The conveyancing fees for a freehold tenured property sale and purchase in early 2024 stood at £1,187.98 and £1,265.65 respectively (inclusive of VAT).

This represents increases of 6.16% (for freehold home sales) and 6.88% (for freehold purchases) as compared to similar data collected in early 2023, Property Solvers said.

Prices rose by 3.72% for sales from £1,351.71 in 2023 to £1,401.99 in 2024 and by 3.82% for leasehold property purchases from £1,436.92 in 2023 to £1,491.83 in 2024.

And this is on the back of aggressive price hikes between 2022 and 2023 (well above annual CPI).

Property Solvers’ annual research of legal practices (in England and Wales) surveyed 100 conveyancing firms for direct quotes.

The firm said it was assumed that a mortgage was being redeemed upon sale completion or the property was being purchased with a mortgage. Property values in the quote request never exceeded £300,000 for purchase or sale. Also, the fees do not include disbursements (telegraphic transfer charges, searches, ID checks etc.).

Remortgaging costs – based on a secured home loan of £225,000 (75% loan to value on £300,000) saw an average cost rise of 7.68% (from £643.51 in 2023 to £692.92 in 2023).

According to Property Solvers, leasehold supplementary costs tend to lie at between £200 and £350.

Property Solvers’ Ruban Selvanayagam said: “We were coming across quotes going well into the £2,000s for freehold sales / purchases and nearly reaching £3,000 for leasehold property purchases – often reflective of the firms’ well-established reputation and their ability to process transactions quicker,” he continues.

“However, we continue to discourage sellers and buyers from using conveyancers with pricing that appears to be unusually inexpensive. Whilst more conveyancers are embracing AI and other streamlined process, you’ll often find that the “low fee” firms tend to be overloaded with cases – resulting in an inferior quality of service.”