Conveyancing fees jump amid warnings of overloaded solicitors

Conveyancing fees for house sales jumped more than 6% in a year amid warnings of overloaded solicitors.

New figures show some sellers and buyers in England and Wales faced charges well over £2,000, with the average above £1,000.

The average fee for a freehold property sale in early 2024 was £1,187, up 6%, and for a purchase, £1,265, up nearly 7%, research by quick home sale company Property Solvers reveals.

Leasehold fees

For leasehold properties, prices rose by 3.72% for sales (from £1,351 to £1,401) and by 3.82% for leasehold purchases (from £1,436 to £1,491).

Property Solvers approached 100 conveyancing firms for direct quotes. It was assumed that a mortgage was being redeemed upon 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).

We were coming across quotes going well into the £2,000s for freehold sales/purchases.”

Ruban Selvanayagam (main pic), Co-founder of Property Solvers, says: “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.

The ‘low fee’ firms tend to be overloaded with cases.”

“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 says.

“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.”

Half of homebuyers blame conveyancers for slowing down the purchase process