Buying and Selling a Leasehold Residential Property Fees
Buying or selling your home can be very exciting and no two transactions are the same. Our dedicated Residential Property team will work hard to help your transaction go as smoothly as possible.
The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. We have set out some of the key stages of work which we usually do:
- take your instructions and give you initial advice;
- check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender’s solicitors, if needed;
- receive and advise on contract documents;
- carry out searches;
- obtain further planning documentation if required;
- make any necessary enquiries of seller’s solicitor;
- give you advice on all documents and information received;
- go through conditions of mortgage offer;
- send final contract to you for signature;
- draft the transfer;
- advise you on joint ownership;
- obtain pre-completion searches;
- agree completion date (date from which you own the property);
- exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened;
- arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you;
- complete purchase;
- deal with payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax;
- deal with application for registration at Land Registry
For more information about buying and selling a property, please visit our guides to Buying A House and Selling A House.
Fees and Disbursements
Our fees cover all of the standard work required to complete the purchase of your new
home, including:
- carrying out the necessary searches;
- reviewing the contract pack, leasehold sales pack and advising you on the lease
- liaising with the other side’s solicitors and raising necessary enquiries;
- dealing with registration at the Land Registry;
- dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.
Our fees do not include any unforeseen legal issues, such as the requirement for a deed of variation to be entered into in respect of the lease or the need to extend the lease. If matters such as these become necessary we would discuss further costs with you at
the time.
Our fees vary from property to property and can on occasion be significantly more than the ranges given in the tables below. We can give you an accurate figure once we have sight of your specific documents, so we suggest that you always give us a call to discuss
your individual circumstances.
You will also need to pay disbursements. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
If the leasehold property you are buying or selling is 11 m or more in height or 5 storeys or higher it is likely to be caught by the Building Safety Act. This is specialist and involves a great deal more work. This will increase the fee estimates below.
You must also be aware when purchasing a leasehold property, it is likely on completion we will have to serve notice of the purchase as per the terms of the lease on the freeholder and or managing agent. They will charge a fee for this which we will not know until we receive the leasehold sales pack within the conveyancing process. These fees vary greatly and as an estimate cam be anything from £75 – £500.
The likely costs, including disbursements, for purchasing a leasehold property are as follows:
| Solicitors’ Fees | Amount | VAT | Total |
| £0 – £200,000.99 | £1,650.00 | £330.00 | £1,980.00 |
| £200,001 – £500,000.99 | £1,850.00 | £370.00 | £2,220.00 |
| £500,001 – £750,000.99 | £2,100.00 | £420.00 | £2,520.00 |
| £750,001 – £850,000.99 | £2,500.00 | £500.00 | £3,000.00 |
| £850,001 – £1,000,000 | £2,950.00 | £590.00 | £3,540.00 |
| £1,000,001 – £1,500,000 | £3,000 – £3,850 | £600 – 770 | £3,600 – £4,620 |
| £1,500,001 – £2,000,000 | £3,850 – £4,000 | £770 – £800 | £4,620 – £4,800 |
| £2,000,001+ | Price on enquiry | ||
| Fees for properties over £1,000,000 will vary according to the complexity of the transaction. | |||
| Additional Fees | |||
| Storage & Completion Expenses | £85.00 | £17.00 | £102.00 |
| ID and Regulatory Checks | £75.00 | £15.00 | £90.00 |
| Disbursements | |||
| Search Pack (estimate) | £320.00 | £0.00 | £320.00 |
| OS1 | £8.40 | £1.68 | £10.08 |
| Bankruptcy Search (per client) | £8.40 | £1.68 | £10.08 |
The likely costs, including disbursements, for selling a leasehold property are as follows:
| Solicitors’ Fees | Amount | VAT | Total |
| £0 – £200,000.99 | £1,650.00 | £330.00 | £1,980.00 |
| £200,001 – £500,000.99 | £1,650.00 | £330.00 | £1,980.00 |
| £500,001 – £750,000.99 | £1,950.00 | £390.00 | £2,340.00 |
| £750,001 – £850,000.99 | £2,395.00 | £479.00 | £2,874.00 |
| £850,001 – £1,000,000 | £2,500.00 | £500.00 | £3,000.00 |
| £1,000,001 – £1,500,000 | £2,850 – £3,250 | £570 – 650 | £3,420 – £3,900 |
| £1,500,001 – £2,000,000 | £3,250 – £3,850 | £650 – £770 | £3,900 – £4,620 |
| £2,000,001+ | Price on enquiry | ||
| Additional Fees | |||
| Land Registry: Docs & Searches (Freehold) | £40.00 | £8.00 | £48.00 |
| Land Registry: Docs & Searches (Leasehold) | £40.00 | £8.00 | £48.00 |
| Storage & Completion Expenses | £85.00 | £17.00 | £102.00 |
| ID and Regulatory Checks | £75.00 | £15.00 | £90.00 |
| Disbursements | |||
| Bankruptcy Search (per client) | £8.40 | £1.68 | £10.08 |
Fee Earners
The following fee earners handle Residential Property matters:
Hayley Eachus is Qualified Solicitor and Director at Phillips Law. Hayley qualified in 2013 and specialises in all areas of residential property.
Our fee earners in the conveyancing team who are supervised by Hayley include:
Lisa Rigby who qualified as a Licensed Conveyancer in 1995 and is also a graduate of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
Jo Francis who is an experienced Conveyancing Executive who has worked within the property department 1996.
Theresa Coutts has worked at Phillips in Property 1998 and has considerable experience working in the Conveyancing Department. She qualified as a licensed conveyancer in 2024. Trish specialises with working with first time buyers and dealing with shared ownership transactions.
Symone Gamble joined the conveyancing department at Brain Chase Coles in 2015 as a legal secretary and was promoted as a conveyancer in the Residential Property team at Phillips, where she acts for buyers and sellers using her wide range of experience in dealing with property matters, including new builds.
Jon Coles is a Consultant at Phillips and a qualified solicitor. Jon qualified as a solicitor in 1983, having obtained his law degree from Cardiff University and specialises in all areas of residential and commercial property.
Az Perwaz joined Phillips in 2026. He qualified as a solicitor in 2022 and specialises in all areas of residential property.
You can find out more about our property team here: meet the team.