The basics
What is conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from one person to another. Whether you're buying, selling, remortgaging or doing all of these at once, a conveyancer or property solicitor manages the contracts, carries out the searches, liaises with mortgage lenders and the Land Registry, and handles the transfer of money on completion.
Because the work involved differs between a purchase, a sale and a remortgage, quotes are tailored to your specific transaction. A typical quote is made up of three parts:
- Legal fees — the firm's charge for doing the work.
- VAT — charged on the legal fees at the standard rate.
- Disbursements — third-party costs such as property searches, Land Registry fees and bank transfer fees.
Comparing quotes side by side makes it easy to see the true total cost — not just a headline legal fee — so you can pick a firm on value and reputation, not guesswork.