Why Have Conveyancing Fees Gone Up? What Buyers and Sellers Are Paying Now

If you bought or sold a property a few years ago and have recently been quoted for conveyancing again, there is a good chance the number felt higher than you expected. You are not imagining it. Conveyancing fees have increased noticeably over the past few years, and for most buyers and sellers the reasons are not immediately obvious from looking at a quote.

How much are conveyancing fees right now? And more importantly, why have they gone up? Understanding both questions puts you in a much stronger position to assess a quote, spot anything that does not add up, and make a more informed decision about which firm to instruct.

Why Are Conveyancing Fees Higher Than They Used to Be?

There is no single cause. The increase in residential conveyancing fees over recent years reflects a combination of regulatory changes, rising third-party costs, and increased workload for conveyancing firms that has not always been matched by a proportionate adjustment in the legal fee being charged.

Professional indemnity insurance

Every SRA-regulated solicitor and CLC-licensed conveyancer is required to hold professional indemnity insurance, which covers them against claims arising from errors or negligence in the work they carry out.

PI insurance premiums for conveyancing firms have risen substantially in recent years, driven partly by an increase in the value and frequency of claims and partly by a tightening of the insurance market for property-related work. Those premium increases are passed on, at least in part, through the legal fee charged to clients.

AML and identity verification requirements

Anti-money laundering requirements in property transactions have become significantly more demanding over the past decade. Conveyancing firms are now required to verify the identity of every client, confirm the source of funds being used in the transaction, and in some cases carry out enhanced due diligence where the funds involve gifts, overseas transfers, or complex financial structures.

Most firms use specialist third-party platforms to carry out these checks, and the cost of those platforms, alongside the staff time required to review the results, contributes to the overall cost of the service.

Land Registry fee increases

Land Registry fees are a disbursement paid on your behalf by your solicitor and passed through to you at cost. The fee is charged on a scale based on the value of the property being registered, and that scale has been revised upward in recent years. On higher-value properties, the registration fee is a meaningful component of the total cost and one that buyers have no ability to negotiate.

Leasehold complexity and reform

The volume of leasehold reform activity, including changes to ground rent legislation, increased service charge transparency requirements, and the additional enquiries now raised as standard on leasehold purchases, has added workload to leasehold transactions that was not present to the same degree a few years ago. For buyers purchasing flats or leasehold houses, this has contributed to higher fees on those transaction types specifically.

SDLT complexity since threshold changes

Stamp Duty Land Tax submissions have become more complex following successive changes to thresholds, the introduction and subsequent removal of temporary reliefs, and the surcharge regime for additional properties.

Every residential purchase requires an SDLT return to HMRC within 14 days of completion, and the additional complexity around reliefs and mixed-use scenarios has increased the time involved in preparing those submissions accurately.

What Is Included in Conveyancing Fees?

A conveyancing fees breakdown typically combines several distinct elements, and not all firms present them in the same way. Understanding what each component covers makes it much easier to compare quotes accurately.

The legal fee

This is the solicitor's or conveyancer's own professional charge for carrying out the conveyancing work. It covers the time spent reviewing the contract, raising and responding to enquiries, reporting to you on the title, and managing the transaction through to completion. It is the element of the quote that reflects the firm's own costs and expertise, and it is the one that varies most between firms.

Disbursements

Disbursements are third-party costs that your solicitor pays on your behalf and passes through to you at cost. They include conveyancing searches, Land Registry registration fees, bank transfer charges, and in some cases additional items like engrossment fees on new build transactions or notice fees on leasehold properties. These are not part of the solicitor's own fee and cannot be negotiated away, though they should always be itemised clearly in any quote you receive.

Conveyancing search costs form part of the disbursements total and typically include a local authority search, a water and drainage search, and an environmental search as a minimum. The combined cost varies by location and by the search provider used, but should always be shown as a line item rather than buried within the legal fee.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

SDLT is not a conveyancing fee, but it is paid through your solicitor on completion day and will appear on your completion statement. It is sometimes listed within a quote to give you a full picture of the total funds you need to have available.

