As announced by the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) two years ago on 5 February 2001, the total abolition of conveyancing scale fees will take effect from 1 February 2003. From that day, conveyancing fees in Singapore will be totally liberalised, leaving legal fees charged by lawyers for handling property transactions freely negotiable.

Before 1 March 2001, legal fees for all property transactions valued below $5 million were fixed according to a mandatory sliding scale set out in the Legal Profession (Solicitors’ Remuneration) Order. With effect from 1 March 2001, the scale became applicable to property transactions valued up to $2.5 million, leaving the legal fees for properties valued above $2.5 million free for negotiation.

The current conveyancing scale fees for property transactions valued up to $2.5 million will continue to apply to conveyancing transactions if the lawyers are engaged before 1 February 2003 irrespective of when they are completed.

These changes are the result of the recommendations by the Conveyancing Fees Review Committee chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge Mr Goh Joon Seng. The Committee was appointed by the Minister for Law in May 2000 to consider whether the conveyancing scale fees should be modified or abolished. The Government accepted the recommendations by the Committee to gradually abolish the conveyancing scale fees under a two-stage process.