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Conveyancing Fees

Journalist: Chris Barry, Newspage contributor

ended 04. February 2026

Today's Mortgage Strategy artical would have readers believe conveyancing fees are coming down as they quote data from one source, ReallyMoving, which represents a limited market share and demographic 

https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/news/cost-of-conveyancing-fell-3-in-the-final-quarter-of-2025/

Newspage are asking property professionals in the coal face…

  1. What are conveyancing fees doing in your local market?
  2. What do you think should happen with the cost of conveyancing?
  3. Have you seen any trends relating to the quality of conveyancing over the past few months?
  4. What would you like to see to help make conveyancing better for clients and property professionals?

6 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Chris Barry
Director at Thomas Legal
To suggest conveyancing fees are coming down towards the end of last year doesn’t translate to the majority of the market place. Staff costs and insurance premiums are rising. The conveyancing industry is also suffering from a server lack of new talent meaning higher prices are being paid to tempt good people to new firms. Conveyancing fee quotations from most firms are tiered based on property price and prices are rising. Firms reducing pricing during slightly quieter periods are killing the industry because they inevitably take on more clients making them slower and less responsive. This approach delays chains and is the single largest contributor to the reason it takes 5 months on average to purchase a property in England and Wales. Firms should be charging more, taking on less and doing the job quickly and proactively.
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Darryl Dhoffer
Founder at The Mortgage Geezer
The "battery farm" model of conveyancing is cannibalising the profession. By treating property law like a fast-food production line, high-volume firms have driven fees into the gutter, stripping away the time and expertise required for secure transactions. The result is a false economy: overworked handlers miss critical title defects, communication blackouts cause unnecessary stress, and the "cheap" option often costs clients a fortune in delays and reckless errors.
The only way out is to reject the commodity trap. Conveyancers must pivot to Value-Based Pricing. Stop selling "legal admin" and start selling "asset protection." Market the specific financial risks you prevent and the dedicated, qualified attention you provide. Clients will happily pay a premium for a guardian who secures their future, rather than a factory that merely processes their paperwork.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
Conveyancing fees in my area have been gradually creeping up- and rightfully so. There has been an imbalance in fees for many years where others in the chain get paid significantly more. The pressure of the role is so great now and knowledge and experience are much needed. Driving the costs down will mean people leaving the profession. We need to value their work and pay them accordingly. That said, there are a few who charge the earth and deliver poor service. If fees are going up then the quality of deliverance should also do the same. There are many firms, including the 'conveyer belt' firms hiring case handlers which are cheaper than the qualified individuals. Everyone has to start somewhere but these are often driving quality down with people having poor experiences.
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Kundan Bhaduri
Entrepreneur, Investor and Landlord at The Kushman Group
If you think cheap conveyancing is a bargain, you haven’t counted the cost of a lost deal.

As seasoned investors we buy, sell and remortgage several times a year, I see two distinct breeds of conveyancer. First, you have the "conveyor belt" firms that are high-volume, low-margin factories where your file is just a barcode passing between overworked paralegals. These firms are attractive on a spreadsheet, offering legal fees of under £500 for a purchase or sale.

But in property, you pay for what you get. When a factory firm cuts its fee, it survives by piling caseloads high, meaning your urgent email will sit in a queue of hundreds.

Then, there is the "specialist" service that we often rely on for time critical deals. These are one-on-one boutique solicitors who actually know your name. Yes, their fees are higher, often 2x-3x the factory rate, but they are the only insurance you have against a deal falling apart.

For a professional investor, that can mean a world of difference.
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Jamie Alexander
Mortgage Director at Alexander Southwell Mortgages
In my local market, fees haven’t materially fallen. I’d say they came down slightly some time ago and have largely stayed at similar levels since. If there has been a marginal reduction, that’s a net positive for clients — but it’s not a dramatic shift on the ground.

Lower fees are welcome, but not at the expense of service. Conveyancing isn’t a commodity, and driving prices down too far risks worsening delays and poor communication, which ultimately costs buyers and sellers more in stress and failed transactions.

The biggest divide I see is between panel conveyancers and local or branch-based firms. Price aside, the key difference is communication. Panel firms can struggle with responsiveness and continuity, while local conveyancers tend to be more proactive and accessible. That gap has become more noticeable, not less.

Better communication standards, clearer accountability, and realistic caseloads would make the biggest difference. Technology should support faster updates too.
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David Robinson
Co-Founder at Wildcat Law
The era of the failing law firm and opaque charges! As yet another large law firm goes under due to lack of cashflow the Government signal that they will tax interest on client accounts, historically a source of income for conveyancing firms further threatening the already fragile models. Add to that many large firms pay significant fees to estate agents for introducing clients (I have heard of fees as high as 1/3 of the fee paid). Conveyancing has been driving to the bottom with regards to fees for many years but rather than it continuing to fall there are increasingly signs that fees are rising. I have heard that some firms are doing this by taking a slice of disbursements including setting up firms to manage searches.
Expect to see a divergence in conveyancing as large factory firms use AI to deliver a cheap mass market simple service vs a more manual, and more expensive, service for more complex purchases and sales.