Guidance Notes

Apart from paying legal fees and Value Added Tax, there are other payments that must be made during the sale, purchase or re-mortgage of a property. These are known as "disbursements" and you will see which ones apply to your transaction from the estimate provided. The following list is designed as a guide to help you understand why disbursements have to be paid. The majority are payments made to the government.

Sales and Re-Mortgages

• If the property is registered at the Land Registry, we need to obtain Office Copy Entries of your title from the District Registry. These cost between £4.00 and £12.00, depending on what is required;
• If alterations have been carried out to your property within the last ten years, we may need to provide your buyer's solicitors or your new Lender with a copy of the planning permissions/building regulations consents. If there are none held with your title deeds and you no longer hold copies at home, then the Local Authority can issue copies at a charge. The charges vary from Council to Council but we will always ask your permission before obtaining them;
• Most Lenders charge a "Deeds Production Fee" when the title deeds are sent to solicitors. If the matter does not proceed to completion, the deeds must be returned to the building society or bank. The charge is either payable at that time or it is added to your mortgage account;
• If you use the services of an Estate Agent when selling your property, we can discharge the commission account on your behalf on completion provided there are sufficient funds available. We will always send a copy of the account to you for approval before it is paid;
• If you are selling a leasehold property-rent, maintenance charges and insurance premiums must be paid up to the date of completion. If these have not already been paid in advance, a proportion will be required on completion. A note of these charges will be provided as part of the Completion Statement sent to you after exchange of contracts.

Purchases and Re-Mortgages

• A Local Authority search is required so that you and your Lender become aware of matters affecting the property. These might include planning proposals; previous alterations that may have been carried out; future road proposals; highway maintenance and enforcement action for breach of planning control. The search fees vary depending on the Local Authority involved. It appears that, the nearer to Central London the property is, the higher the search fee is. They are normally between £90.00 and £150.00.
• Stamp duty land tax is payable to the HM Revenue and Customs as a percentage of the purchase price of the property on both freehold and leasehold properties where the purchase price is more than  £125,000*.
  - 1% where the price of the property is from and including £125,001 to and including £250,000*
  - 3% where the price of the property is from and including £250,001 to and including £500,000
  - 4% where the price of the property is from and including £500,001 (after 5th April 2011 – to and including £1,000,000)
  - (Effective from and including 6th April 2011) 5% where the price of the property is from and including £1,000,001

*In the case of certain first time buyers the nil rate band applies up to a price of £250,000

Stamp duty land tax may also payable on the rent when the property is leasehold and a new lease is being granted. We will provide you with a note of the actual duty payable once we are in receipt of the documentation from your sellers solicitors.

Once the purchase or the re-mortgage has been completed, the transaction must be registered at H.M Land Registry. The Land Registry fee payable is based on the purchase price of the property, any annual ground rent (if the property is leasehold and a new lease is being granted) or on (a) the value of the new mortgage if you are re-mortgaging a property registered at H.M Land Registry or (b) the current market value of the property if it is not registered at H.M. Land Registry. The fee scales are subject to change but the current fees are shown below to give you an idea of the charges involved.

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