Residential Mortgage Lawyers

Lay-people often use the word “mortgage” to refer to a loan secured by a charge over property to be purchased using the proceeds of that loan. Technically, however, such an arrangement comprises a loan secured by a mortgage – the mortgage being the charge over the property – i.e. the loan terms are not, strictly, part of the mortgage. In fact, a ‘mortgage’ in the strict legal sense of the word can secure any type of obligation, not just a loan used to buy the security-property with. For company property, a mortgage might also be referred to as a “fixed-charge” over that property.

This product is for our drafting to the specification we have been told is agreed, a charge over property to secure a legal obligation – “a mortgage” or “fixed charge” – and then for applying to register that charge at HM Land Registry (and also at Companies House as is necessary in the case of a mortgage over property owned by a company).

The product does not include our involvement in the agreement of the terms, nor title investigations or seeking any third party consents that may be required.

We don’t generally do anything for new clients until our process of client retention has concluded – this involves agreeing the scope of what we are doing for the price (our terms are below), setting-up our client record (that includes ID checks), and producing the bill (payment in advance is required for all new clients).

After that, the production of the mortgage is a job that we can undertake in about an hour once we can schedule it in our workflow, that can depend on how busy we are at any particular time. We would not usually take-on a job for which we could not engage within about a working week.

A completed mortgage may then need to be submitted to HM Land Registry for registration. The time HM Land Registry take to process such a registration varies greatly, depending on how busy they are. Some applications are processed very quickly, up to “next day”; however, most applications appear to languish awaiting HM Land Registry attention; in 2021 many applications were taking about 6 months to be registered – and some types of application can take even longer than that, unfortunately. However, once submitted HM Land Registry process applications on any title in order of submission – so their delay ought not to affect the priority of your application relative to other matters on that title.

Morgage without a loan

Your supplier is SRA-regulated Mounteney Solicitors, that charges VAT some customers may be able to reclaim

We charge £325 + VAT = £390 plus HMLR and Companies House fee

There is more about our fees on our website here

Mortgage with a loan

We charge £550 + VAT = £660

Third party costs that may arise are registration fees at HMLR (if we are registering the charge – these are approximately £30).
Please note that where the borrower is a company (i.e., they are giving a legal charge over company property) we charge a supplement as we will have to inform companies house of the same. The additional fee is £100 + VAT = £120. In these instances there is a Companies House fee too.

This product does not involve us handling the funds, if we are required to do so we have to complete AML checks on the monies, which we charge a supplement of £100 + VAT = £120

Usually the lender and borrower should both be represented. Due to conflict of interests, we cannot represent both sides. In some instances, to save costs, one party may be able to proceed without representation. If so, we will have to write a letter to them with a ‘waiver of advice’ form, as well as ensure their ID has been checked, which we charge a supplement of £75 + VAT = £90

There is more about our fees on our website here

If you have any questions or require any further information, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.