Land Registry Fees Are Increasing7th Dec 2021
Land Registry Fees Will Rise In January 2022
The cost of registering your property or transferring its title will rise on 31 January 2022. Fees for applications submitted electronically will rise by less than those submitted by post.
This is the first fee increase by HM Land Registry since 2009. Some 95% of applications are submitted online so the fee increases will not be high in most cases.
To put this in context, most properties (£200,000 to £500,000) will see a fee increase of just £15.
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Why Are HM Land Registry Fees Rising?
Pressure has been mounting for some time. You may buy and sell your house only a few times in your life but we as conveyancing solicitors see the ongoing situation every working day.
Here’s the issue: the HM Land Registry is funded via the Treasury but ultimately it’s the end users who pay through a series of charges.
The government is increasing those charges to ensure “more consistency and speed in service delivery by investing in both operational capacity and accelerating the digitisation and automation of service.”
The government is trying to tackle the delays that have been affecting the system. Just over a year ago the Land Registry said that:
- more than half all simple applications were processed in “just over a week”
- many were taking three weeks
- some were taking at least a month
- a fifth of all applications involved the need for more information – and these took six weeks
- complex changes (usually involving the creation of a new title) took up to nine months
- some complex applications took 11 months or longer.
The Land Registry said at that time that it had been cutting delays. It now needs more resources if it is to cut delays further.
How Much Will I Have To Pay?
Here is the list of HM Land Registry fee increases published by the government. You will see there are two scales:
- Scale 1 fees cover the majority of applications and include transfers of property for monetary value and also first registration of title.
- Scale 2 fees cover transfers of property for no monetary value and registration of property remortgages.
Important Note: Even though the new fees will not come into effect until next year, we’ve updated our conveyancing calculator to include them because most moves are now unlikely to complete before 31 January 2022. If yours does, we’ll charge the fees at the old rate and refund the difference.
Get Expert Legal Advice On Moving House
It pays to take legal advice early on when moving house. An experienced conveyancing solicitor will make the whole process run much more smoothly. They can make everything less stressful. They will give you peace of mind as you proceed with the most important purchase and/or sale you’re ever likely to make.
Contact Coles Miller Senior Partner Roger Leedham, Head of the Residential Conveyancing Department, for expert legal advice on moving house.
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This document is not intended to constitute and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice on any specific matter. No liability for the accuracy of the content of this document, or the consequences of relying on it, is assumed by the author. If you seek further information, please contact Managing Partner Neil Andrews at Coles Miller Solicitors LLP.
