London -- Guideline Hourly Rates London 1 band
Solicitor Hourly Rates in London (Central): £210 to £579/hr
Updated October 2026. Published 2026 Guideline Hourly Rates for London (Central), with worked examples for conveyancing, divorce, and will writing.
London 1 band: very heavy commercial and corporate work by centrally based London firms (the band is defined by work type, not postcode). Includes the Square Mile commercial firms and Mayfair private-client practices, where Grade A solicitor partners charge from £579/hr at the published guideline rate.
Guideline hourly rates calculator
The 2026 rates, effective 1 January 2026 (judiciary.uk). The court's starting point for costs between parties, not a cap on what a firm may charge you. Read 15 October 2026.
At the 2026 guideline rate
| Grade B, London 1 | £393/hr |
| 10 hours | £3,930 |
| VAT at 20% | £786 |
| Total | £4,716 |
| Same work at 2025 rates £4,620 · 2024 rates £4,452 | |
Very heavy commercial and corporate work by centrally based London firms. Not restricted to any particular London postcode: the band is defined by the work, not the address. Grade B: Solicitors and Fellows of CILEX with over four years post qualification experience including at least four years litigation experience. Sources: judiciary.uk Guideline hourly rates 2026 (1 January 2026); GOV.UK A to Z of areas; Guide to the Summary Assessment of Costs 2021, Appendix 2.
Compare with your quote
| Guideline for this grade and area | £393 |
Enter the hourly rate from your client care letter. SRA Code of Conduct 8.7 requires the best possible information about how your matter will be priced, at the start and as it progresses.
London 1 is defined by the work, not the address, so no firm is assigned to it in our data.
Indicative only. The guideline figures are the court's broad approximations for assessing costs between parties (Guide to the Summary Assessment of Costs, para 27); what a firm charges its own client is set by the retainer. Scotland and Northern Ireland are outside the guideline rates. We are not a law firm.
Hourly rates in London (Central) 2026
The four grades of solicitor under the 2026 Guideline Hourly Rates, applied to the London 1 band:
| Grade | Who | £/hr (GHR) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Solicitor with 8+ years post-qualification experience | £579 |
| B | Solicitor with 4-8 years PQE | £393 |
| C | Solicitor with under 4 years PQE | £305 |
| D | Trainee solicitor or paralegal | £210 |
Source: Guideline Hourly Rates 2026 (gov.uk). All figures exclude VAT (20%).
What you pay: solicitor time + disbursements
Your invoice is the solicitor's time (hours × hourly rate × 1.20 for VAT) plus disbursements. Disbursements are third-party fees the solicitor pays on your behalf and recharges to you: Land Registry fees, court fees, search fees, expert reports. Many disbursements (court fees, Land Registry fees) carry no VAT. Local-authority searches and other private services usually do. See our disbursements guide for the full breakdown.
Worked example: conveyancing (buyer) in London (Central)
A typical residential purchase in London (Central) takes around 8 hours of solicitor time, usually handled by a Grade C solicitor under partner supervision.
- Solicitor time: 8 hours × £305/hr = £2,440
- VAT at 20%: £488
- Solicitor fee including VAT: £2,928
- Disbursements (search fees, Land Registry fee, ID checks): approximately £400 to £900
- Stamp Duty Land Tax (separate, paid by you to HMRC): varies by price and first-time-buyer status
Typical total in London (Central): £1,200 to £4,500 plus VAT, plus disbursements, plus SDLT. The Grade-C worked figure above sits at the lower end of this range; complex transactions (leasehold, new-build, shared ownership) consume more solicitor time.
Worked example: uncontested divorce in London (Central)
An uncontested no-fault divorce with no financial dispute typically takes 5 to 8 hours of solicitor time. Family work is usually handled by a Grade B solicitor (4-8 years PQE).
- Solicitor time: 5 hours × £393/hr = £1,965
- VAT at 20%: £393
- HMCTS divorce application fee (no VAT): £628
- Total: £2,986
Typical total in London (Central): £1,500 to £6,000 plus VAT, plus the £628 court fee. Contested divorces with property, pension, or child arrangements run substantially higher.
Worked example: simple will in London (Central)
Simple wills (single beneficiary structure, no trusts, no foreign assets) are usually fixed-fee work rather than billed by the hour. Typical fixed-fee range in London (Central) is £350 to £1,500 plus VAT. Mirror wills (one for each spouse) usually cost 70 to 90 per cent more than a single will. Free options include the Will Aid (November) and Free Wills Month (March, October) schemes for people aged 55+. See will writing cost for the full breakdown.
About the London (Central) legal market
Central London is the only UK location where private-market solicitor rates routinely exceed the Guideline Hourly Rates, and it is the one place where the gap is published rather than guessed at. A&O Shearman's own price-transparency statement puts the hourly rate for its London lawyers at £710 to £1,930 excluding VAT, against the £579 Grade A guideline figure. Rates at that level are negotiated per mandate and most City firms publish nothing at all.
Use the SRA Find a Solicitor, the official public register of regulated solicitors, to find local providers in London (Central). Filter by area of practice and location, get three written quotes, and ask each firm whether they offer fixed fees.
SRA Find a Solicitor ->FAQ
What is the average solicitor hourly rate in London (Central)?
£210/hr (Grade D, trainee or paralegal) to £579/hr (Grade A, 8+ years PQE) under the 2026 Guideline Hourly Rates. This is the London 1 band of the Guideline Hourly Rates. Private-market rates may exceed these guideline figures, particularly in commercial work.
How much does conveyancing cost in London (Central)?
Typical conveyancing solicitor fees in London (Central) run from £1,200 to £4,500 plus VAT, plus disbursements (Land Registry £20 to £1,105, local searches £200 to £350), plus SDLT if applicable. See our conveyancing guide for the full breakdown.
How much do solicitors charge for a will in London (Central)?
Simple wills typically cost £350 to £1,500 plus VAT. Mirror wills add 70 to 90 per cent. Complex wills with trusts or overseas assets run £500 to £2,000+.
How do I find a solicitor in London (Central)?
Use the SRA Find a Solicitor at https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk. Filter by area of practice and location. We recommend getting three written quotes and asking each firm whether they offer fixed fees.