Land Registry Fee Calculator

The Land Registry fee is a mandatory statutory charge paid to HM Land Registry (HMLR) for its services in updating and maintaining the Land Register. It is not a tax, but rather a payment for an essential administrative service that is required to legally effect a change in a property's ownership details. This service provides conclusive proof of a transaction's legality, safeguarding the interests of the new owner and any associated lenders.

For any transaction that involves changing a property’s title deeds, such as a purchase, remortgage, or transfer of equity, the submission of an application to HMLR is a compulsory step in the legal process. The specific form required for this application depends on whether the property is already registered. The majority of properties in England and Wales are on the Land Register, and for these, a Form AP1 is used. For the approximately 3% of transactions that involve a property not yet on the register, an FR1 form is required for its first registration. The fee paid is used to fund HMLR's operations, including staffing and the maintenance of its complex digital infrastructure.

The responsibility for paying the Land Registry fee falls entirely on the buyer, not the seller. This is because the fee is directly tied to the service of registering the new owner's details with HMLR.

The payment is not made directly by the buyer to HMLR. Instead, it is collected by the conveyancer as part of the overall conveyancing costs. The conveyancer submits the payment to HMLR during the post-completion phase of the transaction, once all funds have been transferred and the legal process of registration can begin. The conveyancer will request this amount from the buyer well in advance of completion, typically as a disbursement.

The calculation of HMLR fees is governed by a structured framework that differentiates between various application types. The two primary fee categories are Scale 1 and Scale 2, which apply to different kinds of property transactions and have distinct fee bands.

A critical element of the fee structure is the clear and consistent price incentive for digital submissions. HMLR deliberately charges significantly less for applications submitted electronically via its Business Gateway or online portal than it does for traditional paper-based, postal applications. This policy reflects a strategic effort to streamline HMLR's internal processes and reduce the administrative burden associated with manual paperwork. For a property owner, this translates into a tangible opportunity for considerable cost savings, making the choice of a conveyancer who uses digital submission methods highly advantageous.