Articles From the Team

Is this the end for High Street conveyancing departments??

According to a recent article by one of the UK’s leading volume conveyancers by the end of 2015 15% of small high street firms will be closing their doors to conveyancing. I found this an interesting article to read considering the amount of instructions I am seeing from high street practices.  Myhomemove is one of the UK’s leading providers of conveyancing services and is predicting that when the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) is launched on the 26th April it will see a dramatic affect on the conveyancing industry resulting in some interesting predictions: Myhomemove predictions: • The top 100 firms will increase market share of the conveyancing market by 35% • 15 % of smaller firms will close their conveyancing departments by the end of 2015 The above figures may be slightly worrying for smaller practices but it’s impossible to predict the future. Even though I am being instructed on a regular basis by smaller firms, the above figures could be mirrored by the salaries that are on offer. Salaries as a whole are increasing in the conveyancing market but I am seeing volume providers becoming the most competitive and this is could be a knock on affect due to their market share is growing, which means they have more disposable income to pay experienced conveyancers. There could be a number of reasons that the larger providers are growing their market share but the main reasons I feel that they are growing their market share is down to the way that they are set up. More and more lenders feel comfortable working with larger organisations as they have the processes and the technology in place to capitalise the market. They also have a lot more specialist staff dealing with conveyancing which automatically puts them ahead of the game compared to smaller firms as they can deal with more transactions. The next 12-18 months will be interesting to see if the predictions from Myhomemove ring true. If you are looking to secure a new job and would like a confidential discussion contact Chantel Gallagher at BCL Legal on 0121 236 2623 or email chantelgallagher@bcllegal.com