Guidance notes for purchasing a property in Spain

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A guide to lawyers' fees

As the purchaser, you will be responsible for our legal fees, as well as your own. In addition, you will be required to pay the relevant taxes, land registry charges and the Notary's fees.

We will appoint a lawyer from our approved panel to act on our behalf. If you also wish to use a lawyer from our panel, please ask us for further details on the contacts page.

An indication of the legal fees is set out below; in your own interests, you should obtain an estimate from your lawyer, in advance. We will provide you with an indication of the taxes, land registry fees and the Notary's fees, upon request.

1. For the purchase
1% of the purchase price, subject to a minimum fee of £1,500.

2. Stage payments
If the mortgage is being arranged on a staged payment basis, the scale of fees will be as set out above, plus:-
• If there are to be two stage payments: £125*
• If there are to be three stage payments: £250*

3. Subsequent increase in mortgage
Subject to our normal lending criteria, you may increase your mortgage at some future date, to help with home improvements or other purposes. The minimum increase is £10,000 - and the legal fees are likely to be:-

Amount of Loan	Fee
£10,001 to £25,000 £25,000 or more	£250* 1% of the amount borrowed *

4. Paying your mortgage early
If you pay off your mortgage before the end of the end of the original term, you will incur the following fees:-

Legal fees	Administration fee	Other fees
£150*	£200	Land registry, Notary, local taxes *

During the first two years, an early redemption charge of up to 3 months interest will be payable.

Offshore Companies

For tax planning purposes, you may prefer to purchase your new home in the name of an Offshore company. If so, you must provide us with a personal guarantee for the amount of the mortgage. The advantages and disadvantages of buying your home in this way will depend upon a number of factors - and we recommend that you discuss the matter with us, or with your lawyers at an early stage.

If you wish, we can arrange for the formation of an Offshore company by one of the leading firms of company formation specialists, with which we have negotiated special terms for our customers. Details of the costs involved are set out below:

• Formation of a new Offshore company in Gibraltar: approx £810
• Annual maintenance fee (year 2 onwards): approx £700
• Transfer of an existing Offshore company: approx £700

If an Offshore company already owns the property or you have already formed such a company, its management must be transferred to a firm nominated by us.

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