The increasing conveyancing cost misnomer 

We are all too familiar with the rising cost of living in the UK. With rising energy bills, food price hikes and increased costs for rent and mortgages, employees have demanded wages to grow at pace with inflation. As prices increase, so too do costs for businesses – it is no different for conveyancers.

 

No different in conveyancing

For conveyancers, this spiral has been compounded by further issues unique to their industry. The cost of employing and retaining staff is mounting. Search providers, land registry, compliance, risk and insurance services to name a few have raised their prices, driving up the operational overheads of one of the most important, core legal services in the country.

This trend has been noted by buyers, who acknowledge that it is becoming increasingly expensive to transact too. As we found in the Smoove Home Movers Trends report published in May this year, in 2024, average costs from conveyancers were 8.2% higher than in 2023 and, as such, a total of £1.9bn was spent on conveyancing in 2024, up 17% year on year.

When asked to select what their biggest costs were, 39% of respondents selected legal and conveyancing fees as one of their options. This bears out in our own proprietary data: with the average cost of conveyancing at £1,691.28 per transaction in 2024, up from £1,562.33 in 2023.

There are some regional differences here – Greater London was the most expensive with conveyancing costs hitting £1,919.07, while the cheapest region was Scotland at £1,490.19, closely followed by East Midlands at £1,500.62 – but broadly speaking costs increased across the board, regardless of where people choose to buy.

 

The positive news

It is not that surprising that this is the case, but it is crucial that we put it in the right context. Despite the reality that the cost associated with buying a house has increased, the base cost in and of itself is not the key concern for home buyers. These are stated as facts, not as something consumers had an issue with. Increased fees for both conveyancers and costs for consumers should not be taken as inherently negative - it is essential that costs rise when necessary to ensure that the correct fees are in place for conveyancers to continue to deliver quality services.

The value conveyancers bring with their services and unrivalled knowledge should be paid for. Put simply, if the cost of doing the job is increasing, then so should the cost to the consumer. This also sets the stage for a move to value-based pricing – a strategy where prices are set based on the value a product or service provides to the customer, rather than solely on production costs or a race to the bottom.

The research backs this up – respondents said that the expertise that conveyancers provide is vital and they do not mind paying more for a good quality service. In fact, over half of respondents surveyed (51%) would prefer that the process took half the time, rather than costing half as much. The priority should be making the process more efficient, not devaluing it. So far it seems as though we are all on the same page. So where is the confusion coming into play?

 

The communication gap

Yes, consumers do not mind paying for a good service, but what they are paying for needs to be communicated to them clearly. With the complexity of the process not being readily understood by the average home mover and the significant pressure on conveyancers due to demands on their time, it is easy for communicating what consumers are paying for to get lost in translation.

There is a job then in informing customers of the value they are receiving so that they can make informed decisions with confidence. But conveyancers need not be alone. A mix of human intervention, industry expertise and digital tools can effectively tackle these communication challenges. As a result, this approach will address both cost and time issues as customers better understand the conveyancing process.

However, what does concern consumers is the unexpected and additional costs, along with the time taken to complete, so addressing these issues with bridging the communication gap is key if we are going to deliver further improvements in consumer experience – there is still a way to go.

The issue at hand is how we can all help improve the transaction process further to deliver this as well as the market’s potential to drive economic growth. This simply will not happen if we don’t address the issues we still face throughout the process and get the market moving.

You can download The Home Movers Trend report via the following link: The Home Movers Trends Report 2025.pdf.