The number of conveyancing professionals currently undertaking transactions has fallen by 13% since 2021 and transaction volumes may not recover until 2025 with the first nine months of 2023 down by 22% compared to the same period in 2022. This follows a similar trend in 2022 which were down 15% year on year.
The latest IRN Legal “UK Residential Conveyancing Market Report 2023” has identified that head count, transaction numbers, and the number of firms registered with HMLR has shrunk in the past 2 years. Figures from the law societies in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland obtained in October 2023 suggest there are over 6,300 law firms that generate income from residential conveyancing. This is down 4% on September 2022.
A count of the registered active account holders at HM Land Registry in September 2023 identified 3,838 active accounts covering England and Wales a decrease of 6% from 4,079 in September 2022.
The medium term picture show similar falls. Between September 2021 and October 2023, over 450 law firms have discontinued residential conveyancing and the profession has lost around 13% of its workforce in the same time; from around 13,000, to 11,250 solicitor working in residential report according to the law societies,
It has been extensively reported that transaction volumes over the year to date are down on previous years with the report suggesting that the “first signs of a recovery are not expected to emerge until later in 2024 with volumes and market value beginning to grow again in 2025 and 2026.”
Meanwhile the continued consolidation of providers has slowed slightly; In 2022, the top five conveyancing brands claimed 5.8% of all HM Land Registry transactions with the top 10 brands taking an 8.7% share. In the first three-quarters of 2023, the top five brand share had increased to 6.0% while the top 10 brands took a 9.1% share.
The “UK Residential Conveyancing Market Report 2023” is available from IRN Reports.
