What are the conveyancing costs in Chichester?
The conveyancing costs are broken into two sections: the fixed fee you pay your solicitor, and the conveyancing disbursements (known as third-party costs). Here is a transparent breakdown of both costs for property transactions in your area.
1. Solicitor Legal Fees
At SAM Conveyancing, our fixed legal fees remain consistent nationwide, regardless of your property's location. We provide a guaranteed fixed fee for standard residential conveyancing based on your property's purchase price, its tenure (freehold or leasehold), and whether your transaction involves a mortgage or utilises affordable housing schemes such as shared ownership. Below are the current fixed conveyancing fees for a standard freehold valued at £250,000.
- Sale or Purchase: £748 INC VAT INC VAT (plus an additional £60 INC VAT if purchasing with a mortgage).
- Transfer of Equity: £399 INC VAT INC VAT
- Help to Buy Loan Repayment: £333 INC VAT INC VAT
- Remortgage: £399 INC VAT INC VAT
2. Conveyancing Disbursements (Third-Party Costs)
Disbursements are fixed third-party fees paid to external bodies (like local councils and HM Land Registry) to complete your legal paperwork. These costs shouldn't vary too much from solicitor to solicitor.
- Property Purchase Tax (SDLT / LTT): Calculated dynamically based on your purchase price, your buyer status (such as a first-time buyer), and whether the property is located in England or Wales.
- HM Land Registry Fee: Ranges from £20.00 to £1,105.00, scale-calculated dynamically based on your property’s purchase price and whether it is an existing registered property or a new build.
- Conveyancing Search Bundle: £325 INC VAT (Includes Local Authority, Water & Drainage & Environmental)
- Online ID Fee: Ranges from £15 to £48 and avoids having to send personal documents in the post or visit our office in order to prove your ID.
- Mortgage Portal Fee: The cost to download your mortgage offer and communicate with your lender. It is £12 if your mortgage lender uses the Lender Exchange portal, or £45 INC VAT if they use the LMS Portal.
Conveyancing search costs and turnaround for Chichester
Search Provider | Cost | Turnaround Time |
|---|---|---|
Search Provider Chichester District Council This is the local authority search, which is mandatory if you are obtaining a mortgage. | Cost £132.00 INC any VAT | Turnaround Time 10 Working Days |
Search Provider Southern Water This is the Water & Drainage Search, which is mandatory if you are obtaining a mortgage. | Cost £83.40 INC VAT | Turnaround Time 1 to 3 working days |
Chichester Specific Searches |
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Why choose SAM Conveyancing Solicitors in Chichester?
We are a hand-selected panel of SRA-regulated solicitors who deliver to you the high standards we expect, and you'll have a member of the SAM team to guide you through the process from start to finish. Just 1 person you know by name can email or call directly and get your question answered on the same day (normally instantly).
Doing it our way, we've helped over 56,000 clients and gained all the experience from the different transactions. From pressurising agents to complex legal enquiries, and even overcoming issues with your mortgage lender. Our strap line is Property Challenges Solved because that is simply what we do, day in, day out.
Get in contact today and see from the very first call why we are the best conveyancing solicitors for a property transaction in Chichester.
We're first-time-buyer friendly
86% of our purchase clients are First-Time Buyers, so we are hyper-attuned to what you need when buying your first home.
- We take the time to explain the process
- We offer tips on timescales
- We keep it real, never overpromising
Our Conveyancing Services
We can help with all of your conveyancing needs; simple to complex, and always affordable.
- Purchase
- Sale
- Transfer
- Remortgage
- Help to Buy Repayment
- Help to Buy Sale or Transfer
- Auction Sale or Purchase
- Shared Ownership Sale & Purchase
- Shared Ownership Staircasing
- Lease Extension
- Purchase of Freehold
- New Builds & Off-plan Purchases
- First Time Buyers
- Second Homes
- Buy to Let landlords
Fixed quote for our legal costs plus a budget-friendly breakdown of third-party disbursements.
Your sale or purchase is protected by our no sale, no fee guarantee.
Our panel solicitors are pre-approved to work with 99% of mortgage lenders in England & Wales.
Panel solicitors accredited by the Conveyancing Quality Scheme; regulated by the SRA.
Residential Conveyancing Solicitors in and around Chichester
Our Chichester conveyancing solicitors can help you with your conveyance locally or in any of the surrounding areas, including Fareham, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Hayling Island, Havant, Battersea and Petersfield.
We have many offices throughout England and Wales, so you can find a solicitor near you.
