The legal work on a halal home purchase costs a little more than an ordinary purchase, because there is genuinely more of it: the provider's acquisition documents sit alongside your own. Stamp Duty should not cost you more at all, because relief exists for exactly this structure. And what the finance itself costs is a question for your provider, not for your solicitor. Here is every line, separated out.
Four different costs — only two of them are ours
Buying a home produces four kinds of cost, and conflating them is what makes halal finance look expensive when it is not, or cheap when it is not.
- Our legal fee — what we charge for our own work.
- Disbursements — money we pay to other people on your behalf: search providers, bankruptcy and identity checks, bank transfers, case-management charges.
- Government charges — Stamp Duty and HM Land Registry registration fees, set by government and separate from anything we charge.
- The cost of the finance itself — what the provider charges for its part in the property.
Only the first two are ours. Only the first two are ours to promise.
1. The legal fee
Our published range for a standard residential purchase with one mortgage is £1,250–£1,950 + VAT — £1,500–£2,340 including VAT at 20%. Selling is £900–£1,400 + VAT (£1,080–£1,680 including VAT), and a remortgage is £600–£950 + VAT. A home purchase plan is not a standard purchase with one mortgage, which is why the next paragraph matters: treat the range as the baseline the extra work is added to, not as the quote.
Sharia-compliant finance is one of the circumstances our fees page lists as capable of increasing that figure, alongside leasehold, new build, shared ownership, bridging and buy-to-let. Where extra work of that kind is needed, we charge it as an additional fixed fee — typically £50–£750 + VAT per item — agreed and confirmed in writing before the work is carried out, never added mid-file.
So: yes, more involved than a cash purchase, and usually a little more than a plain freehold purchase with a high-street mortgage. But it is a number you see before you commit, and the quote you accept is the bill you pay.
2. Disbursements
Typical disbursements on a purchase run £350–£900: searches, bankruptcy and identity checks, bank transfers and case-management charges. These are the same on a halal purchase as on any other, because they are the same searches and the same checks.
3. Stamp Duty — where you do not pay more
This is the cost people worry about most, and it is the one where the answer is genuinely reassuring.
Because the provider buys the property as part of the structure, the transaction can look like two purchases and therefore two Stamp Duty bills. HMRC's alternative property finance relief exists precisely so that buyers using Islamic finance are not taxed twice on the same home.
The relief has to be claimed correctly on the return. That is part of what we do on every one of these purchases, and it is one of the practical reasons to use a firm that does them regularly.
4. The cost of the finance itself
We are conveyancing solicitors, not finance brokers, so we will not tell you what a plan should cost you per month. What we can tell you is how to compare honestly.
A conventional mortgage quotes an interest rate. A home purchase plan quotes rent on the provider's share, or a fixed mark-up, or both. The two are not the same number and cannot be laid side by side without care. The things that actually decide which is cheaper over the life of the plan are the deposit required, the term, what happens at the end of a fixed period, and the exit terms.
What actually makes one purchase cost more than another
In our experience the structure is rarely the biggest variable. These are:
- Leasehold. Three sets of obligations to reconcile instead of one. Adds work on any purchase, and more on a plan.
- New build. Developer timescales, plot titles and notice to complete.
- A defective, unregistered or split title. Nothing to do with your finance, everything to do with your fee.
- A gifted deposit, Lifetime ISA, Right to Buy or First Homes arrangement. Each adds a document and a set of checks.
- Anything urgent. Speed costs, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
How to compare two solicitors' quotes honestly
Line them up on four things, not on the headline number:
- Is the fee fixed, or "from"? A range that moves after you instruct is not a quote.
- Are disbursements itemised, or bundled into a suspiciously round figure?
- Is the Islamic finance work included, or is it an extra that appears in week three?
- Does the firm act for your provider too, or will there be a second firm and a second fee?
That last one is often the largest real difference between two quotes, and it never appears on the first page of either.
The honest summary
A halal purchase costs a little more in legal fees, because there is genuinely more legal work. It should not cost you more in Stamp Duty, because relief exists. And what the finance itself costs is a question for your provider and a broker, not for your solicitor.
If you want the underlying mechanics, start with what each structure puts on your title deeds. If you are still choosing a firm, the three questions to ask are the ones that change the number. And if you want a figure for your own transaction, our Sharia-compliant home purchase page explains what the quote covers — every quote is itemised and personal to the transaction.
Questions people ask
When do I actually pay each of these?
Search fees come early, usually within the first fortnight, because searches have to be ordered before anything else can move. The deposit goes on exchange. Our fee, the remaining disbursements, the Stamp Duty and the registration fee are settled through the completion statement, which you see before completion day and which itemises each figure against the quote you accepted.
How much does the Islamic finance work actually add?
Where a transaction needs extra work beyond a standard purchase, we charge it as an additional fixed fee — typically £50–£750 + VAT per item — agreed and confirmed in writing before it is carried out, so it appears in your quote rather than in your final bill.
Do I pay more if the property is leasehold?
Usually, yes, and that is true whatever your finance. Leasehold work is priced up front too, as a separate itemised line rather than as a surprise later.
Can you give me a figure before I instruct you?
Yes. Tell us the price, the tenure and who you are financing with, and you get an itemised fixed-fee quote in writing before any work starts. Nothing on our fees page commits you to anything.
Shah leads the firm’s Islamic finance work and its CQS accreditation, and has completed halal purchases with every major UK provider.
This article is general information, not legal advice. For advice on your own matter, make an enquiry — it's free and confidential.