650 seems like a lot for searches but could be accurate. If the purchase is of an apartment in a new development and a combination registered/ unregistered title the searches can get very expensive particularly, as is increasingly the case, the developer is subsale-ing from a number of individuals. Also if the solicitor only has one property in the development and if, as again is often the case, the developers solicitor refuses to hand over a negative search, as they are supposed to under the terms of the general conditons, the purchasers solicitor can end up having to do searches going back 40 years on the development with only one client to bill all the prior stuff to. I now estimate searches on apartments, without a planning search, at 350 because I have been caught a few times. It is, as other postings show, difficult to go back, particularly to a first time buyer, and tell them that the outlays are considerably more than quoted. On a fee of about 1000 for conveyancing absorbing 250 or more for searches is not good for the bottom line. If the searches are less than billed the over payment is returned to the client. This story of the 650 worries me and I hope it was a mistake but I have had search bills of 350 add a planning search of up to 160 depending on the county then 650 is not far off. The bottom line is that expensive searches are the fault of the developers efforts to save stamp duty and their solicitors refusal to produce negative searches. The governments failure to move on the law reform commission's recomendation to do away with sheriffs searches is another source. I would be very interested to know if the solicitor can back up the seach fee with a law searchers bill and if so what development it relates to.