What Are Conveyancing Disbursements, and What Do They Cost?

Disbursements versus legal fees

Every conveyancing quote should show two figures: the legal fee, which is the firm's charge for its own work, and disbursements, which are amounts it pays out to other organisations for you. Propelr's guide makes the practical point: a headline fee of £600 plus VAT can easily become £1,100 or more once disbursements are added, so always compare quotes on the total. The legal fee side is covered in our guide to solicitor fees for buying a house.

Disbursements are not negotiable with the solicitor because the solicitor does not set them. They are set by councils, HM Land Registry, banks and search providers. What you can do is understand which ones apply to you and avoid paying for any twice.

The ones that move the total

Two disbursements dominate a buyer's bill. The search pack, £250 to £450 according to the HomeOwners Alliance, covers the local authority search (LLC1 and CON29), the drainage and water search and an environmental search; see how much property searches cost for each component. The HM Land Registry registration fee is banded by purchase price under Scale 1 of the fee order: on gov.uk's current table, filed online, it is £20 up to £80,000, £40 to £100,000, £100 to £200,000, £150 to £500,000, £295 to £1 million and £500 above that, roughly doubling if the application is lodged by post. Our guide to Land Registry fees when buying has the full bands.

Everything else is small change by comparison: £14 for official copies of the register and plan, £7 for the priority search, £20 to £45 for the CHAPS transfer, £6 to £30 a head for identity checks and £6 to £7 a name for the bankruptcy search.

Buyer versus seller

• Buyers pay the searches, the Land Registry registration fee, the priority search, the bankruptcy search and stamp duty (a tax paid through the solicitor rather than a disbursement in the strict sense).
• Sellers pay for official copies of their own title (£7 each), the CHAPS transfer of the proceeds and any mortgage redemption (£35 to £45 each per Propelr), and their own ID checks. Propelr puts a straightforward freehold seller's disbursements at £100 to £350 in total.
• Both sides pay anti-money-laundering ID checks, each person separately.
• Indemnity insurance for a title defect (£20 to £300) is usually paid by the seller but is negotiable.
• Leasehold buyers also face freeholder or managing-agent charges on completion (notice of transfer, notice of charge, deed of covenant, certificate of compliance), which vary by lease and should be itemised in the quote.

How to keep disbursements down

• Ask the solicitor to file the Land Registry application electronically. The gov.uk fee is less than half the postal fee in every band.
• Do not order searches until you are past the point of walking away. If the purchase collapses after the searches are ordered, that £250 to £450 is spent; Propelr notes disbursements already paid out remain owed even under no-completion, no-fee terms.
• Screen the property before you instruct so the search money is only spent on a purchase that will proceed.
• Check the extras. The HomeOwners Alliance lists common add-ons of £50 to £100 for gifted-deposit paperwork, up to £60 for a Lifetime or Help to Buy ISA bonus and £120 to £240 for an unregistered property; make sure they are on the quote only if they apply.
• Ask whether the quoted CHAPS fee is one transfer or two. Propelr's example shows a seller paying twice, once to redeem the mortgage and once to receive the balance.