- Firefly Close, Lee-on-the-Solent, PO13 8FY
- 53 Highlands Road, Fareham, Hampshire, PO15 6AU
- 11 Trinity Street, Fareham, Hampshire, PO16 7SD
- 132 Blackbrook Rd, Fareham, PO15 5BY
- 50 Hill Road, Portchester, Fareham, PO16 8JZ
- Randall House (apartments) – Connolly Way, Chichester.
Developed by Linden Homes.
Chichester Property Prices
| Average property price in Chichester | £458,254 |
| Population of Chichester | 23,731 |
Thinking of moving to Chichester?
Chichester is a cathedral city in Chichester district in West Sussex. It is also a university city, hosting the University of Chichester. The area has a long history dating back to Roman times. Chichester Cathedral is a prominent and beautiful landmark. There are many others. Racegoers and followers of the turf will know about the 'Glorious' Goodwood Racecourse. Goodwood is also the name of a car racing circuit in the same locale.
A great family day out can be had in Fishbourne Roman Palace and Gardens in Salthill Road. Workmen digging around the area in the 1960s accidentally discovered a buried Roman palace with fascinating artefacts and wonderful mosaics. The formal garden has been replanted using available evidence to produce a Roman garden complete with plants from that era.
St. Richards Hospital, Spitalfield Lane, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6SE
Spire Portsmouth Hospital, Bartons Road, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 5NP
The Nuffield Hospital Chichester, 78 Broyle Rd, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6BE
Chichester Train Station has regular trains to London Victoria and also offers connections to Portsmouth, Littlehampton, Brighton and Southampton. The A27 runs through the city, connecting it to other coastal locations, linking also to the A3(M) and the wider motorway network.
Distance to Airports from Chichester
| Airport | miles by car |
| Southampton | 35.1 miles |
| Gatwick | 46.9 miles |
| Heathrow | 70.8 miles |
Bishop Luffa CoE School, Bishop Luffa Close, Chichester, PO19 3LT
St Anthony's School, Woodlands Lane, Chichester, PO19 5PA
Chichester High School for Boys, Kingsham Rd, Chichester, PO19 8AE
Local conveyancing solicitor
Local conveyancing solicitor, property lawyer or licensed conveyancer?
Day-to-day, the vast majority of legal tasks required for a house move are carried out by several different people termed 'paralegals' and/or conveyancing assistants. These terms refer to the fact that these professionals do not have the membership and qualifications to be either a solicitor, licensed conveyancer or legal executive.
Many of these individuals have many years of experience and keep your costs down by skilfully completing work at a lower rate than the solicitor who oversees the case, takes ultimate responsibility and signs off the work.
Licensed conveyancers receive their accreditation from the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. They are quite distinct from paralegals in that they are officially qualified. You can think of them overall as people who act as qualified solicitors but purely in the conveyancing arena.
In contrast, a qualified solicitor acting in the conveyancing field has the general training that a solicitor has, in all areas of law, but has chosen to specialise in conveyancing. They have to be a member of the Law Society to practise.
Affordable Housing Schemes
Several affordable housing schemes in Chichester help make buying a property more achievable. The work is more complex, and we have specialist conveyancing solicitors to handle the following:
- Shared Ownership Solicitors
- Right to Buy Solicitors - speak to Chichester District Council to find out if you are eligible
- Discount Market Sale - check with Chichester District Council if they are running a DMS scheme
Chichester conveyancing solicitors
You can rest assured that you're in good hands with us. We hand select our panel for skill and experience, from a simple purchase to complex transactions with specialist ownership structures and deeds of trust.
Are you buying or selling a short lease in Chichester?
If there are 80 years or less on the leasehold, it will be harder to mortgage. Whether you're buying or selling, consider extending the lease, which may be done before, during, or in some cases after the transaction.
Our specialist leasehold conveyancing solicitors have vast experience handling the extension of a short lease for buyers and sellers. Speak to a SAM advisor for inclusive, fixed-fee, conveyancing quotes for leasehold conveyancing or share of freehold conveyancing today. Property Challenges Solved.
Look no further for your residential conveyancing solicitor in Chichester
Whatever your property challenge, we can solve it.
Selling a property
Your expert conveyancing solicitor's role when selling a property will include:
- Draft contracts – Your conveyancing solicitor drafts the initial legal contract to be sent to the buyer's solicitor.
- Responding to enquiries – your solicitor responds to any questions the buyer's solicitor may have (this is where you'll find out if you are missing documents, which can cause delays to your sale).
- Investigating issues – your solicitor may need to complete further investigation to try and satisfy them.
- Exchange contracts – once the buyer's solicitor has satisfied their enquiries, contracts are finalised and exchanged.
- On the day of completion – your solicitor receives the money for the sale, discharges the mortgage (if required), pays the estate agent, deducts their fee and then sends the net sale proceeds to you.
