The average cost of conveyancing in 2024 has risen by 4.5% from 2023, just over January 2024’s inflation rate of 4.2%, according to Compare My Move’s annual index on the cost of conveyancing for people buying and selling a house.
The conveyancing industry is still recovering from the rise in inflation seen in 2022 and 2023. The official bank rate sits at 5.25% and is yet to start falling, meaning there is still a reluctance to buy and sell. The average cost of a conveyancer for purchase in 2024 has risen by 18.7% from 2023, rising by £247.
The average cost of a conveyancer for sale in 2024 has fallen by 10.3% from 2023, dropping by £131.
The end of 2022 to the end of 2023 saw a consistent drop in national house prices across the UK alongside a consistent rise in the office bank rate. Because of this, there has been an ongoing reluctance to sell over the past year, and we are only now starting to see the end of this as prices begin to rise again. Buyers have been better off than sellers in the past year despite the rising base rate as they manage to pick up properties that could’ve been 10-15% more expensive a year before purchase.
As the property market switched to a buyer’s market last year there was also a shift in the conveyancing prices. Conveyancing prices for sale dropped significantly by 10.3% due to the shift in the market, however, this shift also allowed conveyancing prices for purchase to rise by 18.7% to keep the cost of conveyancing overall on an increase just above inflation of 4.5%. Dave Sayce MD and founder of Compare My Move, said:
“As we are well into 2024, we have seen a consistent rise in house prices and a drop in inflation, this should also bring a decline in the base rate later in the year but for now things are looking positive for the housing market. This will reflect on the conveyancing industry, more people will be buying and selling and therefore we expect there to be a rise in both purchase and sale services, as well as a significantly higher increase in the overall cost of conveyancing.
There has also been a bigger focus on the digital side of conveyancing in 2024, with the aim to make the process as efficient as possible for both client and conveyancer. Although I don’t think this will have much of an effect on the cost of conveyancing in 2024, it should eventually bring the cost of conveyancing down – as the process will be shorter and smoother.”
