Are disbursements worth the cost?

There are many ways that you can save money during the home-buying process, including choosing the right chartered surveyor (and the appropriate survey for your needs), the right conveyancer (who provides a “no completion, no fee” guarantee, based on a cost that will not change from appointment to completion), the best quality removals firms and so on.

When it comes to choosing your conveyancer, you will no doubt want to ensure a high-quality service with a lawyer who will work hard to get to the completion date as quickly as possible, but for the lowest payment of fees possible.

The conveyancer’s bill

When you receive the conveyancer’s bill, and when everything is completed on the legal side, and you’re able to move into your new home, you really don’t want there to be any nasty surprises.

If you appoint a good solicitor, like those we have at Best Value Conveyancer, you should rightly expect the quote they give you at the outset to reflect exactly what they are asking you to pay when you reach the end of the move.

For fixed-fee quotes, this should not change over the course of the legal wrangling for selling your old home and buying the new one.

Your solicitor should also point you towards the items on the quote that may be variable in cost. These are costs that solicitor pays on your behalf to a third party, which were incurred necessarily as part of the conveyancing process.

The payments to third parties are called disbursements.

Can you avoid paying disbursements?

The short and immediate answer is “no”, simply because you will be unable to take your house sale and/or purchase any further without most of them.

These are:

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) – there are thresholds to the agreed price of your house, which will trigger a payment requirement to HM Revenue & Customs. These are controlled by the Government’s Budget settings. To find out more, try this stamp duty calculator. This is called the Land Transaction Tax for purchases in Wales (try the Welsh Assembly’s calculator).
• Local Authority searches – this is the necessary check with the local council to verify the status of the building you are planning to buy. It will verify whether the property is located in a conservation area, if there are active Tree Preservation Orders on or within the boundary, smoke control orders and other aspects, such as covenants, which might affect the running and maintenance of the home. The cost of these searches varies between councils, but will be in the region of between £50 and £250.
• Water and drainage search – this confirms where the water provision and sewage outlets are and where ownership by the utility company stops on the property. Completed in conjunction with the provider, the fee is dependent on them, but is usually between £50 and £100.
• Environment search – this search checks whether there are any noted environmental issues affecting the property, such as contamination, proximity to landfills and recycling centres, industry and so on. This is variable according to the council, but is usually somewhere between £50 and £250.
• Bankruptcy search – this is to verify that all those detailed on the mortgage documents have not been declared bankrupt, costing around £2 or £3.
• Land Registry search – this search is to verify that your seller is legally the owner of the property they are selling (or acting legally in the capacity of the person or persons who is, by Lasting Power of Attorney), which costs around £4 to £8.
• HM Land Registry fees – these fees are a legal requirement, and the conveyancer will register the change of ownership on your behalf with the Land Registry. As with Stamp Duty, the level of the fee is dependent on the price paid for the property.
• Bank transfer fee – this is to cover the charges by the bank to transfer the money for the deposit on the property to your seller’s solicitor. The cost is variable and subject to added VAT.

Costs and extra information provided by Muve.

All of these will be itemised on both the conveyancer’s quote and their final bill with the accurate cost to you, when you choose Best Value Conveyancing.

In addition, there are extra items that may arise during the conveyancing process. These are not necessarily essential, but your conveyancer may recommend going ahead with them.

It’s your choice and that decision is dependent on the level of risk incurred by the findings:

• Chancel Repair Liability – because land was owned by a few back in medieval times, and the local squire used to pay for the upkeep of the local church (and even, sometimes, the priest’s stipend), when this was broken up, the liability for upkeep travelled down to the smaller pockets of land, possibly including the land on which the house you’re buying is on. Although this was attempted to be sorted out in the new millennium, it only required church councils to register an interest – which wasn’t final as interest can be registered at any time. Therefore, it’s difficult to be precise whether you will ever need to consider Chancel Repair Liability – dependent on how you feel and your proximity to the local church, your conveyancer might recommend taking out insurance, which is quite cheap. The search itself is around £15.
• Special reports – your surveyor may highlight potential problems in the survey (e.g. unexplained subsidence, evidence of flooding, Japanese knotweed and other invasive plants, etc.), or the main searches may throw up concerns that need further investigation. There are specialist firms that can provide more detailed analysis, such as for a Coal-Mine Search or an invasive plant assessment, to identify a clearer level of risk for the property. These costs depend on the required report and the organisation used.

These additional items will be discussed with you by your conveyancer and, where you decide to go ahead, these will be added as extra costs on the bill.

When it comes to it, you should be in complete control of your finances and be aware of everything you are paying for in the conveyancing.

Best Value Conveyancing will never hide any fees in an attempt to draw you in with a low quote. What we quote you is exactly what you will be expected to pay, with clearly laid out additions as highlighted above.