Conveyancing Costs UK 2026: Solicitor Fees and Disbursements

Conveyancing fees pay a solicitor, licensed conveyancer or other suitably regulated legal professional for transferring ownership and completing the transaction's legal work. On a purchase, this commonly includes reviewing the contract and title, raising enquiries, reporting to the buyer and lender, exchanging contracts, arranging completion and handling post-completion steps.

The professional fee is not the same as every amount shown on a completion statement. Disbursements are payments connected with the matter that go to third parties, while property tax is an official calculation that is commonly handled through the conveyancer.

MoneyHelper currently describes legal fees as usually about £2,000 including VAT and gives a broader £800-to-over-£2,000 range. Those are consumer benchmarks, not figures forced into this page's planning model.

Sources and further reading: MoneyHelper buying and moving costs

There is no universal single percentage used to calculate conveyancing fees. A firm may use a fixed fee, an hourly rate, a property-value-linked scale or a combination, then add transaction-specific work and disbursements.

The most useful comparison is therefore the price for the known scope, not a headline number in isolation. Ask what happens if the transaction changes after the initial quote.

The SRA requires regulated firms publishing residential conveyancing prices to explain the basis of charges, likely disbursements, inclusions and VAT treatment. Compare those details rather than choosing on headline price alone.

Sources and further reading: SRA price-transparency guidance

A home mover should budget for both legal matters. The wider journey—estate-agent fees, chains, timing and total moving cash—belongs in the separate buying-and-selling guide.

• Leasehold ownership can require lease review, management packs, notices, certificates, consents and service-charge enquiries.
• Shared-ownership transactions can add scheme, lease and housing-provider requirements.
• Gifted deposits or overseas funds can require additional identity and source-of-funds evidence.
• Legacy Help to Buy or other equity-loan work can require separate scheme documents where applicable.
• Unregistered, defective, split or restricted titles can require additional investigation or applications.
• Multiple mortgages, separate representation or unusual lender requirements can add legal work.
• Property-specific risks can require additional searches or indemnity products.
• Leasehold sales can involve a third-party management pack whose charge is not the conveyancer's professional fee.

New-build solicitor fees can be higher where the conveyancer must review a larger developer contract pack, estate or lease arrangements, planning obligations, warranties, access and service rights, incentives and a short exchange deadline.

Ask whether the quote includes the new-build supplement, lender reporting, any leasehold or estate-management work and post-completion registration. Reservation fees, upgrades, snagging, service charges and broader move-in costs sit outside this legal-cost section and are covered in the specialist new-build guide.

Do not apply an England-only search, registration or transaction assumption unchanged throughout the UK. Ask the solicitor to confirm the applicable process, registry, tax and disbursement scope.

A firm may ask for money on account when instructed. Buyers commonly pay search money early because the searches must be ordered, while identity checks or other disbursements can also be collected before completion.

The remaining professional fee, registration amount, property tax and other outstanding items are commonly shown on a completion statement and funded before completion. A firm can use different interim billing terms, so confirm the payment schedule and what happens if the transaction falls through.

• Check whether every professional fee and supplement includes VAT.
• Identify the search pack, Land Registry or registration charge and each bank-transfer fee.
• Confirm any mortgage-lender, leasehold, new-build, gifted-deposit or shared-ownership supplement.
• Look for separate identity, anti-money-laundering, source-of-funds, postage or administration charges.
• Check whether the quote is fixed, value-linked, hourly or only an estimate.
• Ask what is excluded and what event would trigger an additional fee.
• Understand the fall-through or abortive-work policy and which disbursements are non-refundable.
• Compare the final likely bill for the same scope, not the cheapest headline legal fee.