Conveyancing Disbursements Explained

When a conveyancing fee is quoted, it will almost always exclude conveyancing disbursements. So, what are disbursements and what are they likely to mean to the bottom line cost of conveyancing your property? Broadly speaking, a disbursement refers to any payment out that the solicitor or conveyancing professional such as a licensed conveyancer has to make, during the property conveyancing process; for example, any payments made for searches or finance charges associated with the mortgage.

Not all conveyancing processes will have the same disbursements associated with them and requesting a breakdown of the relevant disbursements, at the outset, will be an important part of the budgeting process.

Typical Conveyancing Disbursement Charges – Land Registry Charges
Whenever a property changes hands, there are requirements with the Land Registry which include changing documentation; this disbursement refers to the charge associated with filing these changes. The precise disbursements will vary, depending on the nature of the transaction, but may include Land Registry fees for re-mortgaging, or fees relating to the transfer of ownership. First registration fees are generally less than the normal fees, so the precise value of the disbursements will not be known, at the outset, until all facts have been collected.

Disbursement Charges – Searches
Certain charges have to be paid as part of the search process that takes place both before exchange and before completion. For example, it will be necessary to undertake a bankruptcy search, if a remortgage is being obtained; identity checks are required, as well as various conveyancing searches from the local council to ascertain if there are any environmental or development issues that may impact on the property. All of these will come at a cost, and these will be deemed as disbursements that are then added onto the fee that the conveyancing professional will charge for the legal process.

Disbursements – Keeping the Costs Down
Disbursements simply cannot be avoided; however, there may be options to reduce certain searches; for example, a flood search or a coal mine search may be somewhat pointless, in certain geographic regions.

Whenever a conveyancing quote is being obtained, it is certainly worth asking the question, to get an idea of disbursement costs and whether there is anything that you can do to minimise these, throughout the course of the property transaction.

Certain council areas will be cheaper than others, when it comes to the cost of searches, and national solicitors may quote an average cost for these disbursements. Before making any decisions, find out which disbursements are included in the quotation and which are not, and whether or not the quotation is specific to your chosen property and personal situation. Failure to do so could result in the quotation for disbursements being artificially high or low and can make comparisons particularly difficult between conveyancing professionals. Take the time to look at your disbursement quotations, to prevent you from having to deal with a costly sting in the tail, when it’s too late!

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