- Post completion – your solicitor receives the DS1 discharge documents and, when leasehold, settles your liabilities for ground rent and service charges.
Our conveyancing solicitors' cost for selling a property starts from £748 INC VAT.
Buying a home
- Draft contracts – Your solicitor reviews the draft contract sent by the seller's solicitor.
- Raising enquiries – your solicitor will ask the seller's solicitor questions based on the contract, title, and property documents to protect you from any nasty surprises.
- Exchange contracts – once your solicitor is satisfied with their enquiries, they agree with the seller to finalise and exchange contracts
- Day of completion – on the day of completion, your solicitor transfers the money for the sale.
- Post completion – following completion, your solicitor makes an application to HM Land Registry to register you as the new owner.
Our Chichester conveyancing solicitors' cost for buying a property starts from £748 INC VAT.
Add or remove someone from a property title
With a Transfer of Equity, you can buy someone out of a shared property and remove them from the title, or add someone to the title to transfer ownership of a share of the property, making them a joint owner. This service includes:
- Property solicitors' fees, including ID checks, office copies
- HM Land Registration fees
- (if party being removed) ID1 Form verification fee
- (if mortgage) Change of mortgage fee
- (if leasehold) Notice fee to freeholder
Our Chichester conveyancing solicitors' cost for a Transfer of Equity starts at £399 INC VAT.
If someone is giving up their share of the property for less than market value, they may be required to get independent legal advice, which will be an additional expense.
Switch your mortgage deal in Chichester
Your remortgage solicitor will perform all the necessary checks, review your new mortgage offer, and update HM Land Registry post-completion. The process is similar to when you purchase but should take less time, as the solicitor doesn't need to raise any legal enquiries.
If you own a leasehold property, your solicitor must carry out extra work to investigate the lease terms. Our conveyancing solicitors' cost for a remortgage in Chichester starts at £399 INC VAT.
Purchase the next chunk of your equity
When you're ready to buy the next chunk of the equity in your shared ownership property, a conveyancer will be required to handle:
- The bank transfer;
- obtaining a mortgage redemption statement from your existing lender;
- receiving your new mortgage offer and confirming the lender terms;
- receiving the memorandum of staircasing;
- handling completion;
- filing SDLT form (if required); and
- registration at the Land Registry.
Our conveyancing solicitors' cost for shared ownership staircasing in Chichester starts at £823 INC VAT.
If you need to add someone to the legal title, you will need to pay an additional fee for a transfer of equity.
Paying off your Help to Buy equity loan
You'll need a solicitor to:
- Receive redemption letter;
- review title for ownership and restrictions;
- obtain Authority to Complete;
- draft a deed of postponement for your current lender;
- handling completion;
- bank transfer; and
- if repaid in full, removal of the loan restriction at the Land Registry.
Our conveyancing solicitors' cost for Help to Buy loan redemption in Chichester starts at £333 INC VAT.
Price based on a freehold with the loan being repaid in full using savings.
Islamic finance solicitors
Specialists in Sharia-compliant conveyancing for Islamic mortgages.
- Can review, advise and negotiate with all Sharia Mortgage Lenders.
- Terms of the contract fully explained with confirmation of Sharia compliance and UK legal compliance.
- We can help with Ijara (Lease), Diminishing Musharaka (Reducing Partnership), and Murabaha (Cost-Plus Financing).
Conveyancing FAQs
Our panel of solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and conveyancing work is accredited with the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme.
No Sale No Fee applies to any sale or purchase quote except auction, right to buy, discount market sales, or purchase of land. The No Sale No fee only protects the main solicitor's fee. All Additional Fixed Fees are payable in full. Read our No Sale No Fee Policy.
What are the conveyancing costs?
Fees vary between online conveyancing solicitors, high street conveyancers or housing solicitors introduced by your estate agent.
The actual conveyancing costs, outside of the legal work, should be fixed, including:
For buyers: stamp duty, land registration, property searches, ID searches and leasehold charges (if buying a leasehold property).
For sellers: office copies, title plan and management information (if selling a leasehold property).
Make sure to budget for all of the above conveyancing costs and to get a fixed fee conveyancing quote from several firms, to compare value.
Making the right choice of solicitor is key to the whole process:
- Cheap Conveyancing
- Fast Conveyancing
- Best Conveyancing Service
Why do I need the Property Searches?
If you are purchasing a property with a mortgage, then your lender requires you to purchase the property searches.
The searches include information about the property held by the Water/Environmental Companies and Local Councils. They hold information such as planning consents, road adoption agreements, and any notices and/or restrictions affecting the property, if there are any tree preservation orders, flood or radon risks, if there is any ground instability that may affect the property, etc.
