A decline in transaction volumes is predicted in the next 12-18 months after the stamp duty changes masked an otherwise flat year for conveyancers and transaction volumes.
The claim comes from a new report published by Access Legal who say the 5% increase in completions in 2024-25 could be almost entirely accounted for in the spike ahead of changes to stamp duty bandings causing a surge of activity in March of this year. Without it, the market showed little movement, and with inflationary pressures and potential interest rate rises on the horizon, the outlook suggests a difficult winter for conveyancers.
In it’s latest ‘State of the UK Conveyancing Market’ report covering 2025 Access Legal warn the sector is heading into a period of significant challenge. It points to continued market consolidation as a threat to smaller practices. The number of active conveyancing firms fell by 2% and the fall in the number of conveyancers is well documented. The number of firms completing more than 500 transactions according to HMRC data grew by up to 37%, whereas smaller firms experienced double-digit declines; a trend which ‘underscores the growing importance of scale and national reach’ says author Ryan Sparrow. Firms can assess their own performance compared to local competitors with regional scorecards included in the report which identified 58% of all transactions are now completed by firms ‘operating across all regions’:
“Our data shows that market demand is likely to shrink or remain flat over the coming months and with changes in market dynamics, the conveyancing sector is set to become even more competitive,”
Alongside changes to the market which are ‘reshaping the competitive landscape’ conveyancers continue to face intensifying regulatory demands. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has stepped up enforcement, issuing £575,000 in fines in just six months and targeting 700 AML inspections by October; which alongside tightened anti-money laundering (AML) obligations in the form of updated Legal Sector Affinity Group guidance introduced in April.
One area ripe for improvement is operational efficiency according to the report where larger firms lag behind mid-sized practices when it comes to AP1 submissions; a metric lenders are increasingly using as a key metric for panel inclusion said Sparrow. Average AP1 submission times across the sector are 18.9 days. Here is one area where artificial intelligence has the potential to help firms, and are already incorporated into title checking, ID verification, and client updates. But in the race for improvements, integration and compliance controls are ‘critical to avoid regulatory breaches.’
“How firms react to these changes in the market will be vitally important to their success over the next 12 months. Firms that adapt quickly by embracing innovation, diversifying services, and strengthening their compliance frameworks will not only weather the downturn but emerge stronger when the market stabilises.”
Highlighting potential strategies to tackle these challenges, the report explores opportunities for firms to diversify, with later-life lending and equity release and growing market for example; targeting resilient regions such as Yorkshire & The Humber, which outperformed with a 15% year-on-year increase in transactions; and leverage and harness technology to increase automation of administrative tasks, enabling conveyancers to get on with the job of transacting title.
The State of the UK Conveyancing Market report is available to review here.
One Response
I’ve definitely seen a down turn in the last 4 weeks perhaps even at a 50% rate. The general comments from all are that people are waiting for the budget to see how badly we all get stung there. We won’t be see a drop in interest rates this year I think so that is not going to encourage the market. Time to hunker down for the next 6-12 months as the work is going to drop off. Good luck to anyone moving jobs now.