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September 2023 - Professional Services

84% of conveyancers said they would not enter the profession today: A survey of conveyancers has found that more than 4 in 5 (84%) would not go into the profession if they were looking to embark on a career today, with 79% citing the Building Safety Act 2022 as the top reason.

The survey of 200 conveyancers by Today's Conveyencer, the leading source of information for residential property lawyers in England and Wales, also found that the increasing responsibility placed upon conveyancers was the second most cited reason why they would shun the career today, with almost three-quarters saying it was a barrier. Respondents also mentioned HM Land Registry delays (63%), the anti-money laundering and compliance burden (61%), low fees (58%), standards of conveyancing and other conveyancers (52%) and a lack of direction from the Law Society / CLC (46%). In addition, 44% said that PII cost was a reason (44%), while referral fees (43%), and lenders’ panel requirements (41%) were also frequently raised as issues.

Some of the reasons that respondents gave in the comments section of the survey as to why they would not choose conveyancing as a career path today included 'other areas of law have far more respect than conveyancing professionals' and "risk is high, reward is low.”

The research also revealed that the volume and standard of enquiry was an issue, with 169 out of the 200 professionals polled raising it as a concern, while a lack of digitalisation was also raised by one in seven respondents.

While 84% said they would not choose to work in conveyancing if they had their time over, 16% said they would still choose it as their career path if they were at the start of their law career.

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