Conveyancing sees 24% rise in Q2

Conveyancing transactions rose by a healthy 24 per cent in the second quarter of this year, according to a report from Search Acumen, which monitors the sector. Researchers attributed the rise to reforms to stamp duty and land tax. From the beginning of April, the government levied a stamp duty surcharge on second homes, a move that appears to have triggered a rush to buy before the deadline.

Whatever is causing the boom, conveyancing law firms are benefiting, say the researchers. Firms at the top of the market completed more than 3,500 transactions during the quarter. That was a rise of 17 per cent over the first quarter of this year. More impressively, the most recent transaction rate was more than 40 per cent above last year’s second-quarter rate.

The report pointed to a slight rise over the last year in the number of solicitors’ practices offering residential conveyancing services – up from 4,177 to 4,281