Legal expenses

Once you have sorted out your mortgage, there are additional legal expenses to consider before moving into your new home.

Take a look below for a guide to some of the legal expenses you may incur - please note these fees will not be applicable to customers who aren't moving to a new property.

Stamp Duty

Take advantage of the Stamp Duty holiday before September 2nd 2009 to benefit from the increased Stamp Duty Threshold.

For official Stamp Duty figures and costings please see the Direct Gov website (link opens in new window).

Conveyancing Fees

The cost of surveys and conveyancing will probably vary depending on the property you are purchasing. Home purchaser's have to choose between a Homebuyers Report and a Building Structural Survey. The Cheshire's recommended conveyancing partner is LMS. Please see our Conveyancing section for more information.

Land Registry Fee

The Land Registry Fee is a fee that needs to be paid when the registration of a property transfers to a new owner. The fee itself will depend on the value of the property, for full details please see the Land Registry Direct (link opens in new window) website.

Higher Lending Charge

This isn't charged by all lenders; however some lenders may charge a Higher Lending Charge Fee. This fee is an insurance premium which can vary depending on the LTV ratio of the property you are buying. This fee is charged in case a borrower defaults on mortgage repayments and the lender cannot recover its money - this protects the mortgage lender rather than the borrower.