Solicitor Costs
Solicitor Disbursements Explained
Disbursements are third-party fees your solicitor pays on your behalf. They are itemised separately on your bill from the solicitor's own time charge. Updated May 2026 with current 2026 UK figures.
What is a disbursement?
A disbursement is a fee your solicitor pays to a third party (a government body, a search agency, a bank, a court) on your behalf, and then recharges to you on your final bill. The defining feature is that the solicitor is acting as a pass-through: they are not adding their own service charge to the disbursement, they are simply paying it for you and recovering it.
Disbursements sit on your bill separately from the solicitor's time charge. A conveyancing invoice for £1,500 might be £900 of solicitor time plus £600 of disbursements. When you compare quotes, the disbursement total often differs more than the solicitor's own fee, so always ask for a quote inclusive of disbursements.
Common UK disbursements 2026
| Disbursement | Typical fee | VAT? |
|---|---|---|
HM Land Registry registration fee Scale 1 fee tied to property value bands (electronic application discount applies). | £20 to £1,105 | No |
Local-authority search (LLC1 + Con29) Statutory enquiries of the local council. Cost varies by council. | £200 to £350 | Yes |
Environmental search Flood, contaminated-land, mining risk reports. | £40 to £80 | Yes |
Drainage and water search Confirms mains drainage and water connections. | £40 to £70 | Yes |
Chancel-repair search Confirms property is free of chancel liability. | £20 to £30 | Yes |
Land Registry title register / plan copy Statutory fee for HM Land Registry document copies. | £3 each | No |
Electronic ID check Anti-money-laundering compliance check on each named party. | £5 to £25 | Yes |
Bank transfer fee CHAPS or faster-payment fee for completion monies. | £20 to £40 | Yes |
HMCTS divorce application fee Court fee for the divorce application itself (see /court-fees). | £593 | No |
Probate Registry fee Court fee for the grant of probate application. | £300 (free under £5,000) | No |
Office of the Public Guardian LPA registration Each LPA (health-and-welfare and property-and-finance) registers separately. | £82 per LPA | No |
Sources: HM Land Registry fees, HMCTS Fees Order, OPG LPA registration fee.
How VAT works on disbursements
VAT on disbursements is the most common source of confusion on UK solicitor bills. The rule of thumb:
- No VAT: statutory fees paid directly to a government body without the solicitor adding any service. HMCTS court fees, HM Land Registry registration fees, Probate Registry fees, Office of the Public Guardian fees, Land Registry title plan copies.
- 20% VAT: private-service disbursements where the supplier is a non-government third party. Local-authority searches, environmental reports, electronic ID checks, drainage searches, chancel-repair searches, CHAPS bank transfer fees.
Your solicitor's own time charge always carries 20% VAT. Combined with the mix of VAT and non-VAT disbursements, this means the headline "solicitor fee plus VAT" figure on a quote is often less than the total invoice. Always ask for the full estimate including itemised disbursements and VAT.
Typical disbursement bundles by service
- Conveyancing (residential purchase): Land Registry fee + searches + environmental + drainage + chancel + ID checks + bank transfer. Total range: £400 to £1,500 depending on property value (LR fee is the big variable).
- Divorce (no-fault): HMCTS application fee only. Total: £593.
- Probate (estate over £5,000): Probate Registry fee + optional sealed-copy fees (£1.50 each). Total: £300 to £315.
- LPA registration: OPG fee per LPA. Total for both health-and-welfare and property-and-finance LPAs: £164.