How to choose a property solicitor or conveyancer

Why your choice of conveyancer matters

Your conveyancer is the lawyer who handles the legal side of your move: checking the property, protecting your money, and dealing with the other side, your lender and HM Land Registry. A good conveyancer spots problems early, explains them clearly and keeps the chain of linked sales moving. A poor fit can mean slow replies, missed deadlines and a more stressful move.

Price matters, but it is only one factor. This guide explains what else to look at and the questions to ask. Keyfolio is a quotation and referral service, not a law firm: we help you understand costs and can introduce you to a regulated firm, but the firm you instruct does all the legal work.

Solicitor, licensed conveyancer or legal executive?

In England and Wales, residential conveyancing is usually done by one of three kinds of regulated lawyer:

• Solicitors, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
• Licensed conveyancers, property specialists regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC)
• Chartered legal executives, regulated by CILEx Regulation

Any of them can handle a straightforward purchase or sale. What matters more is the experience of the person handling your file and how well the firm supervises them.

Northern Ireland has its own procedures too, explained in conveyancing in Northern Ireland.

Check regulation, insurance and complaints

Before you send documents or money, check the firm is regulated. You can search the SRA's Solicitors Register or the CLC's directory of lawyers, and the firm should show its regulator and registration number on its website and letters.

Regulated firms must follow their regulator's rules on client money, conflicts of interest and complaints, and must hold professional indemnity insurance, which helps protect clients if the firm makes a costly mistake. Be wary of any business that describes itself as a conveyancing service but cannot tell you which regulated firm will actually do the work.

If something goes wrong, complain to the firm first and give it up to eight weeks to respond. If you are still unhappy, you can take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

Make sure the firm can act for your lender

If you are buying with a mortgage or remortgaging, your conveyancer usually acts for your lender as well as for you. Lenders keep panels, which are lists of firms they are willing to instruct, and many also require an accreditation such as the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme.

If your chosen firm is not on your lender's panel, the lender may instruct a separate firm to act for it, which can add cost and delay. Give the firm your lender's name early. When Keyfolio introduces you to a firm, your lender's panel is one of the things we take into account.

Look for relevant experience

Most firms handle ordinary freehold sales and purchases. Some transactions benefit from a conveyancer who deals with them every week:

• Leasehold flats, especially in blocks with building safety questions
• New build purchases with reservation deadlines
• Auction purchases, where the legal pack must be reviewed before bidding
• Shared ownership, right to buy and probate sales (selling the home of someone who has died)
• Buy-to-let and company purchases, which bring extra tax questions
• Commercial and mixed-use property

Ask how many similar matters the person handling your file deals with, and whether an experienced lawyer supervises their work.

Communication and capacity

Many frustrations with conveyancing come down to communication. Before you instruct, ask how the firm will keep you updated, how quickly it aims to reply and who covers your file when your lawyer is away. A named contact, a direct phone number or email and regular updates make a real difference when a chain is waiting.

Capacity matters too. A firm with too many files may struggle to meet an auction or new build deadline, so if you have a fixed date, say so at the start and ask whether it is realistic.

Understand the price and the terms

A clear quote separates the legal fee, VAT and disbursements (third-party costs such as searches), and explains admin fees and items still to be confirmed. Firms regulated by the SRA that offer residential conveyancing must publish price information on their websites, including the basis of their charges, likely disbursements, VAT and the key stages of the work.

Before work starts, the firm sends a client care letter setting out its terms, the scope of the work, its fees and what you pay if the transaction does not go ahead. Read it before you sign. If an estate agent, developer or broker recommends a firm, ask whether they receive a referral fee for the introduction; you are always free to choose your own conveyancer.

Checklist: questions to ask before you instruct

Ask each firm you are considering:

• Who will handle my file, and what are their qualifications and experience?
• Who supervises them, and who covers when they are away?
• Are you on my lender's panel?
• How is your fee worked out, and which items could change?
• What do I pay if the purchase or sale falls through?
• How will you keep me updated, and how quickly do you usually reply?
• Can you meet my deadline for exchange (when the deal becomes binding) or completion (moving day)?
• How will you give me your bank details, and how do you protect clients from payment fraud?
• How do I make a complaint if I am unhappy?

Protect yourself from fraud

Property transactions attract fraudsters because large sums move at predictable times. A common scam is an email that appears to come from your conveyancer, announcing new bank details. Firms usually explain at the start how they will give you their bank details and that they will never change them by email.

Before sending money, phone your conveyancer on a number you have checked independently, for example from their letters or the regulator's register, never one taken from the email. If the firm suggests sending a small test payment first, confirm it has arrived before sending the rest. If anything feels wrong, stop and call.

Next steps

Compare costs with an instant quote, then read how it works to see how Keyfolio introduces you to a regulated firm chosen for your type of work, the property's location, your lender's panel and the firm's capacity. The firm confirms its fees and terms in writing, and you decide whether to go ahead.