Conveyancing: Fees lower after inflation is taken into account
Conveyancing fees have not fallen back after reaching an all-time high in the rush to get transactions completed before stamp duty increased on 31 March.
Reallymoving, which provides instant quotes for property services, said average conveyancing fees fell by just 0.1% from the record first quarter to the second.
An analysis of 47,000 conveyancing quotes showed that average fees for a purchase, including disbursements and expenses but not stamp duty, rose from £1,495 to £1,506, while fees for a sale fell from £942 to £928.
Researchers said the cost of conveyancing “remained stable” in the second quarter of 2025, as conveyancers “largely maintained price growth” achieved in the run-up to the increase in stamp duty in March, which saw the threshold for exemption from the tax shrink from £250,000 to £125,000.
While the average fees for a sale and purchase fell very slightly from £2,437 to £2,435 in the second quarter, this figure was 2.3% up on the figure for the same quarter in 2024.
The average fee at that time for a purchase was £1,475 and for a sale £906 – a total of £2,381.
The biggest gains in conveyancing fees in the second quarter of this year were in the East of England, where they rose by 3.3%, and the West Midlands, by 3.1%.
Fees went down in London by 0.2%, the East Midlands by 1.5%, the North West by 2.2%, the North East by 2.8% and Wales by 3.2%.
Reallymoving said: “This mixed picture can be attributed largely to local transaction volumes and associated competition for legal services.”
When inflation was taken into account, however, average conveyancing fees were down by 1.2% in the second quarter of this year compared with the same quarter in 2024.
Rob Houghton, founder and chief executive of Reallymoving, said: “Following a rush of completions in Q1 ahead of the stamp duty deadline, conveyancing costs have now stabilised, dipping only fractionally in Q2.
“While firms have managed to sustain most of the price gains made earlier this year against a backdrop of softening demand, home movers are actually paying slightly less in real terms than they were 12 months ago.
“Home movers continue to be cautious and price-sensitive, but transactions have steadily recovered since the disruption caused by changes to stamp duty in the spring.
“That said, speculation around property tax reform could slow momentum leading up to the autumn budget if homebuyers adopt a wait-and-see approach, putting conveyancing costs under pressure again.”