You need to hire a solicitor to act on your behalf when you buy a house. They will perform the searches and go through the deeds to make sure that you are not buying anything that you are not aware of. They also act as the middleman for money, so everything runs smoothly. Some solicitor’s charge a flat rate for conveyancing whilst others may charge 1% of the purchase price. You may have to pay separately for the Land Registry fee. The Land Registry is a government department who look after the registry of all property. They will charge according to property price to transfer the register to the new owner. The charge is £100 for a £100,000 property.

Your lender may offer to pay for your solicitor’s fees as part of your deal. This may not cover the cost of any searches and may be reliant on using their solicitor.