According to the research that was undertaken by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), it was found that people prefer recommendations by estate agents over anything else while choosing Conveyancers.
This was the most popular factor in making the decision, which was followed by few other factors, namely price of the conveyancer, previous experience of the lawyer, and the recommendations of friends and family. The percentage of people who voted for recommendations by estate agents was 59%. However, even they were not sure whether the conveyancing lawyer had paid some fees to the estate agents or not.
As per My Conveyancing Specialist, one of the leading conveyancing specialists, this is a very wrongful practice if some lawyers are undertaking it. Some new rules were implemented in December, which stated that all the conveyancing lawyers have to publish the cost of their services and every other information on their website. This would help consumers take a conscious and wise decision to go with their own choice of lawyer.
The housing minister, Heather Wheeler, shared at the CLC Annual Conference in January, “Buyers choose the house, not the estate agent, but this shouldn’t mean that they choose their conveyancer by default. While referral fees are an important feature of the industry, and a way of reducing marketing costs and building business, I’m concerned about the current lack of transparency… Consumers should always know they have a choice.”
According to the new rules, it would also become clear whether the conveyancing specialists have entered some referral arrangements as well or not. And if so, what is the average fees they pay. This action has been taken to bring in some transparency in choosing the conveyancing specialists.
