North West -- Guideline Hourly Rates National 1 band
Solicitor Hourly Rates in Manchester: £142 to £295/hr
Updated October 2026. Published 2026 Guideline Hourly Rates for Manchester, with worked examples for conveyancing, divorce, and will writing.
National 1 band for the city centre. The GOV.UK A to Z of areas splits this city: Manchester (Central) is National 1 (Grade A £295/hr), Manchester (Outer) is National 2 (Grade A £288/hr). Manchester is one of the UK's three largest commercial-law markets outside London, with Leeds and Birmingham, and the guideline rates do separate its centre from the surrounding band.
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, National 1 | £247/hr |
| 10 hours | £2,470 |
| VAT at 20% | £494 |
| Total | £2,964 |
| Same work at 2025 rates £2,904 · 2024 rates £2,796 | |
The counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire (and the Isle of Wight), Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire, plus Birkenhead, Birmingham (Inner), Bristol, Cambridge City, Cardiff (Inner), Leeds (Inner, within 2 km of the City Art Gallery), Liverpool, Manchester (Central), Newcastle City Centre (within 2 km of St Nicholas Cathedral), Norwich City, Nottingham City and Watford. 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 | £247 |
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.
| Firms in National 1 publish, all grades 183 firms | £200 to £330/hr |
Middle half of 681 hourly rates read from 183 firms' own price pages (head office in this band), data read 20 October 2026; median £265. Most firms state the rate excluding VAT. Grade is explicit on few pages, so this is all grades together. For context: the top 10 UK firms averaged £496 an hour across all fee earners in 2025 (PwC), and SME firms realised a median £133 per fee-earner hour in 2024 (Law Society FBS 2025).
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 Manchester 2026
The four grades of solicitor under the 2026 Guideline Hourly Rates, applied to the National 1 band:
| Grade | Who | £/hr (GHR) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Solicitor with 8+ years post-qualification experience | £295 |
| B | Solicitor with 4-8 years PQE | £247 |
| C | Solicitor with under 4 years PQE | £201 |
| D | Trainee solicitor or paralegal | £142 |
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 Manchester
A typical residential purchase in Manchester takes around 8 hours of solicitor time, usually handled by a Grade C solicitor under partner supervision.
- Solicitor time: 8 hours × £201/hr = £1,608
- VAT at 20%: £322
- Solicitor fee including VAT: £1,930
- 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 Manchester: £700 to £1,800 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 Manchester
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 × £247/hr = £1,235
- VAT at 20%: £247
- HMCTS divorce application fee (no VAT): £628
- Total: £2,110
Typical total in Manchester: £600 to £2,500 plus VAT, plus the £628 court fee. Contested divorces with property, pension, or child arrangements run substantially higher.
Worked example: simple will in Manchester
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 Manchester is £150 to £450 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 Manchester legal market
Manchester has a substantial commercial-law presence (Eversheds Sutherland, Pinsent Masons, Addleshaw Goddard all have major Manchester offices) where private-market rates can exceed the National 1 GHR. For consumer-facing work (conveyancing, family, wills, personal injury), high-street and online firms compete aggressively and the GHR is a reasonable working benchmark.
Use the SRA Find a Solicitor, the official public register of regulated solicitors, to find local providers in Manchester. 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 Manchester?
£142/hr (Grade D, trainee or paralegal) to £295/hr (Grade A, 8+ years PQE) under the 2026 Guideline Hourly Rates. This is the National 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 Manchester?
Typical conveyancing solicitor fees in Manchester run from £700 to £1,800 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 Manchester?
Simple wills typically cost £150 to £450 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 Manchester?
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.