Recruitment drive for conveyancers ‘could ease fall-through numbers’

A recruitment drive to attract more conveyancers has set the target at 2,000 additional professionals by 2030 to help reduce property sale fall-throughs.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has launched ‘Project 2,000 Lawyers’, a campaign to boost numbers of conveyancers.

The move comes after the Government recognised the need to promote careers in conveyancing to support its plans for reform of the home-buying process.

There are currently around 10,000 solicitors carrying out conveyancing work in England and Wales, significantly down from 13,000 in 2021.

CLC estimates that an additional 2,000 would help reduce delays and fall-throughs, and could support as many as 400,000 more property transactions each year.

Sheila Kumar, Chief Executive at CLC (pictured), says: “The Government’s Jobs Plan confirms what the CLC has consistently argued: UK growth, housing delivery and home buying and selling reform depend on a larger, diverse and highly skilled licensed conveyancing workforce.

“Licensed conveyancers are the legal engine of the built environment and housing market.

“They protect consumers and lenders, safeguard high-value assets and enable homes, land, finance and taxation revenue to move safely through the economy.”

She says AI will not reduce the need for conveyancers: “In an AI-enabled world, appropriately qualified individuals become more important, not less.

“Now we are calling on conveyancing practices across England and Wales to play their part by developing talent already in their businesses and attracting motivated new staff, supporting them through to qualification and licence so that there are more conveyancers able to undertake reserved work and supervise others in every postcode,” she says.

Last year, Indeed.com said conveyancer vacancies had jumped by 111% in the previous 12 months, offering an average salary of £53,000.