When comparing quotes, always look at the legal fee and disbursements separately from the SDLT figure. The tax is fixed and non-negotiable. The legal fee and disbursements are where the real comparison lies.

Fixed Fee vs Estimated Fee: What Is the Difference?

This is one of the most important distinctions to understand when reviewing a conveyancing fees comparison.

A fixed-fee conveyancing quote gives you greater cost certainty because the legal fee is agreed at the outset. Provided the transaction remains within the agreed scope of work, the legal fee will not increase during the transaction, even if additional enquiries need to be raised.

For leasehold purchases, new builds, or any transaction involving a Help to Buy element or complex title, a fixed fee is strongly worth seeking. The additional work involved in those transaction types is exactly where estimated fees are most likely to increase.

Why Cheap Conveyancing Quotes Sometimes Cost More Overall

The cheapest quote is not always the best value, and the gap between a cheap quote and a good one is not always visible from the headline number alone.

Underquoting and bolt-on extras

Some firms quote a low headline legal fee and then add charges during the transaction for items that a more transparent firm would include upfront. Common additions include fees for dealing with a mortgage, fees for leasehold-related work, bank transfer charges shown as a separate line after instruction, and identity verification fees.

By the time these are added, the total can exceed a firm that presented a fully inclusive quote from the start.

The cost of a slow firm

A firm that is significantly cheaper than the market may be carrying an unusually high caseload per fee earner. High caseloads lead to slower response times and missed deadlines, and in a chain a slow firm at one end creates pressure for everyone involved.

If a delayed exchange means you lose a mortgage offer rate, or a delayed completion means additional removal or storage costs, the savings on the legal fee is quickly eroded.

When looking at cheap conveyancing options, checking reviews and communication records alongside the fee gives a much more reliable picture of likely value than the number alone.

What Is the Average Cost of Conveyancing Fees Right Now?

The average cost of conveyancing fees varies depending on the transaction type, property value, and location. You can see detailed breakdowns for buyers on the conveyancing fees buying page and for sellers on the conveyancing fees selling page.

For year-on-year context, the average conveyancing fees for 2023 and average conveyancing fees for 2024 show how the market has moved. The average conveyancing fees for 2026 continue to reflect the cost pressures outlined above, and the underlying drivers - PI insurance, AML compliance costs, and Land Registry fees - remain elevated with no clear indication of significant reduction in the near term.

Location plays a role too.

Conveyancing costs in London typically run higher than in Manchester or Leeds, partly because property values are higher and partly because operating costs for firms in those areas differ. Online conveyancing firms operating nationally often offer more competitive pricing regardless of where the property is located.

How to Save Money on Conveyancing Without Sacrificing Quality

The most effective way to save money on conveyancing is not to find the cheapest firm, but to compare accurately and choose a fixed-fee firm whose quote is fully inclusive from the start.

Getting multiple quotes and presenting them in a consistent format is the starting point. Check that each quote shows the legal fee and disbursements separately. Confirm whether the fee covers mortgage-related work if you have a loan.

On leasehold properties, ask specifically whether leasehold-related disbursements and notices are included or treated as extras.

The Conveyancing Calculator returns fixed-fee quotes from SRA-regulated solicitors and CLC-licensed conveyancers in a consistent format, so every quote you see is directly comparable. The legal fee, disbursements, and any transaction-specific additions are shown clearly, which removes the ambiguity that makes direct quote comparison difficult when approaching firms individually.

Ready to Get a Fully Itemised Conveyancing Quote?

Understanding why conveyancing fees have increased puts you in a much stronger position to assess the quotes you receive and choose a firm that offers genuine value rather than just the lowest headline number.

Compare fully itemised conveyancing quotes today and see exactly what you are paying for before you commit to anything.