The top ten brands have increased their share of Land Registry transactions to more than 8% in 2019 from around 7% in 2018. However, the sector is still populated by small conveyancing firms and no one brand has a ‘significant market share’ yet.
IRN Research predicts COVID-19 will lead to more M&A activity in the sector as many firms will find it difficult to return to previous business levels, and that residential housing transactions will decrease by 25% in 2020, compared to 2019. It expects market recovery to start towards the middle of 2021.
Its practitioner survey found the percentage of conveyancers expecting volume growth in the next 12 months had dropped to below 50% for the first time since the survey began in 2016.
The UK Conveyancing Market Report 2020 can be purchased from IRN Research. Visit: www.irn-research.com/market-research-legal-reports.
