No sale no fee conveyancing explained

When you’re looking for a conveyancing solicitor to deal with the purchase or sale of your home, you are likely to come across ‘No sale no fee’ options. We explain what no sale no fee conveyancing means, how it works – and why you still might face a bill if your sale doesn’t go through.

Angela Kerr Director, Editor

What is no sale no fee conveyancing?

No sale no fee conveyancing is an arrangement where you don’t need to pay legal fees if your house purchase or sale falls through. This type of conveyancing agreement is also known as ‘no completion, no fee’ or ‘no move, no fee’.

The main benefit of no sale no fee conveyancing is it reduces the financial risks to you because you won’t face hefty legal fees if your sale falls down.

However, ‘no sale no fee’ applies to the legal work carried out by the conveyancing solicitor. You may still need to pay any third party disbursements such as local authority searches if the sale collapses.

Who offers no sale no fee conveyancing?

When choosing a conveyancer, it will be up to the firm whether they offer no sale no fee conveyancing.

However, no sale, no fee conveyancing is widely available, although it is more often offered by online conveyancing firms rather than traditional solicitors. This could be a factor when you are choosing between a conveyancing firm and a solicitor.

If you do choose an online conveyancer, you may find that as well as offering no sale no fee conveyancing that online conveyancers will offer you a cheaper quote too. But don’t fell into the trap of seeing a cheap headline quote, then finding you need to pay for lots of add-ons later on that push up the cost of conveyancing considerably. Read more in our guide What to expect from online conveyancing.

Compare conveyancing quotes and check whether your chosen firm offers a no completion, no legal fee guarantee 

What are the pros and cons of no sale no fee conveyancing?

Advantages:

• The main advantage is that if your sale doesn’t complete, you won’t need to pay legal fees. These agreements can be particularly useful if you’re involved in a long chain as this could be more prone to falling down.
• Your conveyancer will also have an incentive to push your sale through because they won’t get their fee if the sale falls down.
• If your sale falls down, your conveyancer may let you move the deposit you’ve paid to your next transaction.

Disadvantages

• Some no sale no fee conveyancing agreements may seem cheap but come with lots of extras you’ll need to pay for. So check the small print.
• No sale no fee conveyancing quotes may be more expensive due to the extra risk the conveyancer is taking on in terms of their fee. So it’s important to shop around.

Compare conveyancing quotes and check whether your chosen firm offers a no completion, no legal fee guarantee 

What costs does no sale no fee conveyancing cover?

A no completion no fee guarantee applies to the legal fees. For example, this includes the time spent looking at your case, writing letters, organising things. It doesn’t cover third party costs such as fees incurred the local searches which are organised by your conveyancer.

However, there are more costs of buying a house you could lose money on if your sale falls down. For example, you could spend over £1,000 on survey costs.

So it’s advisable to take out HomeBuyers’ Protection Insurance. This will enable you to claim back some of your survey, valuation, search and mortgage fees if a purchase falls through. Just be aware you must take out this insurance before you appoint a conveyancer.

Take out HomeBuyers’ Protection Insurance today

How much does no sale no fee conveyancing cost?

With no sale no fee conveyancing, you’ll usually pay around £160 to £300 when you instruct your conveyancer, but nothing more until completion. This payment covers third party costs such as searches.

All in all, failed attempts to buy and sell property wastes over £500m a year. So a small fee to save yourself £1,500 on average in legal fees could be worthwhile.

Get instant quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancing solicitors that cover your area.

What happens if my sale falls through?

If a sale or purchase falls through some firms that offer no completion no fee will transfer your initial deposit to a second property transaction. It’s worth asking about this, as this could be a handy extra saving if your first attempt does fall through and whether there are any time limits on this offer.

Also, some conveyancers, including those on our panel, will let you have the searches on your next property for free as a goodwill gesture for staying with them. That’s if the last transaction collapsed through no fault of your own and you find another property within around six months.

KEY INFORMATION

7 reasons why house purchases and sales fall through

In the current market, it’s common for property transactions to collapse without reaching completion: research from Quick Move Now showed approximately 1 in 3 property purchases (35%) in 2023 fell through.

The reasons for this can be varied but the most common are:

1. Gazumping: This is where a seller accepts a better offer for the property even though they already have a potential buyer in the process of purchasing the property. Gazumping tends to be more common when the market is rising, and sellers are tempted by a higher offer weeks or months down the line.
2. Gazundering: This is where a buyer lowers there offer at the last minute. It’s not fair, but gazundering is legal and it can derail a transaction.
3. Multiple offers: Sometimes sellers will accept offers from more than one buyer with the understanding that the first buyer that is ready to exchange will get the property.
4. A break in the chain: The longer the chain of buyers and sellers you are in the more likely it is that the process will fall through. This is because you are reliant on several other people selling their homes and buying the next property in the chain.
5. Someone changes their mind: Whether it’s for family, work or financial reasons there are numerous circumstances where a buyer or seller may simply change their mind about the transaction.
6. A poor survey: The reason we all get surveys is to check a property isn’t hiding any expensive problems. A bad survey is the cause of 6% of collapsed transactions.
7. Failed finance: Our research found that 28% of property transactions failed because buyers finances weren’t in order.

Compare conveyancing quotes and check whether your chosen firm offers a no completion, no legal fee guarantee 

Finding a no sale no fee conveyancer

It’s easy to find a no sale no fee conveyancer, simply use our handy tool to Get instant quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancers that cover your area. Also, read our guide on How to choose a conveyancer / solicitor which gives you tips on making sure you find the best service at the best price.  

Compare conveyancing quotes and check whether your chosen firm offers a no completion, no legal fee guarantee. 

Video: Conveyancing process explained

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