selling

Conveyancing fees when selling a house: what a solicitor charges and the extras

Conveyancing fees when selling a house in England and Wales: no set scale, what a quote should include, disbursements, leasehold extras and no sale no fee.

4 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 9

Why there is no standard figure

General information, not advice. This page covers England and Wales. We read the Citizens Advice and GOV.UK pages named below on 4 November 2026. Citizens Advice says there is no set scale of fees for conveyancing, and none of the official or charity pages we read give a typical amount. We could not source a fee range, so we do not give one. Quoting an average we cannot trace would be worse than saying so.

What you can do is compare quotes properly. A conveyancer, who may be a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer, does the legal work of transferring ownership. According to GOV.UK, that includes drafting the initial contract, answering the buyer's side's questions with your help, and negotiating the contract if needed.

Part 2 of 9

What a quote should show

Citizens Advice gives a short checklist for any quote:

Fixed or variable. Is the figure fixed, or does it change if more work is required?
Expenses and VAT. Does the figure include them, and can you get a breakdown?
Failure before exchange. What charges, if any, apply if the sale falls through before contracts are exchanged?

Ask for this in writing from more than one firm, and compare like with like.

Part 3 of 9

The cost lines, freehold and leasehold

Cost line	Freehold sale	Leasehold sale	Source
Legal fee	A written quote	A written quote. Ask whether leasehold work is included	Citizens Advice: no set scale
Expenses and VAT	Ask if included	Ask if included	Citizens Advice
Copy of the register	£7 online for the title register, £11 for each official copy by post	The same	GOV.UK, Search for land and property information
Identity and address checks	You must prove both to your solicitor or conveyancer	The same	GOV.UK, Preparing to sell
Lease or building information	Not applicable	Ask who supplies it and what is charged. We found no official price	None found
Fee if the sale falls through	Ask in advance	Ask in advance	Citizens Advice

Part 4 of 9

Disbursements

A disbursement is a cost the firm pays to someone else on your behalf and then passes on, such as a charge for copies of the register. The amounts depend on the property and the firm. Ask for a list of the disbursements you might face and their likely cost before you instruct. The register charges above are HM Land Registry's published prices, but we cannot say which of them your firm will pass on.

Part 5 of 9

Leasehold extras

A leasehold sale can involve extra paperwork compared with a freehold one. GOV.UK says flat owners should prepare fire safety information, and that sellers should document whether the property is freehold or leasehold. We found no official page that prices the leasehold information pack, so ask your conveyancer who obtains it and what each party charges. Our guides on the EWS1 form and checking whether a house is freehold or leasehold cover related points.

Part 6 of 9

What no sale no fee means

Some firms advertise no sale no fee. We found no official definition, so treat it as wording to check, not a promise. Ask in writing:

Which fees are not charged if the sale does not complete?
Are disbursements the firm has already paid still payable?
What counts as the sale not proceeding if you withdraw?

Part 7 of 9

Where the money comes out

GOV.UK says that on completion your conveyancer pays off your mortgage, any secured debts, outstanding estate agent fees, service charges and their own fee, then sends the balance to your account. That means the legal fee usually comes out of the sale proceeds, not as a bill beforehand, though you should confirm this in your engagement letter.

Part 8 of 9

Comparing quotes fairly

Two quotes can look far apart yet cover different things. One may include the register copies and ID checks, the other may add them later. Line the quotes up against the table above, ask each firm to confirm the same points in writing, and add up the total you would pay if the sale completes and the total if it does not. The cheapest headline figure is not always the cheapest outcome.

Part 9 of 9

Keeping the cost and the time down

Gather your paperwork early. GOV.UK lists title deeds, planning and building regulation approvals, window certificates, warranties and electrical test records. The faster your solicitor has them, the less chasing there is. Our guide to how long conveyancing takes shows where delays tend to arise, and the full list of costs is in how much it costs to sell a house.

To see how legal costs fit into what you take home, our sale method comparison sets out net proceeds for each sale route.

This page is general information, not advice.

Our take

Compare quotes line by line, not by headline

Our view: with no official scale, the lowest headline figure is rarely the whole story. Citizens Advice's three checks matter more than the total: is it fixed or variable, are expenses and VAT included, and what do you pay if the sale falls through before exchange. We could not source a typical fee, so we will not invent one.

What Your Property Check adds is the bigger picture. Our sale method comparison compares auction, estate agent and cash buyer routes on net proceeds and timescale, so you can see where legal costs sit in what you keep.

Compare sale routes

Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

How much does a solicitor charge to sell a house?

There is no official scale. Citizens Advice says there is no set scale of fees for conveyancing, so get written quotes from more than one provider. We could not source a typical range, so we do not give one.

What is a disbursement?

It is a cost the firm pays to a third party on your behalf and passes on to you, such as a charge for copies of the register. HM Land Registry's online title register costs £7, according to GOV.UK.

What does no sale no fee mean?

We found no official definition, so check the wording. Ask which fees are not charged if the sale does not complete, and whether disbursements already paid are still payable.

Does the leasehold pack cost extra?

It can. A leasehold sale can involve extra lease and building information, and we found no official price for it. Ask your conveyancer who obtains it and what is charged, and get that in the written quote.

When do I pay the conveyancer when selling?

GOV.UK says your conveyancer pays their own fee, along with your mortgage and other debts, from the sale proceeds on completion. Check your engagement letter, and ask what you pay if the sale falls through.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.