What are the conveyancing costs in Grays?
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
- Shared Ownership Staircasing: £748 INC VAT INC VAT
- Remortgage: £399 INC VAT INC VAT
- Lease Extension: £720 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 Grays
Search Provider | Cost | Turnaround Time |
|---|---|---|
Search Provider Thurrock Council This is the local authority search, which is mandatory if you are obtaining a mortgage. | Cost £195.00 INC any VAT | Turnaround Time 10 Working Days |
Search Provider Anglian 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 2 working days |
Grays Specific Searches |
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Why choose SAM Conveyancing Solicitors in Grays?
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 Grays.
Expert Tip: Check your environmental search
Certain geographic pockets around Grays are located in Radon Affected Areas. Your conveyancer must order an environmental search that includes a radon assessment, and if necessary, negotiate a retention of funds to cover the installation of a radon ventilation system post-completion.
You can find this information in your environmental search purchased during the conveyancing process.
Partner & Conveyancing Solicitor
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 Grays
Our Grays conveyancing solicitors can help you with your conveyance locally or in any of the surrounding areas, including London, Dartford, Rainham, Upminster, Hornchurch, Erith and Dagenham.
We have many offices throughout England and Wales, so you can find a solicitor near you.
- Orchard Drive, Grays, Essex, RM17 5AF
- 58 Ward Avenue, Grays, RM17 5RW
- 58 Ward Avenue, Grays, RM17 5RW
- Defoe Parade, Grays RM16 4QR
- Blackshots Lane, Grays RM16 2LD
- Cedars (house) – College Avenue, Grays.
Marketed by Chandler & Martin.
Grays Property Prices
Average property price in Grays Source: lasted updated on | £352,121 |
What is the population of Grays: Source: Office for National Statistics lasted updated in the 2021 Cencus | 36,301 (2001) |
Thinking of moving to Grays?
Grays, also known as Grays Thurrock, is the largest town in Thurrock Borough in Essex and is located 20 miles east of London's centre, on the north bank of the River Thames. The area is a mix of industrial, residential, retail and office blocks. It has a museum (Thurrock Museum, specialised in the locale with more than 1,500 objects spanning 250,000 years) and a theatre (Thameside Theatre, in Orsett Road, which hosts a plethora of presentations and works for all ages and tastes), along with myriad shopping diversions, such as Intu Lakeside and Grays Shopping Centre.
Orsett Hospital, Rowley Rd, Orsett, Grays RM16 3EU
Grays Court Community Hospital, John Parker Cl, Dagenham RM10 9SR
Jubilee Day Hospital, Thurrock Community Hospital, Long Lane, Grays RM16 2PX
By road, the A13 and M25 are nearby. Grays Railway Station has frequent services to London Fenchurch Street. Trains also go towards Shoeburyness in the other direction.
Distance to Airports from Grays Thurrock
| Airport | miles by car |
| Stansted | 37.5 miles |
| Gatwick | 40.8 miles |
| Luton | 57.1 miles |
Saint Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School, Ward Avenue, Grays, Essex RM17 5RW
West Thurrock Academy, Schoolfield Rd, Grays RM20 3HR
Belmont Castle Academy, Parker Rd, Grays RM17 5YN
Local conveyancing solicitor
Are online licensed conveyancing solicitors better than property lawyers near me?
Before the internet, finding local licensed conveyancing solicitors would have meant consulting your local phone book or taking a walk down your high street.
Before modern ID checking processes, your local conveyancing solicitors would need to meet with you to confirm who you were as part of their money laundering and 'Know Your Client' checks. Solicitors previously used to use this time to talk through the transaction with you in person - a part of the service that was reflected in their fees. Nowadays, the legal process can be completed without face to face meetings, using online ID checks.
Although local knowledge becomes critical when choosing your RICS surveyor for a home buyers survey, your solicitor will carry out their work by processing documents and forms, virtually all of which can be obtained and/or transmitted electronically, from down the road or a hundred miles away.
You'll usually find that a high-street conveyancer will charge extra for business conducted 'in person', such as ID checking, and that their time is better spent focusing on progressing your case. We welcome queries from our clients and act as the vital link between you and your solicitor, which means you're kept in the loop and your solicitor is fully engaged in getting your move completed, as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Affordable Housing Schemes
Several affordable housing schemes in Grays 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 Thurrock Council to find out if you are eligible
- Discount Market Sale - check with Thurrock Council if they are running a DMS scheme
Grays 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.
Is the property over 5 storeys (11m)?
Many leasehold properties in Grays are in large buildings which now require an EWS1 certificate to confirm if the cladding is fire safe. Thankfully 2022's leaseholder protections mean that most leaseholders are not burdened with the cost of remediation of any defective cladding, but you will need to see the seller's Deed of Certificate to prove that the lease doesn't come with a nasty (and expensive) surprise.
Be particularly wary of purchasing a share of freehold as the freeholders may become liable for the cost of remedying defective cladding. Our specialist leasehold solicitors Grays are well experienced with handling all of these added complications, so you will be in safe hands with SAM. Property Challenges Solved.
Look no further for your residential conveyancing solicitor in Grays
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 Grays 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 Grays 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 Grays
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 Grays 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 Grays 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 Grays 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
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
Does the solicitor physically visit the property being purchased?
A solicitor acting for the buyer of a property does not visit a property as part of their work as they will conduct a review of the legal documentation of the property to assess whether there are any issues with the property that will affect the buyer purchasing the property or reselling it again in future.
Usually, purchasers will use a two-professionals-attack method whereby a solicitor is initially instructed to complete a legal title check and a local RICS surveyor is employed who actually visits the property assess the defects which may affect its current value or cause issues once bought.
