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Shared Ownership Solicitor Fees

Ashleigh Williams

Written by

17th Nov 2022 (Last updated on 1st Feb 2024) 8 minute read

If you’re looking to buy a property, but you’re unable to afford to purchase the property yourself, it’s useful to look into shared ownership.

While shared ownership can help you with owning a home, but there are some costs you need to consider. This includes conveyancing or solicitor costs. They are an integral part of the shared ownership process.

In this article, we will be discussing shared ownership solicitor fees in more detail. We cover the conveyancing costs associated with this and the process that needs to be followed.

  1. Do I Need a Solicitor to Buy a Shared Ownership Property?
  2. How Much is a Shared Ownership Deposit?
  3. How Much of a Share Can I Buy?
  4. Solicitor’s Legal Fees
  5. Shared Ownership Supplement Fee
  6. New Build Supplement
  7. Conveyancing Searches
  8. Land Registry Registration Fee
  9. Bank Transfer Fee
  10. Leasehold Fees for Shared Ownership
  11. Stamp Duty Land Tax
  12. Mortgage Fees
  13. Survey Fees
  14. What Other Costs Are Involved With Buying Shared Ownership?
  15. Shared Ownership Fees for Selling
  16. How Long Does it Take to buy a SO property?

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Do I Need a Solicitor to Buy a Shared Ownership Property?

When you buy a shared ownership home, you will need to hire the help of either a conveyancer or a solicitor to take you through this process. A conveyancing solicitor handles the legal side of shared ownership. This includes documentation and the deposits required. They are an integral part of the process.

Hiring the help of a leasehold solicitor is useful as many shared ownership properties are leasehold. You will need to pay your solicitor when purchasing a shared ownership property.

How Much is a Shared Ownership Deposit?

A shared ownership deposit will cost at least 5% of your equity share of the property. As you’re not purchasing the whole property as you would with a residential mortgage, you won’t be expected to pay a deposit of the full cost.

The deposit will vary based on the percentage of your equity share and the amount you want to place down for your deposit.

For example, if you’re purchasing a £200,000 property, and you own 25% of the home, the total cost would be £50,000. If you place a 10% deposit down for this, you will pay £5,000. You would then take out a mortgage of £45,000.

How Much of a Share Can I Buy?

A 25% - 75% share of the total home is typically how much people looking for shared ownership will buy. Some schemes will allow you to buy a 10% share. This is according to the UK government’s Shared Ownership Scheme.

If you buy 25% of the property, to begin with, and then decide you want to purchase more of the property in the future this is possible. This process is called ‘staircasing’ and you can buy an extra 10% or more of the property.

It’s worth noting that some schemes will accept 5% and 1% purchases depending on when the home was purchased too. Most schemes will allow you to own 100% of the property, but older schemes can be capped at 75%.

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Solicitor’s Legal Fees

As you will need the help of a solicitor, you will need to cover the legal costs of the shared ownership solicitor fees associated with this. The average solicitor fee when buying a property in the UK is £1,490. This is based on the average property price of £295,903.

You’ll need to pay the extra fee of £330 for the shared ownership supplement and a £360 supplement if you’re purchasing a new build. These costs are in addition to the standard solicitor fees.

Use our Conveyancing Fees Calculator to receive an estimated cost.

Shared Ownership Supplement Fee

£330 is the average legal fee for shared ownership supplement fees based on our data. While not all conveyancing solicitors will charge this fee, the majority will. It’s important to factor this into your budget.

The supplement fee will cover the added work and costs that are associated with leasehold properties. The majority of shared ownerships will be leasehold, rather than freehold.

New Build Supplement

£360 is the average new build supplement you’ll be expected to pay according to our research.

The majority of shared ownerships are new builds. This is great for the overall condition of the property. However, new builds require more paperwork on the solicitors and conveyancer front.

In addition to the new build supplement, the rent the owner will have to pay to their landlord will be higher than an existing home.

Conveyancing Searches

Our research states that conveyancing searches will cost £290 on average. The searches vary between £250 and £450 depending on the location of the property.

Conveyancing searches are important. They help to uncover potential legal and environmental issues within an area. Your conveyancer will carry out Local Authority, Environmental, and Water and Drainage searches.

Land Registry Registration Fee

Your conveyancing solicitor will need to transfer ownership with the land registry.

£438 is the average cost of this, but it can vary from £20 - £910. This is based on the price of your property and its current registration status

Bank Transfer Fee

£40 is the average cost of a bank transfer fee if you’re transferring more than £60,000 at any given time.

