According to research by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), published last week, nearly half (45%) of conveyancing practitioners expect their work volumes to rise in the next 12 months. A further 42% expect work volumes to remain the same, with just 13% expecting work to shrink over the next year.
A mere 4% of conveyancing practices reduced prices in the past year in order to compete, while more than one third (37%) of firms raised their prices.
Brexit was the most commonly cited business risk over the coming year, with 30% of firms highlighting it, compared to 19% last year. More than a quarter were concerned about cybercrime, but fewer firms identified fraud/money laundering as a risk (25%) compared to last year (34%). Only 12 of the 212 firms licensed by the CLC were victims of fraud last year and only three incurred a cost as a result.
CLC chief executive Sheila Kumar said: ‘Against the background of uncertainty created by Brexit there has been remarkable consistency in the performance and outlook of the practices we regulate. It is encouraging to see how many firms expect to keep growing in the coming year.
‘We as a regulator and our regulated community have worked hard to identify and combat the risks of fraud, money laundering and cybercrime, and the signs are that this is paying off. But we are all too aware of how quickly criminals adapt, so focusing on these dangers remains one of the central priorities of our monitoring work.’
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