Conveyancing fees calculator
Typical costs of buying or selling a home in England or Wales, line by line: the legal fee, VAT and the disbursements. Estimated ranges from published market data (Conveyancing Index, Compare My Move), not a quote.
How much does conveyancing cost?
As of October 2026, legal fees for buying a freehold home typically run from about £800 to £2,200 before VAT, depending on the price, plus about £300 to £1,100 of disbursements such as searches and the HM Land Registry fee. Leasehold adds £150 to £400, and selling usually costs £100 to £200 less than buying.
Updated
The price of the home in England or Wales.
Estimated conveyancing costs
Enter the price to see typical market ranges, line by line.
Worked example: buying a £300,000 freehold, two buyers
| Cost | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Legal fee | £950 to £1,500 |
| VAT on the legal fee (20%) | £190 to £300 |
| Searches (local authority, drainage, environmental) | £250 to £450 |
| HM Land Registry registration fee | £150 |
| Official search with priority (OS1) | £7 |
| Bankruptcy search (2 names) | £12 |
| ID and anti-money-laundering checks (2 people) | £20 to £60 |
| Bank transfer (CHAPS) | £20 to £45 |
| Estimated total | £1,599 to £2,524 |
Stamp duty is separate: on £300,000 it depends on whether you're a first-time buyer. See the stamp duty calculator.
Typical legal fees by price (buying a freehold, before VAT)
| Property price | Typical legal fee |
|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | £800 to £1,100 |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | £850 to £1,250 |
| £250,001 to £500,000 | £950 to £1,500 |
| £500,001 to £750,000 | £1,100 to £1,800 |
| £750,001 to £1,000,000 | £1,300 to £2,200 |
| Over £1,000,000 | From £1,800, often priced individually |
From Conveyancing Index (quotes by firms in its network, October 2026), excluding VAT and disbursements.
The HM Land Registry fee
Fixed by HM Land Registry's Scale 1, applied for online, for a transfer of a whole registered title. A mortgage registered with the transfer has no separate fee.
| Price | Fee (online) |
|---|---|
| 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 |
Questions people ask
For buying a freehold home, legal fees quoted by firms typically run from about £800 to £2,200 before VAT, rising with the price (the table above; Conveyancing Index). Compare My Move's published average for buying a freehold is £1,518 (October 2026; Compare My Move). Most firms price by value band, and some charge a fixed fee whatever the price (Conveyancing Index). HM Land Registry's own registration fee rises with the price: £150 online for a transfer at £200,001 to £500,000 (HM Land Registry).
Searches (local authority, drainage and water, environmental) are a disbursement, paid by the firm on your behalf and passed on at cost, typically £250 to £450 together (Conveyancing Index). A survey is arranged separately with a surveyor and is not part of the conveyancer's quote (Conveyancing Index). Many firms ask for some disbursements, such as searches, to be paid up front, with the rest usually paid on completion (Conveyancing Index).
Firms set their own prices, so it is worth comparing written quotes. Solicitors in England and Wales must publish price information for residential conveyancing under the SRA Transparency Rules. You can't claim conveyancing fees against tax on your own home. If you later sell a property that isn't your main home, the legal costs of buying and selling it can be deducted when working out the gain for Capital Gains Tax (GOV.UK).
How the estimate works
- Legal fee: the published range for the price band (Conveyancing Index; Compare My Move); leasehold adds £150 to £400, and selling takes off £100 to £200.
- VAT: 20% of the legal fee.
- Official fees, exactly: the Land Registry fee (Scale 1), the official search (£7), and a bankruptcy search for each buyer (£6 a name), all applied for online; official copies of the title (£7 each) when selling.
- Other disbursements as published ranges (Conveyancing Index): searches £250 to £450, ID checks £10 to £30 a person, and a CHAPS transfer £20 to £45.
- Not included: stamp duty, a survey, mortgage lender fees, and a leasehold management pack (Conveyancing Index).
For what a written quote should show, see what a conveyancing quote includes.
See what this means where you're buying: conveyancing costs by area, with the tax and fees at each area's average prices.
Questions
How much are conveyancing fees in England and Wales?
Are conveyancing fees based on the property's value?
Do conveyancing fees include searches?
Do conveyancing fees include a survey?
Are conveyancing fees negotiable?
When are conveyancing fees paid?
Can you claim conveyancing fees against tax?
Sources
- Conveyancing Index: How much does conveyancing cost? (updated 3 July 2026)
- Compare My Move: Average conveyancing fees (updated 20 October 2026)
- HM Land Registry: Registration Services fees (Scale 1)
- HM Land Registry: Information Services fees (OS1, official copies)
- HM Land Registry: Land Charges fees (K16 bankruptcy search)
- SRA Transparency Rules
- GOV.UK: Tax when you sell property (deductible costs)
Rates checked against these sources on 30 October 2026. Updated . This is a calculation, not legal or tax advice: Instrukt is not a law firm or a tax adviser.