Good job you weren't buying it then. Your mortgage arrangement and solicitors fees would probably be treble that.
I recently used a solicitor in S-O-T whos fees were £230 per hour and a London one who quoted double that. Welcome to the housing market.
Mortgage Arrangement fees not necessarily that is going to depend on the product chosen and size of the loan. But they key thing is you wouldn't be paying someone else's mortgage or contributing to their pension plan.
Solicitors on the other hand some of their fees are incredibly high for the work they do. I always advise my clients to find their own solicitor through recommendation as invariably in the buying process most problems come up with solicitors and a good solicitor is worth their fee. I'd argue the same for a good broker/IFA.
I fell out with my solicitor, who was a property specialist, when i received a bill from him for a house purchase that never completed and further more I never even instructed him in the first place. Basically I put an offer for a house that got accepted and the estate agent asked which solicitor I would be using. Not even 3 hours later the seller decided that she didnt want to sell anymore and that was that. 3 months later i received the bill for not completing lol. He is not my solicitor anymore and he didnt get the £190.00 either. They are all robdogs.
I use a panel of conveyancers and one of the selling points of it is there is a no completion no fee.
That is pretty poor from the estate agent. I genuinely hate them. I have one woman that hasn't been chasing me relentlessly for a mortgage offer from a particular lender. I told the client at the outset the lender were terrible and wouldn't be my recommendation for a quick completion but she decided saving £212 over 2 years was worth it. I got a slightly lower procuration fee as well on the 3rd bet option for her but would have been done and dusted by now.