Property Solvers’ latest research of 100 residential conveyancing firms reveals that average fees for house purchases have increased from £1,184.21 to £1,265.65 (6.88%) since early 2023.
Fees for leasehold property sales and purchases grew at a slower pace by 3.72% and 3.82% respectively.
Now in its 4th year, 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 2024 stood at £1,187.98 and £1,265.65 respectively (inclusive of VAT).
This represents increases of 6.16% (for freehold home sales) and 6.88% (for freehold purchases) relative to similar data collected in early 2023.
After what were rather aggressive price hikes between 2022 and 2023 (well above annual CPI), average conveyancing costs for a leasehold property sales saw somewhat subdued increases over the last year. Prices rose by 3.72% for sales (from £1,351.71 in 2023 to £1,401.99 in 2024) and by 3.82% for leasehold property purchases (from £1,436.92 in 2023 to £1,491.83 in 2024).
The property sales company 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. Also, the fees do not include disbursements (telegraphic transfer charges, searches, ID checks etc.).
Remortgaging costs – based on a secured home loan of £225,000 (75% loan to value on £300,000) saw an average cost rise of 7.68% (from £643.51 in 2023 to £692.92 in 2023). According to Property Solvers, leasehold supplementary costs tend to lie at between £200 and £350.
Ruban Selvanayagam of Property Solvers commented: “continued inflationary pressures on wages and other overheads involved in running conveyancing practices continue to drive fees upwards – albeit at a slower pace than in recent years.”
“We were coming across quotes going well into the £2,000s for freehold sales / purchases and nearly reaching £3,000 for leasehold property purchases – often reflective of the firms’ well-established reputation and their ability to process transactions quicker,” he continues.
“However, we continue to discourage sellers and buyers from using conveyancers with pricing that appears to be unusually inexpensive. Whilst more conveyancers are embracing AI and other streamlined process, you’ll often find that the “low fee” firms tend to be overloaded with cases – resulting in an inferior quality of service,” he concludes.
