Price Transparency

At Liverpool Legal, we believe in providing clear, straightforward advice. That principle extends to how we charge for our services. Please see each of our individual funding pages below for details of how you can fund legal fees in your matter.

We have provided below some examples of the range of fees we charge for some types of work. This will give you an idea how much your matter will cost to bring, although you should contact your solicitor for more information about the precise circumstances of your case.

Residential Conveyancing

The table below tells you how much our fees will be for your transaction.

SALE

Up to £175,000	£750.00 plus v.a.t
£175,00 to £250,000	£850.00 plus v.a.t.
£250,000 to £375,000	£950.00 plus v.a.t.
£375,000 to £500,000	£1,100.00 plus v.a.t
£500,000 plus	On Request

PURCHASE

Up to £175,000	£850.00 plus v.a.t.
£175,00 to £250,000	£950.00 plus v.a.t
£250,000 to £375,000	£1050.00 plus v.a.t
£375,000 to £500,000	£1200 plus v.a.t
£500,000 plus	On Request

Any leasehold sale or purchase of a flat, add a further £150.00 plus v.a.t. to the quoted cost

The time it takes to complete your house sale or purchase will depend on the complexity of your transaction, if there is a lengthy chain or if any unusual features arise. However as a rough guide you would usually expect a straightforward purchase or sale to be completed in 8 to 12 weeks from receipt of contract from the seller’s solicitor.

Our quotation calculator breaks down all the fees involved but there may be additional costs depending on your circumstances such as if the property you are purchasing is on unregistered land. Please contact us for further details.

In addition there will be additional charges called disbursements such as land registry fees which vary depending on the purchase price but can be up to £830 for the most expensive properties. Prices can range from £30-£830.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Residential property rates.

You usually pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on increasing portions of the property price when you buy residential property, for example a house or flat. SDLT only applies to properties over a certain value.

The amount you pay depends on:

when you bought the property
how much you paid for it

You must send an SDLT return if you pay more than £40,000 for a property – even if there’s no SDLT due. There is an official SDLT calculator which will tell you how much stamp duty is likely to be. That is available at:

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro

There are some exemptions to SDLT which are detailed below:

Rates for a single property

You pay stamp duty at these rates if, after buying the property, it is the only residential property you own. You usually pay 3% on top of these rates if you own another residential property.

These rates also apply if you bought a property before 8 July 2020. There were different thresholds and rates for residential properties from 8 July 2020 to 30 September 2021.

You can also use this table to work out the SDLT for the purchase price of a lease (the ‘lease premium’).

Property or lease premium or transfer value	SDLT Rate
Up to £125,000	Zero
The next £125,000 (the portion from £125,001 to £250,000)	2%
The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000)	5%
The Next £575,000 (the portion from £1.5 million)	10%
The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million)	12%

If you’re buying your first home;

You can claim a discount (relief) if the property you buy is your first home. This means you’ll pay:

No SDLT up to £300,000
5% SDLT on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000

You’re eligible if you and anyone else you’re buying with are first-time buyers.

If you bought your first home between 8 July 2020 and 1 July 2021, do not apply the discount. You have no stamp duty to pay if the price was under £500,000.

If the price is over £500,000, you cannot claim the relief. Follow the rules for people who’ve bought a home before.

New leasehold sales and transfers

When you buy a new residential leasehold property you pay SDLT on the purchase price of the lease (the ‘lease premium’) using the rates above.

If the total rent over the life of the lease (known as the ‘net present value’) is more than the SDLT threshold (currently £125,000), you’ll pay SDLT at 1% on the portion over £125,000.

This does not apply to existing (‘assigned’) leases.

There were different thresholds and rates for residential properties from 8 July 2020 to 30 September 2021.

You can work out how much SDLT you’ll pay for your new residential lease using HMRC’s:

SDLT calculator
guidance on leasehold purchases
Higher rates for additional properties

You’ll usually have to pay 3% on top of SDLT rates if buying a new residential property means you’ll own more than one. You may not have to pay the higher rates if you exchanged contracts before 26 November 2015.

If you’re replacing your main residence you will not pay the extra 3% SDLT if the property you’re buying is replacing your main residence and that has already been sold.

If you have not sold your main residence on the day you complete your new purchase you’ll have to pay higher rates. This is because you own 2 properties.

Rates if you’re not a UK resident

If you’re not present in the UK for at least 183 days (6 months) during the 12 months before your purchase you are ‘not a UK resident’ for the purposes of SDLT.

You’ll usually pay a 2% surcharge if you’re buying a residential property in England or Northern Ireland on or after 1 April 2021.

You may not have to pay a surcharge on certain properties, transactions or if you’re a particular type of buyer. Check the rules on who has to pay the surcharge, when you do not have to pay, and if you can claim relief.

