Visit Website →
← Back to blog

Conveyancer vs solicitor UK: which one should you hire?

August 24, 2026
Conveyancer vs solicitor UK: which one should you hire?

For most straightforward UK home purchases, a licensed conveyancer is a cost-effective choice. If your sale or purchase involves legal complexity, such as disputes, trusts, company ownership or unusual leasehold terms, a solicitor is the safer route. Both are legally entitled to handle your conveyancing, but their training and scope differ in ways that matter once things get complicated.

Before you instruct anyone, check who regulates them:

  • Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
  • Licensed conveyancers are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
  • Ask for a written quote and the name of the fee earner who will actually handle your file, not just the firm's name.

Key Takeaways

Choosing between a conveyancer and a solicitor comes down to matching transaction complexity to the right specialist, then verifying their regulator, fee earner and insurance before you pay anything.

PointDetails
Match complexity to professionalUse a licensed conveyancer for routine sales; choose a solicitor when disputes, trusts or company ownership are involved.
Verify the regulatorCheck the SRA register for solicitors or the CLC register for licensed conveyancers before instructing.
Get a written, itemised quoteInsist on a breakdown separating legal fees from disbursements like searches and Land Registry costs.
Confirm insurance and fee earnerAsk about professional indemnity cover, client money protection, and who specifically handles your file.
Co-buyers need extra protectionCohaus publishes deed-of-trust and co-ownership guidance to help joint buyers brief their legal adviser properly.

Table of Contents

Conveyancer vs solicitor UK: the key differences at a glance

The core distinction comes down to scope. A solicitor trains broadly across property, family, litigation and commercial law before often specialising. A licensed conveyancer trains specifically in property transactions from the outset, which is why routine files can move faster through their systems.

  • Solicitor: regulated by the SRA, qualifies via a law degree or equivalent plus the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), handles conveyancing alongside wider legal work, typically suited to complex or disputed transactions.
  • Licensed conveyancer: regulated by the CLC, qualifies through CLC-accredited property law and practice courses, specialises solely in conveyancing and probate, typically suited to standard purchases, sales and remortgages.
  • Chartered legal executive (CILEx): often works within a solicitor's firm, qualified in specific legal areas including property, regulated under SRA-authorised practices in most cases.

Fee bands overlap for both professions, so price alone won't tell you who's better suited to your transaction. Always confirm the firm sits on your lender's approved panel before you pay a penny, and verify registration status directly with the regulator rather than trusting a website badge.

What does a conveyancer or solicitor actually do for you?

Whichever professional you instruct, the practical workload looks similar on a standard transaction:

  1. Draft or review the contract and check the property's legal title.
  2. Raise and reply to pre-contract enquiries with the other side's solicitor or conveyancer.
  3. Order local authority, water and environmental searches.
  4. Report findings to you and confirm you're happy to proceed to exchange.
  5. Handle mortgage funds, transfer money on completion day, and pay stamp duty on your behalf.
  6. Register the change of ownership with HM Land Registry through its e-services platform.

Disbursements sit on top of the legal fee. Search fees typically run to a few hundred pounds, Land Registry registration fees scale with property value, and bank transfer fees for sending completion funds are usually a fixed charge per transaction. A licensed conveyancer's narrower focus can mean a slicker, more predictable process on a routine freehold purchase. Where something unexpected surfaces, missing planning permission, a boundary dispute, an unusual restrictive covenant, a solicitor's broader legal training tends to pay off.

How do you verify a conveyancer or solicitor is properly regulated?

The Legal Services Act 2007 makes preparing property transfer documents a reserved legal activity: only authorised persons, solicitors, licensed conveyancers and chartered legal executives among them, may carry out conveyancing for a fee. Anyone else offering to handle your sale for money is operating outside the law, and that alone should end the conversation.

Checking credentials takes minutes:

  • Search the SRA register to confirm a solicitor's practising certificate is current.
  • Use the CLC's find-a-lawyer tool to confirm a licensed conveyancer's licence and the reserved services their firm may deliver.
  • Ask directly whether the firm carries professional indemnity insurance and participates in a client money protection scheme, both should be confirmed in writing, not just implied.

