A new Land Registration Fee Order came into force last week which will mean an increase for all Land Registry fees. Most fees are now more expensive by upwards of 25%, for example:
• A Scale 1 fee for a property of £250k has increased by £60 from £220 to £280.
• A Scale 2 fee for a property of the same amount has increased by £20 from £70 to £90.
• Information Services for inspection, official copy and official search have all been increased often by a third.
• There will now be a fee payable for all searches of the index map (including those which do not reveal a title number).
The Land Registry has justified the increases by citing the downturn in the property market and the deterioration in the economy as having impacted its intake of work and ‘leading to an unsustainable reduction in [its] fee income’. It says an increase in fees is the only way it can cover its operating costs.
Conveyancing Alliance believe both the timing and the actual increase of many fees cannot be justified at a time when the property market is in the doldrums and many home purchasers are having to dig even deeper to buy their homes.
Harpal Singh, managing director of Conveyancing Alliance, commented: “This is just what the market doesn’t need at this time. We appreciate that fixed fees for substantive applications haven’t been increased since 1993 and fees for information services have not been increased since 2006. However, given the fragile state of the property market, we must question is now really the time to be adding to the burden of those wanting to purchase homes? At the very least the Land Registry could have postponed the fee increases. Let’s not forget that many people are already struggling to save money for a property purchase and the many other costs that come with a house move. These increases affect everyone – both buyers and sellers.”
