Last Updated on September 17, 2026
The average conveyancing bill is £1,509 when buying, £929 when selling and £2,438 for both together, including disbursements and VAT (Reallymoving Conveyancing Costs Index Q2 2026, seen 11 September 2026). Leasehold usually adds around £300.
Checked on 11 September 2026.
Conveyancing quotes confuse people because they mix two different things. The legal fee is what the firm charges for its work. Disbursements are costs the firm pays out on your behalf, such as searches and the Land Registry fee. A quote that only shows one of them is not a quote.
One more thing worth knowing before you compare anyone. Solicitors’ firms that do residential conveyancing are required by the SRA Transparency Rules to publish their prices on their own websites, including disbursements and VAT. A firm that will not show you numbers in writing is ignoring its own regulator’s rules.
What the numbers look like
Figures below were seen on 11 September 2026 on the HomeOwners Alliance conveyancing fees guide, which draws on the Reallymoving Conveyancing Costs Index Q2 2026. All three averages include disbursements and VAT.
| Job | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Buying a home (average, all in) | £1,509 |
| Selling a home (average, all in) | £929 |
| Buying and selling together | £2,438 |
| Leasehold premium over freehold | around £300 extra |
| Local authority and other searches (buyers) | £250 to £450 |
| Bank transfer (telegraphic transfer) fee | £20 to £30 |
| Anti-money laundering checks | £6 to £20 |
| Bankruptcy search | £4 |
| Leasehold management pack (sellers) | £300 to £800 |
| Unregistered property supplement | £120 to £240 |
The Land Registry registration fee is a buyer’s disbursement and is set by property price band. These are HM Land Registry’s own published fees for electronic applications on registered whole titles, seen on gov.uk on 11 September 2026.
| Property price | Land Registry fee (electronic) |
|---|---|
| Up to £80,000 | £20 |
| £80,001 to £100,000 | £40 |
| £100,001 to £200,000 | £100 |
| £200,001 to £500,000 | £150 |
| £500,001 to £1,000,000 | £295 |
| Over £1,000,000 | £500 |
Postal applications cost more (the electronic route is discounted by 55 per cent), and first registrations of unregistered land use different figures. Check the gov.uk table for your exact case.
Legal fee, disbursements, VAT and stamp duty
Four separate things sit inside a conveyancing bill.
The legal fee. The firm’s charge for the work. Most residential conveyancing is quoted as a fixed fee rather than an hourly rate. The SRA rules require firms to state which basis they use.
Disbursements. Searches, Land Registry fees, bank transfer charges, ID checks. These are broadly the same whichever firm you use, so a large gap between two quotes usually sits in the legal fee, not here.
VAT. The legal fee attracts VAT at 20 per cent. Some quotes show it, some quietly leave it off. The SRA requires firms to say whether fees and disbursements attract VAT and how much. The averages above include it.
Stamp duty. Your solicitor calculates and submits Stamp Duty Land Tax for you, but it is a tax you owe, not a fee they charge. Do not let a quote blur the two.
No sale, no fee. Many firms offer this. If the transaction falls through, you do not pay the legal fee. You will normally still owe for disbursements already spent, such as searches, and the headline fee is sometimes slightly higher to cover the risk. Read the exact terms; the label varies by firm.
What moves the price
- Leasehold. More documents, more parties, more checking. Around £300 extra on average, and sellers of leasehold flats also face a management pack from the freeholder or agent at £300 to £800.
- New build. Extra work on planning conditions, warranties and developer contracts. Firms commonly charge a supplement; ask for the figure in writing.
- Shared ownership. Two sets of paperwork (the lease and the housing association’s requirements) means a higher fee. Get the supplement stated up front.
- Unregistered land. First registration adds work, typically £120 to £240 on the figures above.
- Property price. The Land Registry fee steps up by band, and some firms scale their legal fee with price too.
- Help to Buy or Lifetime ISA. Handling the bonus adds a small charge, around £60 per the HomeOwners Alliance figures.
Two-minute quote check
- Ask for the full breakdown in writing: legal fee, each disbursement, VAT, and any supplements for leasehold, new build or shared ownership. The SRA rules mean a solicitors’ firm should already have this on its website.
- Check the firm on the Solicitors Register at sra.org.uk/consumers/register/. It confirms the firm is regulated and the individual is a solicitor. Licensed conveyancers are the main alternative to solicitors for this work; they are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers instead, which keeps its own register (verify at clc-uk.org).
- Ask what is not included. The SRA requires firms to state services you might reasonably expect but which are excluded.
- Ask whether the quote is fixed. A fixed fee should only change if the job changes, and the letter should say when that can happen.
- Compare the legal fee, not the total. Disbursements are near identical everywhere, so the total hides the real difference.
If you run the firm
The SRA Transparency Rules already require you to publish, prominently, your total cost or range, your charging basis, likely disbursements, VAT treatment, what is included and excluded, timescales, and who does the work with what experience. So publish it properly rather than minimally.
A clear price page with worked examples (a £250,000 freehold purchase, a £250,000 leasehold flat sale) answers the exact question buyers type into search engines and ask AI assistants. Firms that bury a PDF three clicks deep meet the letter of the rules and lose the enquiry anyway. Your register status and SRA number belong on the same page.
That is compliance and marketing in one job. It costs nothing but the writing.
Red flags
- A quote with no disbursements listed. The searches and Land Registry fee are coming either way; a total that omits them is designed to look cheap.
- VAT missing or ambiguous. A £750 legal fee is £900 with VAT.
- No written breakdown available. Solicitors’ firms doing residential conveyancing are required to publish prices; refusal is a rule problem, not a style choice.
- An estate agent pushing one specific conveyancer hard. Referral fees are legal but must be disclosed. Ask directly: are you being paid for this recommendation?
- “Fixed fee” with wide open conditions for extra charges. Ask for the trigger list in writing.
- A firm you cannot find on the Solicitors Register or the CLC register. Do not send money.
What this page does not cover
Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have different systems and taxes. Commercial property. Remortgage-only and transfer of equity pricing. Stamp duty rates and reliefs. Whether any individual firm is good at the job; a register entry proves regulation, not quality.
Method and limits
Averages come from the HomeOwners Alliance conveyancing fees guide, seen live on 11 September 2026, which cites the Reallymoving Conveyancing Costs Index Q2 2026; they include disbursements and VAT. Land Registry fees were taken from gov.uk the same day. SRA requirements were read from the SRA Transparency Rules page the same day. The CLC register could not be checked live, so treat it as indicative, verify at source. Any individual quote can sit outside these ranges for good reasons; the point of the figures is to spot quotes with no reason.
Sources
- HomeOwners Alliance, conveyancing fees guide. Average buying, selling and combined costs, leasehold premium, disbursement ranges, citing Reallymoving’s Q2 2026 index.
- SRA Transparency Rules. What conveyancing firms must publish about prices, disbursements and VAT.
- HM Land Registry registration services fees, gov.uk. Registration fee bands by property price.
- SRA, check the Solicitors Register. How to confirm a firm is regulated and a person is a solicitor.
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Related research: AI-Recommended Law Firms Study, August 2026.
