Conveyancing fees for sellers: what you'll pay and why

When you sell a home in England or Wales, you pay a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to handle the legal side of the sale. You'll pay their legal fee, usually with VAT at 20% on top, plus a few small third-party costs called disbursements. Your conveyancer usually takes their fee from the sale money on completion, though some ask for a payment upfront towards early costs.

Which? reports an average conveyancing bill of £2,182 for home movers, based on November 2025 quotes, but that figure usually covers selling and buying together. This guide explains what a seller's conveyancer does, what goes on the bill, and how to choose one without overpaying.

What does a seller's solicitor or conveyancer do?

"Conveyancing" means the legal work of transferring a home from one owner to another. On a sale, your conveyancer will typically:

1. Check your identity and that you own the home.
2. Get copies of your title (the official record of ownership) from HM Land Registry.
3. Send you the property forms to fill in, usually the property information form (often called the TA6) and the fittings and contents form (TA10).
4. Draft the contract and send a pack to the buyer's solicitor.
5. Answer the buyer's questions (called enquiries), with your help.
6. Ask your lender for a redemption figure showing what's needed to clear the mortgage.
7. Exchange contracts with the buyer's solicitor, which makes the sale legally binding.
8. Complete the sale. The buyer's money arrives, your conveyancer pays off the mortgage, the estate agent and their own fee, and sends you the balance with a completion statement.

Our conveyancing timeline for sellers shows how long each stage usually takes.

How much do conveyancing fees cost?

There's no fixed price, and published averages mix up selling and buying. Here's what the most recent figures from Which? show, based on quote data for an average home in England from November 2025:

Type of move	Average conveyancing cost
Home mover (selling and buying)	£2,182
First-time buyer (buying only)	£1,421

Which? separately puts legal fees for buying at £500 to £1,500, depending on the property, location and how complicated the transaction is. Selling a home on its own involves less work than a sale and a purchase together, so expect a sale-only quote to be lower than the home mover average. Which? says the cost depends on how complex the transaction is, and leasehold sales cost more.

What goes on a seller's bill?

Item	What it is	Typical cost
Legal fee	The conveyancer's charge for the work	Varies; get quotes
VAT	Added to the legal fee at 20%	20% of the fee
Official copies of the title	Downloaded from HM Land Registry	£7 each
Identity and anti-money-laundering checks	Confirming you are who you say	Varies by firm
Bank transfer fee	Sending you the sale money	Varies by firm
Leasehold supplement	Extra legal work, such as reviewing the lease	Usually £100 to £300 more (Which?)
Leasehold management information	Paid to the landlord or managing agent, not the solicitor	Varies

Searches, Stamp Duty or Land Transaction Tax, and the HM Land Registry fee for registering the new owner are the buyer's costs, not yours. You'll only pay them if you're buying another home.

What can push the fee up?

A quote is usually based on a straightforward sale. Expect to pay more, or to be asked for extra disbursements, if:

• the home is leasehold, or has shared areas or an estate management company
• there's more than one loan secured on the home, such as a second charge, that has to be paid off
• documents are missing, such as planning permission or building regulations sign-off for an extension, and the gap has to be sorted out before exchange
• you're selling for someone else, for example as an executor or under a power of attorney
• the buyer's solicitor raises lots of enquiries, or the sale drags on

Tell your conveyancer about anything unusual when you ask for a quote, so the price you're given reflects the real job.

Reading your completion statement

Before completion, your conveyancer sends a statement showing the sale price and everything paid out of it: the mortgage, the estate agent, their own fee and disbursements, and what's left for you. Check it against your quotes. If a figure is higher than you were told, ask why before completion day.

Fixed fee or hourly rate?

Which? says conveyancers usually charge a flat fee or a percentage of the property's value. Some charge by the hour. A fixed fee makes it easier to budget, but check what it covers and what would cost extra, such as a leasehold sale, a second mortgage to pay off, or a missing document.

Solicitors' firms must publish their prices for residential conveyancing on their websites under the Solicitors Regulation Authority's transparency rules. That includes the total cost (or an average or range), how fees are worked out, likely disbursements, whether VAT applies, and the key stages with typical timescales. That makes it easier to compare firms before you even ask for a quote.

Also ask what you'd pay if the sale falls through before exchange. Some firms charge a reduced fee or nothing at all, while others charge for the work done so far.

Leasehold sales cost more

Selling a leasehold flat or house means more work: your conveyancer has to check the lease and get information from the landlord or managing agent about service charges, ground rent, building insurance and any planned major works. Which? says this usually adds £100 to £300 to the legal fee. The landlord or managing agent also charges for providing the information, and the amount varies. Our guide to selling a leasehold flat explains the pack and how long it can take.

How to choose a conveyancer

• Check they're regulated. GOV.UK says solicitors, licensed conveyancers and CILEX practitioners can all do conveyancing, and advises checking that yours is regulated by the right body. Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and licensed conveyancers by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.
• Get three quotes that each show the total including VAT and disbursements.
• Ask who will do the work and how often they'll update you, so you know who to chase.
• Don't feel bound by your agent's recommendation. The agent must tell you if they're paid for the referral, and you don't have to use their firm.
• Use one firm if you're also buying. Which? says the same solicitor can usually handle both, and you can negotiate the fee.

How to keep the cost down and avoid delays

• Instruct a conveyancer as soon as you put your home on the market, so they can start gathering documents.
• Find your paperwork early. GOV.UK lists things like planning permissions, building regulations certificates, certificates for replacement windows, electrical safety checks and any party wall agreements.
• Fill in the property forms promptly and honestly. Our guide to the TA6 property information form explains what it asks.
• Get a mortgage redemption statement early so there are no surprises on completion.

Who pays the seller's legal fees?

Normally the seller pays their own. Some cash house buyers, including us, pay the seller's legal fees as part of the deal, and there are no fees or commission to pay. That's a genuine saving, but cash buyers usually pay below market value, so the price you accept usually matters much more than the legal fee. If your home would sell well on the open market and you're not in a hurry, selling through an estate agent will usually leave you with more, even after paying a solicitor. You can compare both routes with our house sale proceeds calculator.