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ELP Solicitors Guide to
Selling Property

ELP Solicitors Guide to
Buying Property

ELP Solicitors Guide to
Re-Mortgaging

Edinburgh Office

0131 554 8649

0131 554 8648

Email : click here

We appreciate that it is important for our clients to be able to plan their budget as carefully as possible before beginning the process of buying, selling or re-mortgaging. Our policy has always been to charge no more than is necessary to maintain our high levels of service, and we believe that the fees we charge provide our clients with excellent value for money. We have taken the unusual approach of charging flat fees for sales, rather than charging a percentage of the sale price as an estate agency fee and charging a separate fee for the conveyancing work, as we believe that this is a fairer approach which provides our clients with more certainty when planning their budget.

Details of the estimated fees and outlays involved in selling, buying or re-mortgaging property through ELP Solicitors are as follows:

SELLING PROPERTY

Up-front Costs
- Home Report – we obtain our Home Reports through the ESPC and the costs are as follows (all prices are inclusive of VAT):
  - Where the valuation is £100,000 or less: £391.00
  - Where the valuation is between £100,001 and £200,000: £511.75
  - Where the valuation is between £200,001 and £300,000: £632.50
  - Where the valuation is between £300,001 and £400,000: £753.25
  - Where the valuation is between £400,001 and £500,000: £874.00
  - Where the valuation is between £500,001 and £600,000: £994.75
  - Where the valuation is between £600,001 and £700,000: £1,115.50
  - Where the valuation is between £700,001 and £800,000: £1,236.25
  - Where the valuation is between £800,001 and £900,000: £1,357.00
  - Where the valuation is between £900,001 and £1,000,000: £1,477.75
  - Where the valuation is between £1,000,001 and £1,500,000: £1,598.50
  - Where the valuation is over £1,500,000: price on application
- ESPC Insertion Fee: £300 (inclusive of VAT) - this is for 6 months’ advertising on the ESPC website, in the weekly Homepages newspaper, and in the ESPC showroom on George Street.
- ELP Solicitors’ Marketing Fee: £200 plus VAT (total of £230) - this is to cover the cost of having photographs taken, a floor plan prepared, schedules printed and for sale boards put up.
The cost of the Home Report and the ESPC insertion fee must be paid to the ESPC before the survey can be carried out. There is a 2.5% charge if you pay by credit card (there is no fee for paying by debit card). If you would prefer to defer payment of these costs, the ESPC has arranged finance with a company called Close Brothers whereby you can put most or all of these costs on deferred credit for up to 9 months. The cost of this is £50 plus 10% of the amount borrowed. The loan must be repaid on the earliest of: (a) the property being sold; (b) the property being withdrawn from the market; or (c) 9 months from the date the loan is made
Fees and Outlays (which will be deducted from the proceeds of sale)
- ELP Solicitors fee for all estate agency and conveyancing work
  We charge a flat fee for all estate agency and conveyancing work which depends upon the sale price achieved for your property.
- Property Enquiry Certificate
  This is a Local Authority search which deals with all matters in relation to your property, e.g. whether the roads are maintained by the Council, whether any Statutory Notices have been served over the property etc., and it is standard practice for the seller to pay for this and show it to the purchaser's solicitors. We will obtain a Property Enquiry Certificate for your property from Millar & Bryce and the cost of this is as follows:
  - Where the Local Authority is the City of Edinburgh Council: £95
  - Where the Local Authority is East Lothian Council: £69
  - Where the Local Authority is Midlothian Council: £69
  - Where the Local Authority is West Lothian Council: £69
  - Where the Local Authority is Fife Council: £55
- Coal Mining Report
  If your property lies in a Coal Mining Area we may have to obtain a Coal Mining Report at a cost of £31.05. The Coal Authority has a website which confirms whether or not a Coal Mining Report is required for your property, and we will check this during the course of the sale to determine whether or not a Coal Mining Report is required.
- Land Register Report
  We will obtain a Land Register Search at the beginning of the conveyancing process which will disclose the current owner(s) of the property, whether there are any outstanding Standard Securities (i.e. mortgages) over the property, whether any other relevant deeds relating to the property have been registered, and whether you have been inhibited or sequestrated (as this may affect your ability to give the purchasers clear title to the property). We will also obtain an update of this search immediately before settlement of your sale takes place. The cost of these searches is £60.95 (through Millar & Bryce).
  
  (If title to your property has not yet been registered in the Land Register (which is gradually being phased in across Scotland to replace the old Register of Sasines), we may also have to obtain what is known as a Property Definition Report to check the boundaries of your property as described in the title deeds with the Ordnance Survey Map which is used by Registers of Scotland in the Land Register. A Property Definition Report will be required if your property is a house or if you have private garden ground. If a Property Definition Report is required then the total cost of this plus the Land Register Searches described above will be £74.75 (i.e. an additional £13.80).)
- Registration dues on Discharge by your lender
  If you have a mortgage, we will have to obtain a Discharge from your lender and have this registered in the Land Register. The registration fee for this is £30.

