Solicitor Fees for Selling a House: What You Pay, Line by Line

Our legal fee for selling a freehold home with one mortgage to pay off is £635 to £1,035 + VAT (£762 to £1,242 including VAT) for a standard sale under £2 million, depending on the price. Disbursements, the third-party costs such as identity checks, are typically £46 to £78 on top. A sale has no Stamp Duty or Land Registry registration fee to pay.

Here is how that figure is made up, from our own fee scale. Figures checked 20 October 2026.

Our fee at each price band

For a standard sale of a freehold home with one mortgage to pay off, our legal fee is:

• Under £500,000: £635 + VAT (£762 including VAT)
• Over £500,000 and under £750,000: £835 + VAT (£1,002 including VAT)
• Over £750,000 and under £1 million: £935 + VAT (£1,122 including VAT)
• £1 million to under £2 million: £1,035 + VAT (£1,242 including VAT)

For a leasehold home with one mortgage to pay off, our legal fee is:

• Under £250,000: £785 + VAT (£942 including VAT)
• £250,000 to under £500,000: £885 + VAT (£1,062 including VAT)
• Over £500,000 and under £750,000: £1,075 + VAT (£1,290 including VAT)
• Over £750,000 and under £1 million: £1,285 + VAT (£1,542 including VAT)
• £1 million to under £2 million: £1,785 + VAT (£2,142 including VAT)

These figures do not include disbursements. At exactly £500,000 or £750,000, your written quote confirms which band applies. For a sale of £2 million or more, we confirm the fee in your written quote. Every client receives a written, itemised quotation with an exact figure before instructing us.

What the fee covers, line by line

On a £300,000 freehold home sold with a mortgage to pay off, our quote shows these lines:

• Legal Fees: £395 + VAT
• File Opening Fee (Non-refundable): £100 + VAT
• Telegraphic Transfer Fee (Per Transfer): £40 + VAT
• Mortgage Redemption Fee: £100 + VAT

That is £635 + VAT of £127, so £762 including VAT.

The Legal Fees line is the core legal work: getting your title from HM Land Registry, preparing the contract, answering the buyer's solicitor's questions, then exchange and completion. The Mortgage Redemption Fee covers getting the redemption figure from your lender and paying the mortgage off on completion day. The Telegraphic Transfer Fee covers sending money by same-day bank transfer.

Not included: estate agent fees, an Energy Performance Certificate, your lender's own charges, or the leasehold management pack.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs we pay to other people on your behalf. They are shown apart from our fee. On a typical sale they are:

• Verification of Identity and AML Checks
• Office Copy Entries (per Item)
• Portal Onboarding (Smartforms) Fee
• Portal Conversion Fee

Together they are typically £46 for one seller and £78 for two, including VAT where it applies. On a leasehold sale there is also Office Copy Entries (Leasehold) Per Item, £8.80, for a copy of the lease.

What a sale does not cost you

Several costs on a purchase do not apply when you sell:

• No Stamp Duty. Stamp Duty Land Tax (Land Transaction Tax in Wales) is paid by the buyer.
• No Land Registry registration fee. The buyer pays to register the change of owner.
• No searches. The buyer's solicitor orders and pays for the searches.
• No Lender Portal Management Fee. We charge it on a purchase with a mortgage and on a remortgage, not on a sale.

If you are buying another home at the same time, those costs apply to the purchase, and your quote shows them on that side.

Other selling costs, set by others

These are part of moving but are not our fees, and we do not set them:

• Estate agent's fee. Agreed between you and your agent.
• Energy Performance Certificate. You need a valid one before you market the home.
• Early repayment charge. Some mortgages charge for paying off early. Your lender sets it, and it shows on the redemption statement.
• Leasehold management pack. If the home is leasehold, the freeholder or managing agent charges for a pack of information about the building, and sets that price.
• Removals. Your removal firm's charges.

What changes the fee

• No mortgage to pay off. The Mortgage Redemption Fee drops off. A freehold home under £500,000 sold without a mortgage is £535 + VAT.
• Leasehold. The Legal Fees line is higher at most prices, and Dealing with Leasehold (£150 + VAT) is added, as in the leasehold figures above.
• Shared ownership. Selling a shared-ownership home adds Shared Ownership, £250 + VAT, for the housing association's consent and its paperwork.
• Building Safety Act. Selling a flat in a building of five or more storeys in England adds Dealing with Building Safety Act, £500 + VAT.
• Extra work. Where a matter needs other extra work, such as a defective title or additional deeds, that work is charged as an additional fixed fee, typically £50 to £750 + VAT per item. It is added to the transaction fee, never charged instead of it, and is agreed in writing before the work is carried out.

How long a sale takes

A sale of a freehold home typically takes 8 to 10 weeks, and a leasehold home 10 to 12 weeks, from instruction to completion. How long yours takes depends on the other people in your chain, how quickly the buyer's searches come back and the buyer's lender.

If you need to move sooner, we can fast-track your file: typically 6 to 8 weeks for a freehold home and 8 to 10 weeks for a leasehold one. The fast-track fee is £500 + VAT, paid on completion. If we miss the fast-track timescale you do not pay the fast-track fee, unless the delay is outside our control, for example caused by the other side, the lender or the chain. In either case, your file stays on fast-track.

If your sale falls through

You pay the File Opening Fee (Non-refundable), £100 + VAT, and any disbursements we have already paid out on your behalf. Anything else you have paid us is refunded, or carried over to your next property when you find one.

Questions people ask

How much does a solicitor charge to sell a house?

Our legal fee for a standard sale of a freehold home under £2 million, with one mortgage to pay off, is £635 to £1,035 + VAT, depending on the price. Disbursements are typically £46 to £78. A leasehold home costs more, and selling without a mortgage costs £100 + VAT less.

What are the average solicitor fees for selling a house?

Fees vary from firm to firm, and we do not publish an average for the market. We publish our own: £635 to £1,035 + VAT for a standard freehold sale under £2 million with one mortgage. When you compare quotes, check that each one shows the legal fee, VAT and disbursements separately, and says what extra work costs.

Who pays the solicitor fees, the buyer or the seller?

Each side pays its own solicitor. As the seller, you pay your solicitor's fee and the disbursements on your sale. The buyer pays their own solicitor, and the Stamp Duty and Land Registry fee on the purchase.

What if I am selling and buying at the same time?

You get one quote with both sides shown, and the File Opening Fee (Non-refundable) is charged once, not twice. Our page on buying and selling at the same time explains how we line the two up.

Do I need a solicitor to sell my house?

In practice, yes. The buyer's solicitor will expect to deal with a solicitor or licensed conveyancer, and a mortgage has to be paid off on completion day. Our solicitor for selling a house page explains what we do at each step.

Get your figure

Our conveyancing cost calculator shows our fees and the disbursements for your price. For an exact, itemised figure, get a quote for your sale. Our conveyancing fees page shows every published fee, our residential conveyancing page lists every service, and our guides to solicitor fees for buying a house and what a fixed fee covers cover the rest of a move.

Sources

Our fees: our fee scale, checked 20 October 2026. Published ranges: our conveyancing fees.

Selling a home, leasehold information and Energy Performance Certificates: gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-sell-a-home/how-to-sell-a-home

Stamp Duty is paid by the buyer: gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax

Solicitors' price information rules: sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/transparency-rules/

This is general information about the cost of selling a home, not advice on your sale. Our fees are for a standard transaction, and your written quote confirms the exact figure.