Commercial Property

Whether you are buying or selling commercial property, or taking a lease of the property you will have to pay for the work undertaken by the firm. There will also be a number of expenses known as disbursements which will be incurred on your behalf which you will also have to pay.

The amount of the fees for ourselves and the out-of-pocket payments and disbursements will vary according to the circumstance of each transaction.

We therefore would like to give you a written estimate of costs at the outset of your transaction which is obtained by ringing us on our office number, emailing us or calling in to see us. This will enable us to understand the nature of transaction the source of funds and what is required of us in preparing the work on your behalf.

Please note that this will be an estimate only because in the course of commercial conveyancing transactions there are often matters arise which can affect the amount of work which has to be done and this can lead to a variation in the cost from the original estimate of costs.

As a general rule however we try and give an estimate of costs at the outset based upon the value of the property. Costs are expressed as a percentage of the value of the transaction between 0.5% and 1% depending upon all the circumstances.

Our charges are normally based on a combination of the amount of work which will be required and the value of the transaction together with its complexity.

As a matter of principle we do not charge you separately for dealing with work which is essential for transaction so, for example, in purchases we would not charge you for preparing the Stamp Duty Land Transaction Return or submitting the Land Registry application. In each case however there may be Stamp Duty or Land Registry fees to pay as set out below.

The basis of charge will be based upon the value of the transaction between 0.5% and 1% depending upon the complexity and nature of the transaction. In addition you may also be charged if there is significant amount of work which is required to satisfy third-party lender. The charge will depend upon the number of hours of extra work that have to be incurred by a fee earner. The head of department is Mark Beedel and his hourly rate is £250 per hour. If the work is done by a fee earner at a lower level, work will be charged at £200 per hour. All solicitors who are classed as this with more than eight years’ experience are charged out at the same rate as Mr Beedel.

Please note that in commercial conveyancing transactions when you are purchasing a property there may be the need to give an undertaking to the lender solicitors for their fees which they will base on percentage of the value of the property or on the loan being advanced. These will be classed as undertaking costs and will be payable once a request for undertaking costs is received back from the lender solicitors.

In addition to the profit costs we will charge you for the undertaking there will also be a need to satisfy any lender or, if no lender, satisfy you as to the property itself. This will include obtaining searches which in commercial search terms could cost you between £450 and £1,500 depending upon the nature of the search, the type of search and the cost associated with each search. Once we are instructed in the matter we will obtain an estimate of the cost of each of the relevant searches required by you or by any lender and will give you an estimate of costs but it shall fall within the range set out. 

In commercial property transactions you may be taking a lease of the property. The cost of these will depend upon the terms in the nature of the lease as to whether it is a full repairing and insuring lease or internal repairing lease and upon the nature and type of property which we are dealing with. Basic cost for dealing with a lease commences at £800 plus VAT and can rise to £1,750 plus VAT depending upon the nature of the work. Again the individual assessment of the cost will be given to you at your request.

The acquisition of a lease or purchase of a property will cause us to obtain initial searches which will cover local search, water search, mining search and chancel check search and search of the planning register. These costs will range between £450 and £5000 depending on the nature of the search and the information is required to satisfy any queries

In addition there will be Land Registry fees depending upon and determined by the value of the property between £20 and £110 and there will also be if the property purchase price of a £40,000 and in particular above £150,000 in commercial terms Stamp Duty at the prevailing rate.

Stamp Duty on commercial lease transactions is variable depending upon any premium paid to rental in the first five years and the length of the lease. There is the ability to do a calculation at the outset and we will give you an estimate upon request of the fee earner that will be payable on completion of your purchase.

In addition there will be for all transactions anti-money-laundering checks which will cost approximately £7.20 per person, bank transfer fees at £51 per transfer and other fees for example; if we must obtain a legal insurance policy, obtain the policy and paying the disbursements of the policy, and other fees that may arise depending upon the requirements of the lender or purchaser.

If for any reason the transaction falls through and you do not go ahead we will charge you for the work we have undertaken on your behalf to that point, together without all expenses and disbursements.

If you require an estimate of costs then either telephone us on 01274 584305 or email info@atkinsonfirth.co.uk.

We will adhere to our estimate of costs and always let you know if there are any increases which arise because additional work which we foresee is necessary.