Last Updated: November 2023

Who are we and what do we stand for?

We are a values-driven organisation comprised of practising lawyers, committed to promoting the best interests and well-being of lawyers, and property lawyers in particular, and influencing decisions which affect the legal property sector generally.

For example:

• We are concerned that the regulatory framework provided by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is not fit for purpose as evidenced by recent failings e.g Axiom Ince and we propose reform.

• We have similar concerns regarding the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) and in particular, the apparent lack of regulation of ‘factory’ style firms, e.g the ‘Simplify’ incident of 2021.

• We are concerned by the prevalence and lack of regulation of referral fees in the property sector which in our view favours neither conveyancers nor the public.

• We believe that the conveyancers’ remit has been expanded too far and without sufficient cause or consultation and we strongly oppose further responsibilities being imposed upon conveyancers which invariably delay transactions and increase costs for our clients.

• We are concerned by the Legal Service’s Board’s commitment to driving ‘price transparency’, particularly the focus on comparison websites which will incentivise ‘hidden costs’ models of pricing and disincentivise actual transparency.

• We are concerned by the amount of influence that third party organisations hold over the property sector, for example search companies and providers of legal technology.

• We are concerned by Trading Standards imposing Material Information (MI) on the property sector without sufficient consultation and we are concerned that this will escalate into mandatory use of Up-Front Information (UFI) which will replicate the many failures of Home Information Packs (HIPs).

• We aim to encourage all conveyancers to adopt and maintain high standards of legal practice and professionalism, despite the tremendous pressures being placed upon us from various sources.

• We believe that the Law Society could do much more to address the many issues affecting conveyancing Solicitors and that it should now focus on supporting them and promoting their best interests.

• We believe that the Legal Services Act (2007) has had an adverse impact on the profession as well as the public and that action must be taken to reverse course.