The article reports that the SME and Boutique and Law Firm Alliance has urged the Ministry of Justice to reconsider proposals to divert a large share of interest earned on lawyers’ client accounts to fund access to justice. The group argues the scheme could disproportionately burden smaller firms, add administrative costs, and encourage work to move into the unregulated sector.
HM Land Registry has published Practice Guide 84 to explain how contractual control agreements will need to be reported digitally from April 2027. The new regime, under the Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026, covers arrangements such as option agreements, conditional contracts and pre-emption rights where they meet specified criteria.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority reports continued improvement in anti-money laundering compliance across the profession, with the proportion of non-compliant firms falling to 21.9% in 2025/26. The report also highlights conveyancing, particularly residential transactions, as the highest-risk area and notes growing concern around sanctions compliance and AI-enabled fraud.
The article previews government budget measures aimed at reducing administrative burdens, including a proposed £116 million annual saving from streamlining the home-buying and selling process. It also outlines expected detail on the Your First Home scheme, a replacement for Help to Buy, with possible changes to income thresholds and property price caps.
The article argues that conveyancing firms should approach AI cautiously and focus first on practical, lower-risk uses such as document review, call handling and consistency checks. The author suggests that AI is most useful in reducing administrative error and compliance risk, rather than replacing core legal judgment in tasks like raising enquiries or drafting reports on title.
The article reviews recent property market and conveyancing data, noting a shift from seller-favourable conditions to a more buyer-favourable market. It reports continued declines in new conveyancing instructions and completions, while exchange and completion timelines are lengthening, suggesting process inefficiencies rather than volume alone are driving delays.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off sole practitioner Andrew Lee after finding he continued practising while his firm’s professional indemnity insurance had expired and misled both a client and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The Tribunal also found he failed to keep proper accounts and ordered him to pay more than £45,000 in costs.
New research from Thirdfort suggests compliance pressures are rising across conveyancers and legal firms, with most senior compliance leaders expecting anti-money laundering budgets and team sizes to increase over the next year. The survey also points to heavier workloads, fragmented systems and lower confidence in current compliance processes among larger firms.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has paused its plans to separate compliance officer roles from those with unilateral decision-making powers and will instead work with stakeholders to explore alternatives. The regulator said the original approach may have had unintended consequences for smaller firms and sole practices, and any future implementation will be delayed to allow more review and consultation.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has intervened to close Gowlings Solicitors Limited, a Preston-based conveyancing and family law firm, citing the need to protect clients and beneficiaries. The action follows a prior rebuke over a conveyancing undertaking relating to mortgage redemption, where the firm failed to obtain a redemption statement and the sale proceeds were insufficient to clear the mortgage in full.
The article discusses the Law Society’s draft updated Conveyancing Protocol and argues that it should go further in addressing the shift from paper-based conveyancing to digitally shared property information. It highlights three consultation questions firms should raise: how verifiable property information should be structured, who can rely on shared data and on what terms, and what an AI-generated output must contain before a solicitor can approve it.
The article rounds up several technology developments in the conveyancing sector, including AI-assisted report on title drafting, a new licensed NLIS Hub channel, redesigned Source of Funds reporting, and a digital maturity ranking for a conveyancing firm. The common theme is greater automation, improved data access, and more configurable workflows for property transactions.
