What do we pay if sale falls through?

[housemoveslowmo]

If sale/purchase fall through before exchange are we liable for full or partial solicitors fees?

Best to check your terms and conditions of contract that you signed when appointing them. Mine say that they will charge their hourly rate for works completed on the file in the sale falls through.

If before exchange of contracts you pay for hours worked and searches that have been done, plus I'd checks.

Ah ok, this sounds like what I was expecting, thanks :)

It depends on what your agreement is with the conveyancing firm. There are some who do "no purchase, no fee" deals, though I've not used one of those before.

I paid £1,600 of my £1,800 quote when my purchase fell through on the day of exchange last year. This was a week before the expected completion date, so the vast majority of work had been done, and my solicitor had received my deposit in anticipation. Vendor simply changed their mind about selling 7 months down the line.

Solicitor sent me my deposit back minus the deduction of their fee.

We had a £500 bill. The solicitors said to leave it and they'd add it onto the house sale when we finally completed on one.

@caringcarer

If before exchange of contracts you pay for hours worked and searches that have been done, plus I'd checks.

This might not be correct. Every firm will have its own terms of engagement. You need to check what you signed up to.