Conveyancers lowered fees in the battle for work during the subdued autumn and winter of last year, when home movers paused or delayed plans to move amid Bank of England interest rate decisions, rising inflation and potential changes to stamp duty in the November budget, according to a report from reallymoving.com.
An analysis of average conveyancing costs by the home moving comparison site suggests fees fell by 0.5% by the end of 2025 when compared with 2024. The average fee, including disbursements, in 2024 was £2,834; in 2025 it was £2,372.
The figures also suggest the firms using the site to generate leads have steadily dropped their fees over the course of the year, from a high of £2437 in Q1, triggered in part by the demand generated by the SDLT deadline in March. When inflation is taken into account the decline is closer to 4%.
The regular analysis by reallymoving.com reviewed over 69,000 conveyancing quotes for combined property sale and purchase made via its platform, including fees and disbursements. The results suggest fees are now higher than during the peak of demand in the period after the re-opening of the property market in 2021.
On a regional level, costs fell in nine out of 12 regions of the UK. The largest falls were seen in London (-6.4%), where costs are the highest, Scotland (-4.2%) and the South East (-4%). The only region to see a notable rise in conveyancing prices was Wales (+5%). Minimal rises were observed in the North East (+0.5%) and the North West (+0.5%), where transaction levels proved more resilient.
| Period | Purchase Fees
Inc. Disbursements & Expenses |
Sale Fees
Inc. Disbursements & Expenses |
Total | Quarterly Change | Annual Change |
| 2024 Q4 | £1,485 | £900 | £2,384 | 1.8% | 16.1% |
| 2025 Q1 | £1,495 | £942 | £2,437 | 2.2% | 11.7% |
| 2025 Q2 | £1,506 | £928 | £2,435 | -0.1% | 2.3% |
| 2025 Q3 | £1,519 | £932 | £2,451 | 0.7% | 4.7% |
| 2025 Q4 | £1,486 | £886 | £2,372 | -3.2% | -0.5% |
Commenting on the findings, reallymoving founder and CEO Rob Houghton said:
“These latest figures demonstrate how exposed conveyancers are to market fluctuations. A real-terms reduction in fees is not sustainable and, over time, will limit firms’ ability to invest in people and technology, at such a critical time for the future of the profession.
“Price competition will always play an important role, but consumers consistently show that the lowest fee is not the deciding factor Reputation, service quality and trust matter just as much, if not more. For the long-term health of the sector, conveyancing fees need to grow at least in line with inflation to support proper investment and maintain the high standards clients expect.”
2 responses
Not only that but there are some firms offered agent’s crazy referral fees which is highly irresponsible and damaging to the property market. In our area the standard for non factory work was around £150 + VAT. There are two particular funds who have boosted that to £300 + VAT per matter. So we now have agent’s coming to us and saying boost the referral fee or we are taking the work elsewhere. Whilst I have a lot of respect for a lot of firms who do a good job, there are some out there who are deliberately making the system worse rather than better. I would absolutely love the SRA/CLC to come here and either ban all referral fees or cap it. Those firms who deliberately exploit the system would not last 5 minutes and the decent local firms would go back to doing decent local work and we would actually be paid a fair fee.
There is a strong argument, and some data that suggests, rather than competing on price on each job, a more general and consistent improvement on dealing with enquiries, especially focused on quote follow up could lead to a significant percentage improvement in conversion. This area is definitely worth a review if you haven’t in a while.