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Leasehold Fees for Shared Ownership

When purchasing shared ownership, you need to take into consideration leasehold fees. This typically includes service charge costs. These costs will go towards the maintenance of communal areas of a property.

For example, if you’ve purchased a flat it will help ensure areas such as the reception or communal gardens are kept in a good condition. These service charges will vary in price depending on the property and the landlord.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

The average stamp duty cost is £3,580. Our Stamp Duty Calculator will provide you with a clearer idea of how much stamp duty you’ll likely need to pay.

Stamp Duty will vary depending on the type of property you have and how much you need to pay. The government website states that there are two ways of paying stamp duty if you have shared ownership. These options are paying the upfront stamp duty for the entire property or paying it in stages.

It’s worth noting that if you’re a first-time buyer or are purchasing a property under £250,000, you won’t need to pay stamp duty. The process is different in Scotland and Wales. Instead of paying stamp duty, you will pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland, and Land Transaction Tax in Wales.

For properties under £175,000 in Scotland, you won’t need to pay Land and Buildings Transaction tax. Under £225,000 is the threshold for Land Transaction Tax in Wales.

Mortgage Fees

You will need to pay mortgage fees to your mortgage lender when purchasing shared ownership. Here are the costs you can expect to pay according to our cost of buying a house in 2022 research:

  • Arrangement Fee -£0 - £2,000
  • Booking Fee - £99 - £250
  • Valuation Fee - £150 - £1,500
  • Telephonic Transfer Fee - £25 - £50

In addition to these charges, you will also need to pay your mortgage repayments on a monthly basis. The cost of your mortgage will vary considerably based on the following:

  • How much you borrow
  • Interest rates
  • Your mortgage term

Survey Fees

Our research on survey fee costs shows that you can expect to pay anywhere from £250 - £600. This is depending on the type of survey you choose.

When purchasing a shared ownership property, it’s important to hire the help of a professional surveyor. They will be able to carry out a survey on the property to ensure it’s in a suitable condition to be purchased.

The RICS survey you choose will be based on the type of property. For example, a RICS Home Survey Level 2 (Homebuyer Survey) is best suited to new properties, and a Level 3 survey is more detailed and more suitable to older homes.

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What Other Costs Are Involved With Buying Shared Ownership?

Here are the other conveyancing costs involved with buying a shared ownership property. These costs are in addition to the standard costs of purchasing a property with a residential mortgage:

Rent

The cost of the leasehold fees will vary depending on the price of the property and how much of the property you currently own. If you choose to purchase an extra percentage of the shared ownership in the future, this will lower the rent changes per month.

When you buy a shared ownership property, you will still be required to pay rent in addition to repaying your mortgage. This is because you don’t own the property entirely. The percentage of the property that’s owned by your leaseholder or landlord is chargeable by rent.

Service Charge

When purchasing shared ownership, you need to cover the cost of the property service charges. These costs will go towards the maintenance of communal areas of a property.

For example, if you’ve purchased a flat it will help ensure areas such as the reception or communal gardens are kept in a good condition. These service charges will vary in price depending on the property and the landlord.

Lease Extension Fees

Leasehold extensions will cost anywhere from £7,000 - £10,000 in addition to the admin costs associated with this. For a full breakdown of these costs, read our how much does extending a lease cost in 2022 article.

When purchasing a shared ownership property, if the property is leasehold, you may need to pay a lease extension fee in the future. The majority of leases are at least 99 years in length and may not need to be extended. However, this is not a guarantee, it’s worth keeping in mind if the property has a limited amount of years left on the lease.

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Shared Ownership Fees for Selling

Here are the fees associated with shared ownership when it comes to selling:

  • Marketing Fee - £350
  • Valuation Fee - £240 - £500
  • Legal Fees - £450 - £500
  • EPC - £50 - £100
  • Leasehold Information Pack - £210
  • Assignment Fees - 1% of the total value of the home (plus VAT)

    The process for selling a shared ownership property can be more complicated. This is due to the nature of the property being owned by both you and the landlord/leaseholder.

    How Long Does it Take to buy a SO property?

    It will take up to 6 months on average to buy a shared ownership property. The time it takes to move house will be based on many factors, such as conveyancing times, surveys, and the property.

    There are extra steps and paperwork involved with both shared ownership and leasehold properties. As a result, you can expect the time it takes to be slower than the average home.

    Ashleigh Williams

    Having written book reviews and content for For The Love of Books for over five years, Ashleigh now creates advice articles for Compare My Move, focusing on all things home-related.

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