Conveyancers will be “central to the successful delivery of the government’s recently announced Home Buying and Selling Reform Roadmap” said the government in its Professional and Business Services Jobs Plan published by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST).
The plan sets out how government and industry will work together to address the workforce and skills needs and was developed in partnership with the Professional and Business Services Council (PBSC). It outlines how to bring more skills into sector by expanding access to apprenticeships, work experience and clear career pathways.
In response the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has launched what it is calling Project 2,000 Lawyers, a campaign to attract 2,000 more trainees qualifying as Licensed Conveyancers by 2030 to meet continued demand. The specialist property and probate regulator said it wanted to see the creation of a Technical Excellence College (TEC) for consumer law disciplines, initially focused on conveyancing and probate, the most widely used legal services.
Commenting CLC chief executive Sheila Kumar said: “The Government’s Jobs Plan confirms what the CLC has consistently argued: UK growth, housing delivery and home buying and selling reform depend on a larger, diverse and highly skilled licensed conveyancing workforce.
“Licensed conveyancers are the legal engine of the built environment and housing market. They protect consumers and lenders, safeguard high-value assets and enable homes, land, finance and taxation revenue to move safely through the economy.
“Increased use of AI will not reduce the need for licensed conveyancers to advise clients, using their expertise, professional ethics and regulated status to ensure the integrity of the conveyancing process and the protection of clients and lenders. In an AI enabled world, appropriately qualified individuals become more important, not less.
“Now we are calling on conveyancing practices across England and Wales to play their part by developing talent already in their businesses and attracting motivated new staff, supporting them through to qualification and licence so that there are more conveyancers able to undertake reserved work and supervise others in every postcode.
“We urge more education providers to place CLC qualifications alongside their other law offerings, and to support the sector in tackling the under-supply of licensed conveyancing and probate lawyers and in reducing the over-supply of those qualifying for other legal professions, providing a cost efficient career route.
“Project 2,000 Lawyers sets a clear ambition for expanding licensed capacity. Our separate proposal for a Technical Excellence College for consumer law would create the long-term education and skills pipeline needed to sustain the Government’s industry and economic ambitions.”
There are currently around 10,000 Authorised Persons undertaking conveyancing work in England and Wales, a significant reduction from 13,000 in 2021. The CLC said it estimates an additional 2,000 would help reduce delays and fall-throughs and could support as many as 400,000 more property transactions each year.
The CLC has already announced accelerated qualification tracks for law graduates, experienced paralegals, solicitors and chartered legal executives, CILEX paralegals, STEP practitioners and, in a new development, other graduates, alongside the route for those without degrees.
The government has made TECs a central part of its plan for post-16 education and skills, initially focused on other areas of high-demand jobs, like advanced manufacturing, clean energy and defence, as well as digital and technologies.
The CLC said a specialist consumer legal services TEC would be a valuable addition to their ranks, bringing together government, employers, education providers and regulators to build direct routes into areas of established workforce demand.
It would support employers to progress existing staff towards becoming licensed lawyers, and introduce more school and college leavers to the profession.
One Response
The success of this welcomed initiative depends on more than simply training additional people. We need estate agents, the public and others involved in the home-moving process to have a much better understanding of what conveyancers actually do, the complexities and responsibilities involved, and why the work takes time. We also need to reduce the stress and pressures conveyancers face and ensure they receive better remuneration that properly reflects their skills, expertise and responsibilities. If we want to attract and retain more people, we must first make conveyancing a more understood, respected and rewarding profession.