When buying and selling a home, one of the first things you will do is obtain a fee quote from your solicitor. This fee quote should contain details of the Solicitor’s fees and any outlays that they have to pay to third parties as part of your sale and or purchase process.
Often when buying and selling a home, purchasers or sellers are unaware of the additional outlays that they require to pay until they see the fee quotes and they may come as a shock.
A few of the outlays such as Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) can be costly so it is important to be aware of what additional costs you may face when purchasing or selling property.
Purchases:
For purchase transactions the biggest outlay you will most likely have to consider is LBTT. This is payable on all purchases and the value of it is based on the purchase price. There are some purchase transactions that are exempt from LBTT however. For example, if you are a first-time buyer, you will not require to pay LBTT on any transaction valued up to £175,000. LBTT must be paid to Revenue Scotland and your Solicitor will do this on your behalf. You should expect to see the value of that LBTT payment in your fee quote.
If you own other residential property in addition to the property you are purchasing, Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) may also be payable at 6% of the purchase price. If applicable, this should also be included in the fee quote provided. ADS can be reclaimed in certain circumstances within 36 months of the transaction.
Another outlay to consider is the registration dues payable to Registers of Scotland for registering the Disposition (the deed transferring the property into your name) and the dues for registering your Standard Security in favour of your mortgage lender if you are obtaining a loan. The Disposition registration dues are based upon the purchase price. To give you an idea of what to expect, full details of the registration costs can be found on the Registers of Scotland Website - https://kb.ros.gov.uk/fees/registration-fees . The cost of registering your standard security is always £80.00 and you will also require an advance notice for the security which costs £20.00.
Sale:
For sale transactions, Solicitors are required to order legal searches over the property. These can include Legal Reports, Property Enquiry Certificates from the appropriate Local Council and sometimes Coal Reports depending on the area in which the house is situated. The costs of these reports should be included in the fee quote as they are necessary for all sales. The costs will differ depending on which company your Solicitor uses to perform the searches.
There will also be registration dues for an advance notice of £20.00 for all sales and registration dues for registering a discharge with Registers of Scotland, depending on whether there is currently a security on the property at the time of sale. This will be £60 or £80 depending on the mortgage lender.
If you have a factor for your property, you may also have to pay an administration charge for the factor providing a standard letter detailing relevant information for the outgoing seller and incoming purchaser.
Your Solicitor will also check if the property being sold is on the Land Register. If your property is on the older Sasine register, there may be additional costs as a result. Your Solicitor will require to order a level 3 plans report to check the plan (the documents showing the area your property encompasses) is satisfactory for registration purposes. If the plan is not satisfactory a new plan may need to be obtained. If it is established that your property is on the Sasine register and it therefore needs to be registered on the Land Register for the first time, your Solicitor should discuss these extra costs with you.
For both Purchases and Sales:
Your Solicitor will require to send funds to you and the seller for both purchases and sales and this will incur bank transfer charges. There may also be transfer charges for paying invoices to Estate Agents or Factors for example. All charges should be highlighted to you in your fee quote and subsequent letter of engagement.
If you are thinking of purchasing or selling a property and wish to obtain a fee quote, please contact Dallas McMillan and ask for the conveyancing team on 0141 333 6750 or you can contact me by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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