These are the standard fees and outlays involved in selling property. There are sometimes miscellaneous additional outlays, like paying for copy title deeds if some are missing, or for copy Building Warrant documentation from the Council if this is missing.

If you have any queries on the fees and outlays involved in selling property, please do not hesitate to contact us.

BUYING PROPERTY

ELP Solicitors fee for all conveyancing work
- Where the purchase price is up to £80,000: £450 plus VAT (total of £517.50).
- Where the purchase price is between £80,001 and £150,000: £500 plus VAT (total of £575.00).
- Where the purchase price is between £150,001 and £200,000: £550 plus VAT (total of £632.50).
- Where the purchase price is between £200,001 and £300,000: £600 plus VAT (total of £690.00).)
- Where the purchase price is between £300,001 and £500,000: £700 plus VAT (total of £805.00).
- Where the purchase price is over £500,000: £800 plus VAT (total of £920.00).
This fee covers all work in connection with a standard purchase, including submitting several unsuccessful offers if necessary (we do not charge “per offer”).
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
SDLT is tax payable to HM Revenue & Customs when property is purchased as follows:
- If the purchase price is £175,000 or less you will not have to pay any SDLT.
- Where the purchase price is between £175,001 and £250,000, SDLT is payable at 1% of the full purchase price.
- Where the purchase price is between £250,001 and £500,000, SDLT is payable at 3% of the full purchase price.
- Where the purchase price is £500,001 or more, SDLT is payable at 4% of the full purchase price.

Registration dues on Disposition
The Disposition is the deed which transfers title to you and this has to be registered in the Land Register of Scotland. The registration dues on the Disposition are as follows:
- Where the purchase price is £50,000 or less: £30.
- Where the purchase price is between £50,001 and £100,000: £100.
- Where the purchase price is between £100,001 and £150,000: £200.
- Where the purchase price is between £150,001 and £200,000: £300.
- Where the purchase price is between £200,001 and £300,000: £400.
- Where the purchase price is between £300,001 and £500,000: £500.
- Where the purchase price is between £500,001 and £700,000: £600.
- Where the purchase price is between £700,001 and £1,000,000: £700.
- Where the purchase price is between £1,000,001 and £2,000,000: £1,000.
- Where the purchase price is between £2,000,001 and £3,000,000: £3,000.
- Where the purchase price is between £3,000,001 and £5,000,000: £5,000.
- Where the purchase price is over £5,000,000: £7,500.
Registration dues on Standard Security
If you are getting a mortgage, you will have to sign a deed called a Standard Security in favour of the lender. This gives them the right to repossess your property if you do not comply with your mortgage conditions (the most important of which is to pay your monthly mortgage payments). The Standard Security also has to be registered in the Land Register of Scotland and the registration dues for this are £30.

These are the standard fees and outlays involved in buying property. However, there may be additional costs if you are buying a newbuild property direct from a builder, or if you are buying from a Housing Association or a Local Authority. The reason for this is that it is necessary for us to examine several reports on your behalf and these would normally be provided by the sellers’ solicitors, but builders, Housing Associations and Local Authorities do not provide these reports and it is therefore necessary for us to obtain them for you. These costs can vary from around £40 to around £200. If you are buying a property using the government-funded Lift scheme there will be additional costs of around £80 to cover registration dues for the Lift documentation.

Please also note that you may also have to budget for paying for a survey over the property. The survey fee depends on the valuation of the property, the type of survey you require, and which firm of surveyors you instruct. We can help you with instructing a surveyor and we can give you an idea of the cost of a survey report at any particular purchase price upon request.

If you have any queries on the fees and outlays involved in buying property, please do not hesitate to contact us.

RE-MORTGAGING

ELP Solicitors fee for all legal work
Our fee depends upon whether title to your property is registered in the Land Register or in the Sasine Register. If your property is in Edinburgh and you bought it before April 2001, your title will be registered in the Sasine Register, but if you bought it in April 2001 or later, then your title should be registered in the Land Register.
- Where your title is registered in the Sasine Register our fee is £300 plus VAT (total of £345.00).
- Where your title is registered in the Land Register, our fee is £250 plus VAT (total of £287.50).
Land Register Report
We will obtain a Land Register Search which will disclose the current owner(s) of the property, whether there are any outstanding Standard Securities (i.e. mortgages) over the property, whether any other relevant deeds relating to the property have been registered, and whether you have been inhibited or sequestrated (as this may affect your lenders’ willingness to give you a mortgage). The cost of this search is £37.95 (through Millar & Bryce).
Registration dues on Discharge by your current lender
We will have to obtain a Discharge from your current lender and have this registered in the Land Register. The registration fee for this is £30.
Registration dues on Standard Security in favour of your new lender
You will have to sign a deed called a Standard Security in favour of your new lender. This gives them the right to repossess your property if you do not comply with your mortgage conditions (the most important of which is to pay your monthly mortgage payments). The Standard Security also has to be registered in the Land Register of Scotland and the registration dues for this are £30.

These are the standard fees and outlays involved in re-mortgaging property. There are sometimes miscellaneous additional outlays, like paying for copy title deeds if some are missing.

If you have any queries on the fees and outlays involved in re-mortgaging, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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