “Despite inflationary pressures, it would seem that many conveyancing firms have decided not to increase their fees too drastically.”

“However, the increase in leasehold conveyancing fees reflects the extra workload required and the idiosyncratic nature of the work.

“Much also depends on the firm’s location and reputation. For instance, there were freehold sale quotes ranging from as low as £648 right up to £1,700. 

“It is often best to avoid quotes that are notably under average – particularly from firms that only have an online presence.”