People buying a home are facing charges from solicitors for conveyancing work that are twice as high as they were before the stamp duty holiday, according to mortgage advisors.
Advisors are reporting that many solicitors are hiking up the fees they charge for straightforward conveyancing so that they can maximise their income from the spike in property sales that the holiday on stamp duty has created. In one example of this, Chris Sykes, a mortgage consultant and director for Private Finance, said to Mortgage Solutions that he had seen a homebuyer hit with conveyancing costs of £8,000, as well as VAT.
Sykes stated that he advised the buyer in question to try a different solicitor and that more customers were looking for alternative recommendations as conveyancing charges soar in the wake of the changes to the stamp duty threshold.
The consultant indicated that, prior to the changes to this threshold, a typical fee charged by a solicitor would be in the region of £2,000 to £2,500, but many were now charging as much as £5,000, plus additional VAT costs. He also pointed out that some solicitors are specifically asking for more money from clients keen to finalise purchases ahead of the stamp duty deadline.
Sykes then went on to add that:
“It’s a case of demand outweighing supply so I guess it does make sense to add a premium, but some solicitors are taking the Micky.”
Advisors who have completed their CeMAP training should bear this in mind when recommending solicitors to their clients.
