Solicitor's fees different from quote - do these look reasonable?

[DraenorQueen]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of buying my first house and obtained a quote from a local solicitor of £725 "all in."

I've now received their pack through the post and the fees outlined are quite a bit more than this. Would anyone mind telling me whether these fees look reasonable? I have no friends or family who have experience at buying a house.

Legal costs: 495
VAT: 99
Local Search: 68
Mining Search: 51 (if it's relevant it's an old mining town.)
Water Search: 51
Land Reg Search: 3
Land charges search: 2
Bank Transfer Fee: 48
Registration Fee: 95 (if capable of registration through Land Registry Portal) I don't know what this means.

Any comments would be extremely helpful!

those all look reasonable - the land registry fee is just that, to register the sale with the land registry.

solicitors should quote the fee for their work (the £495 plus VAT) and then make it clear that the searches are on top. This lot didn't make it clear.

The bank transfer fee is about double what it would cost for you to do it but they can charge what they like on that one, and it is lost in the noise.

The Land registry fee is a fee they have to pay over to the Land Registry to register your property.
Most solicitors would not include that as part of their fee, if you see what I mean.
Tbh I think that's quite good, I worked in conveyancing for 10 years until very recently, we would have charged a lot more.

Looks fine to me. Solicitors fees do not include Land Registry fees or search fees so be aware that if you sign up for a no completion, no fee deal, that any searches already paid for cannot be refunded.

Thank you so much, your comments have made me feel so much better.

Bank transfer fee is prob one for exchange and one for completion thats why it's double! £495 very low so if you are happy with that firm its a good deal. Don't forget stamp duty too if applicable.