A survey of residential conveyancing professionals reveals ‘a sector caught between confidence and confusion’ and bearing ‘all the ingredients for transformation but lacking the recipe to transform them effectively’.
The Residential Conveyancing Pricing & Attitudes Survey 2025, compiled by Big Yellow Penguin and Bold Legal Group, describes a ‘confidence paradox’, with 80% of the conveyancers interviewed for the report saying they felt confident in setting fees but only 23% believing the sector as a whole shares their confidence. In other words, conveyancers believe in their own pricing structures but see the wider sector as undervaluing and undercharging for conveyancing services.
‘This tells us something profound’, the report’s authors note. ‘We have a profession of individuals who trust their own judgement but doubt their colleagues’ approach’.
The report was compiled following interviews with 60 residential conveyancing professionals, each of whom were asked 11 questions related to pricing across the sector.
Almost half of the respondents (48.33%) said they were confident in setting their own prices for residential conveyancing services, with 31.67% claiming to be very confident. However, when asked about their confidence in pricing across the sector, 38.33% said they weren’t confident, 36.67% were neutral, 21.67% said they had confidence in their colleagues and just 1.67% said they were very confident in sector pricing.
Rob Hailstone, founder of Bold Legal Group, said the disparity highlights uncertainty and a lack of unified direction amongst conveyancers. He added:
“The future of conveyancing will likely be shaped by greater pricing transparency, diversification of service levels, and a more strategic approach to monetising client trust without compromising fairness.”
Although almost half of the respondents said they were confident in setting their own prices, more than half (56.6%) said they considered competitors’ pricing to a moderate extent. Around a tenth of those interviewed (11.67%) said competitor pricing influenced them to a great extent, with just 6.67% of conveyancers saying competitor pricing didn’t influence them at all.
When asked what factors did influence pricing decisions, an overwhelming majority (81.67%) said the cost of service delivery was the major factor. Client demand was the second major influence, at 70%, with the financial goals of the firm accounting for 56.57% of pricing decisions.
However, although 70% of respondents said client demand influenced pricing decisions, surprisingly few firms were willing to reduce their fees if clients said they had been offered a better deal elsewhere.
Exactly half said they would rarely reduce their prices to complete with a competitor, 31.67% said they would never offer a discount, 15% said they sometimes reduce fees when presented with a better quote, and a significant minority of 3.33% said they would always offer a discount in the face of a cheaper alternative.
When asked about fees for additional legal services, the majority of firms surveyed (71.67%) said they charge more for extras. Just over a quarter (28.33%) said they wouldn’t add anything to the final bill for performing extra work.
‘In fact, 28% of firms avoid add-ons entirely, raising questions about whether this is a deliberate strategy or a missed revenue stream’, Hailstone queried.
When considering the number of clients who query extra charges on the bill, the responses suggest the latter: more than half of survey respondents (52.54%) said clients rarely query additional charges. Less than a quarter (23.73%) said they sometimes receive queries, 8.47% said usually, 10.17% never receive queries related to additional charges, and only 5.08% said they are always questioned about additional items.
When questioned about confidence in pricing across the conveyancing sector, only 1.67% of respondents said they were very confident, with the same number saying they were not confident at all. The majority of respondents (38.33%) said they are not confident in pricing confidence. Slightly less were neutral (36.67%), with just 21.67% confident in the pricing of conveyancing services.
‘What this data ultimately reveals is a profession with all the ingredients for transformation but lacking the recipe to combine them effectively’, the report’s authors note.
“The building blocks are there: regular pricing reviews, reluctance to discount, client acceptance of additional charges, and recognition that cost-of-service delivery should drive pricing decisions.
“What’s missing is the strategic framework to turn these foundations into coherent, confident value-based pricing with genuine client choice.
“The residential conveyancing sector stands at a crossroads. It can continue with the current patchwork of inconsistent pricing, bewildering add-ons, and no service options, or it can embrace a strategic approach that packages expertise clearly, communicates value confidently, and gives clients the choice they expect in every other aspect of their lives.
“The data suggests both the opportunity and the client appetite are there. The question isn’t whether change is needed – it’s whether the profession has the courage to seize the moment.”
Read the full report at www.bigyellowpenguin.co.uk/the-residential-pricing-attitudes-survey
