Conveyancing is one of the bigger costs of moving, and one of the easiest to misread. The headline price in an advert is rarely the full picture. To compare quotes properly, you need to understand what goes into the total and where firms quietly differ.
1 What you are actually paying for
Your conveyancing bill has two distinct parts. There is the legal fee, which is what the solicitor or licensed conveyancer charges for their work, and there are disbursements, which are costs they pay to third parties on your behalf. The two behave very differently, so it helps to keep them separate in your head.
The legal fee is the part a firm controls and competes on. It pays for the professional handling your file: reviewing the contract, raising and answering enquiries, dealing with searches, and getting you safely through exchange and completion. Disbursements are mostly set by outside bodies and tend to be similar whoever you instruct, because the firm is simply passing on a cost. For more detail, see our guide to conveyancing disbursements.
Typical disbursements
- Property searches (local authority, water and drainage, environmental, and sometimes others depending on the area)
- Land Registry fees to register the change of ownership or a new charge
- Bank transfer fees for moving completion money
- Bankruptcy and priority searches carried out shortly before completion
- Stamp Duty (SDLT) if you are buying and the price is above the threshold, which the firm usually submits and pays for you
Stamp Duty is a tax rather than a service charge, but it often appears on the same statement, which can make a quote look alarming. Our Stamp Duty explained guide covers what is tax and what is fee. Rates and thresholds change, so check the current position when you are working out your own figure.
2 Realistic ranges to expect
For a standard freehold sale or purchase in England or Wales, the legal fee alone usually falls somewhere in the low to mid hundreds of pounds. Once searches, Land Registry and VAT are added, total costs typically land in the high hundreds to low thousands. These are general ranges rather than a quote, and they move with property value, location and how complex the matter is.
Several things push the price up. Leasehold usually costs more than freehold because there is extra paperwork with the freeholder or managing agent. New-build purchases, shared ownership, unregistered land and gifted deposits can all add supplementary fees. A simple remortgage tends to be cheaper than a full purchase, since there is no negotiation over the property itself.
Legal fees almost always carry VAT at the standard rate, but not every quote shows it clearly. Always check whether the figure you are comparing is before or after VAT, or you could be comparing two very different numbers.
3 Fixed fee versus hourly rates
Most residential conveyancing is now offered on a fixed fee basis, and for an ordinary move that is what you want. A fixed fee means you agree the legal cost up front, and it does not climb with the hours spent, so a slow or fiddly transaction does not turn into an open-ended bill. Hourly billing still exists, but it is far more common in complex commercial work than in a normal home move.
The thing to watch with a fixed fee is what it actually covers. Some quotes are kept low by stripping out items that most moves genuinely need, then adding them back as extras later. Common add-ons include leasehold supplements, telegraphic transfer fees, ID checks and indemnity policies. A fee that looks cheap can end up costing more than an honest all-in price.
Ask the firm: "Is this the full cost, and what would change it?" A good conveyancer will happily talk you through every line and flag anything that might add to it.
4 No completion, no fee
Many firms offer "no completion, no fee", which means you do not pay their legal fee if the transaction falls through before completion. Since a fair number of deals collapse for reasons outside your control, this can be worth having. It does not mean you pay nothing, though, so read the small print.
Even under these terms, you are usually still liable for any disbursements the firm has already paid out, such as searches. Some firms also charge an abortive fee, or take an upfront amount that is non-refundable. The protection is real and useful, but it covers the legal fee, not every penny. To understand why transactions fail in the first place, see why property deals fall through.
5 How to compare like for like
The only fair comparison is the total cost for your exact situation, with VAT included and every disbursement listed. A bare legal fee tells you almost nothing on its own. Work through the same checklist for each quote so you are comparing identical things.
Buying, selling, both, remortgaging or a transfer of equity each carry different work and different fees.
Make sure every quote shows the fee inclusive of VAT, or convert them all to the same basis before you compare.
Searches, Land Registry, bank transfers and any leasehold or new-build extras should all appear, not just the legal fee.
Scan for items billed separately, such as ID checks, indemnity policies or supplements, that could inflate the final total.
Confirm whether you would owe anything if the deal fell through, and whether disbursements are refundable.
The cheapest quote is not always the best value. Responsiveness and experience matter, especially if you are in a chain.
Doing this by hand across several firms is tedious, which is the problem MoveGuide solves. It compares fixed-fee quotes from SRA-regulated solicitors and licensed conveyancers side by side, free and with no obligation, in about 60 seconds, so you can see the full picture in one place. For help judging the firms themselves, read how to choose a conveyancer.