If you have to pay the surcharge, you’ll also have to pay any other rates of SDLT that apply, for example:

If you already own a property and you’re buying an additional property
If you’re a first-time buyer

Special rates

There are different SDLT rules and rate calculations for:

Corporate bodies
People buying 6 or more residential properties in one transaction
Shared ownership properties
Multiple purchases or transfers between the same buyer and seller (‘linked purchases’)
Purchases that mean you own more than one property
Companies and trusts buying residential property

Other Disbursements

Other out of pocket expenses or ‘disbursements’ include certain property searches which we may need to make in your case some of which may vary depending upon the local authority but are usually from a few pounds for title plans, in the region of £20-£90 for chancel searches and flood searches and in the region of £118.50 for local authority search and drainage reports (the search package) inclusive of VAT. If the property is leasehold there may be additional fees payable to the freeholder such as notice of transfer fees which will vary dependent on the freeholder

Please speak to your solicitor for specific details of the disbursements which apply to your transaction.

Probate

We can assist you obtaining a Grant of Probate or dealing with the Administration of an Estate. The costs for each option are explained below.

Grant of Probate Application

We offer a fixed fee to apply on your behalf for a Grant of Probate. This quote includes all necessary work done for the purposes of that application.

Value of Estate	Legal Fees
£0-£325,000	£900-£1500 plus VAT
£325,000-£500,000	£1750-£2750 plus VAT
£500,000-£1,000,000	£3000-£40,000 plus VAT
£1,000,001	Price on Enquiry

There will also be some expenses you will need to pay in addition to these fees. These are called disbursements and include:

£155 Probate Registry fee
£13 for two certified copies of the Grant
Approximately £400 for all relevant Trustee Act Notices

It usually takes about 4 months to get the Grant of Probate but it really depends on how busy the Probate Registry is when your grant application is made and can be considerably longer.

Administration of an Estate

If you require assistance with the administration of an estate our solicitors can help. This work is charged on the basis of an hourly rate which varies depending on the complexity of the estate and the level of experience of lawyer doing the work.

Our rates vary from £150 and £300 per hour plus Vat. We charge in units of 6 minutes, so each hour is made up of 10 units and our charges are based upon the time spent plus 1% of the value of the estate excluding property (0.5% of the value of the property).

As a rough guide to the type of costs involved:

A straightforward estate with a small number of beneficiaries and no property will likely cost in the region of £3,000-£4,000+vat
A more complicated estate with many beneficiaries, some property and several investments, shares or bank accounts will likely cost you about £12,500+vat

A more accurate estimate can always be obtained by discussing matters with your solicitor especially if you have documents setting out the value of any assets and liabilities to hand.

These typical costs include estates where there is a will and where there is no dispute between beneficiaries or challenge to the will or distribution. Such challenges would be covered by our civil litigation department.

There will also be some expenses you will need to pay in addition to these fees. These are called disbursements and include:

£155 fee to the Probate Registry for the Grant of Probate
£1.50 per certified copy of the Grant – you may need several of these
£3 for office copies of the property title from Land Registry
£2 for each beneficiary to complete bankruptcy searches
Approximately £400 for all relevant Trustee Act Notices
Valuation fees if appropriate for certain assets such as paintings or jewellery
Expert accountancy fees where appropriate

The time taken to complete an administration of an estate will vary depending on complexity and assets. Often the work will be completed in around 12-18 months, including the time taken to obtain a grant of probate but in some instances may be longer.

Employment Law – Unfair Dismissal Claims

We can act in unfair dismissal claims on behalf of employer or employee. Sometimes, if we act for an employee, we can do so on a contingency fee basis, which means there will be no charges if the claim fails and charges will be set at a percentage of compensation recovered if the claim succeeds. There would be a range of charges depending on the level of risk in each case, but usually they would be in the region of 33% including Vat.

If we are unable to act for you on a conditional fee basis we would usually work on an hourly rate or fixed fee basis. Our rates vary from £150 and £300 per hour plus Vat. We charge in units of 6 minutes, so each hour is made up of 10 units and our charges are based upon the time spent.

Typical fees for this work would include:

Straightforward case lasting no more than 1 day in a tribunal – £3,500 – £6,500+Vat
Complicated case expected to last more than 1 day in a tribunal – £7,000 – £15,000+Vat

You should ask your solicitor for a more detailed estimate as the cost may vary from case to case. We may be able to provide an estimate for each stage of the litigation, once we know what is involved and arrange a staged or fixed fee payment scheme.

Included in any estimate we provide will be all legal work necessary to take your claim to the tribunal or defend it at tribunal (but not including any advocacy for which we make a separate charge if we undertake it or counsel will make a charge if counsel undertakes it) unless there have been allegations of discrimination, in which case you should contact us for a specific quote.

There will also be some expenses you will need to pay in addition to these fees. These are called disbursements and include barrister’s fees. A barrister may be instructed to undertake certain pieces of work in your case such as settle an advice or a complicated document. These fees will be paid in addition to our legal fees. A barrister’s fees for attending any hearing at tribunal will vary depending on the experience of the barrister but will likely be between £1,250 and £3,500 per day+vat.

How long an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim takes will depend on when your case is settled. If you settle during the ACAS Early Conciliation process, it will take around 3 to 4 months.

If your claim goes all the way to a tribunal hearing at which your case is determined, it will take around 9 to 12 months on average but complicated cases may take longer.