Other Costs

There are a number of other costs associated with buying a house. You need to take these into account when deciding how much you can afford to borrow.

Valuation Fee
An acceptable mortgage valuation report is required before any mortgage can be agreed. The Valuer will be appointed by the lender. You are responsible for paying the fees for this work.

The mortgage valuation report provides an open market value of the property only. You may wish to consider a more detailed Structural Survey. On occasions the lender may require a more detailed survey than is provided by the Mortgage Valuation Report, the cost of which, again, is payable by you.

Legal Fees
Legal fees can be a major cost in the purchase of a house. The legal work, which transfers the ownership of a property, is called conveyancing and this is usually completed by a solicitor. Costs will vary but most solicitors' charge on a scale relating to the purchase price of the property. You should always ask a solicitor for a quotation prior to instructing them to do the work.

You will also incur Legal Fees in the preparation of documentation, which provides the lender with security over the property (called a Standard Security in Scotland and a Legal Charge in England) and any other security requested. To minimise the cost, the Lender will endeavour to use the same solicitor for this security documentation as you have engaged for the conveyancing.

Stamp Duty
This is a Government tax, which is currently charged at 1% on the value of a property in excess of £120,000. This rate increases to 3% on purchases in excess of £250,000 and 4% if the purchase price exceeds £500,000. This charge will be handled by your solicitor and will be included in the invoice of legal fees.

Buildings Insurance must be considered carefully. All lenders require you to ensure that a Buildings Insurance Policy is in place prior to the release of your loan funds.

Your Fee to The Mortgage Centre
The Mortgage Centre charges a fee of £250.00. This is our standard fee which covers administration costs incurred when placing your mortgage.

Unlike some mortgage brokers we do not ask for any fees up front and we work on the basis that you do not pay us until your mortgage has reached a satisfactory conclusion.

We will invoice you for our fee when you have exchanged contracts on your purchase or completed a remortgage of your property.