Conveyancing fees calculators - how to avoid the traps

Open any web-page relating to Conveyancing and the chances are that you will find a quick link to a Conveyancing fees calculator.

Using one of these calculators looks simple. Often all you need do is type in the amount you are paying for your property and a quote appears. But often this will not be the amount you end up paying.

Many such calculators display a figure - often in nice large type - which looks attractively low. Often the figure you will be given is not actually a quote at all, but merely an estimate.

Further reading of the small print may then show that this amount does not cover all the work that you will need to have done.

Often the amount displayed does not include legal fees in connection with your mortgage. If you require a mortgage, and most people do, you will find that an additional fee will be added - perhaps £100 or more.

Another item that often gets left out is a charge for submitting the Stamp Duty return form to HM Revenue and Customs. A home buyer's Conveyancing Solicitor will need to submit this form on virtually all property purchases. Even when no stamp duty is payable, the form still has to be completed (unless the purchase price is below £40,000.) So why should you be expected to pay ‘extra' for work which will invariably be necessary.

In many cases these calculators will only give you a quote for freehold properties.

If you happen to be buying a flat, which will have a leasehold title, you find that an additional fee will be payable. If you don't know whether the property you are buying is freehold or leasehold you could find such an additional fee becomes payable after you have already instructed the Solicitor.

Our Conveyancing fees calculator will tell you exactly how much you will pay for your property purchase or sale.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority says that Solicitors must clearly explain their fees and if and when they are likely to change, and should provide costs information in a clear and accessible form. Information should also be given about the likely amount of disbursements i.e. payments to other organisations, such as search fees and stamp duty.

It is our view that not all on-line costs calculators provide such information.

You cannot always rely on them to give you an accurate quote of the fees you will actually pay at completion.

With Homeward Legal, we quote you a fee which will cover all the Conveyancing work in buying or selling your home. Our quote will set the figures out clearly - there won't be any hidden extras that you hadn't bargained for.

Use our free, no obligation quote system to find out how much Homeward Legal could save you. Our fees are fixed and straightforward, so you can guarantee that the price you see is the price you pay at completion.