Pro Tip: Ask specifically whether your money sits in a separate client account and what happens to it if the firm ceases trading. A regulated firm will answer this without hesitation.

When should you choose a solicitor over a licensed conveyancer?

Hand with magnifying glass inspecting contract

Government guidance lists solicitors, licensed conveyancers and chartered legal executives as equally authorised to handle your sale or purchase, so the decision isn't about legality. It's about matching expertise to complexity.

Lean towards a solicitor when you're facing:

  1. A disputed boundary, unresolved title defect, or missing planning consents.
  2. Litigation connected to the property, including inherited disputes between beneficiaries.
  3. A purchase through a limited company, trust, or with unusual co-ownership terms.
  4. Leasehold issues involving a defective lease, forfeiture risk, or an uncooperative freeholder.

A licensed conveyancer usually handles these perfectly well:

  • A standard freehold purchase or sale with a straightforward chain.
  • A remortgage with no change in ownership.
  • A simple transfer of equity between two known parties.

Whichever you approach, ask at first contact: Are you on my lender's panel? Who is my named fee earner, and how many other files are they juggling? What's your realistic turnaround, and what's included in the quoted fee? MoneyHelper points to individual capacity and responsiveness as the strongest predictor of a smooth completion, arguably a bigger factor than the letters after someone's name.

What does conveyancing cost and how long does it take?

Legal fees and disbursements are separate line items, and a proper quote should break them apart rather than bundling them into one number. The legal fee covers the professional's time; disbursements cover searches, Land Registry fees, and any administrative costs tied to stamp duty, which vary with transaction specifics.

  • Search fees: typically a few hundred pounds combined, covering local authority, drainage and environmental checks.
  • Land Registry fees: scale with the property's value and are fixed by the registry, not negotiable.
  • Legal fee: varies by firm, transaction complexity, and region.

Typical cost band: All-in conveyancing costs commonly fall between roughly £800 and £2,000, depending on complexity and disbursements. The cheapest quote often excludes disbursements or add-on fees that surface later, so compare like for like.

Timeline-wise, expect four broad phases: offer accepted to instruction, searches and enquiries (often the slowest stretch), exchange of contracts, then completion. Delays cluster around slow local authority searches, a chain with multiple linked transactions, or a fee earner juggling too many files at once.

Co-buying and joint purchase: what extra protections do you need?

Co-buying introduces legal questions a standard purchase never raises: who owns what share, what happens if one buyer wants out, and who controls the mortgage if a relationship breaks down. These need a deed of trust, clear exit terms, and a plan for managing joint mortgage payments before you exchange, not after a disagreement starts.

When instructing a solicitor or conveyancer for a joint purchase, prioritise someone with genuine experience in:

  • Drafting deeds of trust that reflect unequal deposit contributions.
  • Setting up tenancy in common arrangements rather than defaulting to joint tenancy.
  • Including forced-sale clauses and multi-party exit terms that protect everyone if circumstances change.

Cohaus publishes practical guidance on deeds of trust and tenancy in common versus joint tenancy that's worth reading before your first call with a legal adviser, so you arrive knowing which documents to ask for by name.

Pro Tip: Give your solicitor or conveyancer a checklist upfront: deed of trust, exit clause wording, who holds surplus funds if the property is sold. Naming documents specifically gets you a sharper, faster quote.

What should you check before you pay for a quote?

A written estimate protects you far more than a verbal promise. Before instructing anyone:

  1. Request an itemised written estimate that separates the legal fee from disbursements.
  2. Get the named fee earner's direct contact details, not a general enquiries line.
  3. Confirm the firm's lender panel status in writing if you're using a mortgage.
  4. Agree how often you'll receive updates and what the expected timeline looks like.
  5. Ask for written confirmation of client money protection arrangements.
  6. Keep a record of every instruction you give, and request a completion checklist so nothing gets missed near the finish line.

Red flags, common delays and mistakes that cost time or money

Watch for vague quotes that dodge specifics, firms that won't confirm their regulator, or disbursements that appear only after you've committed. Poor communication, missing documents, or an overloaded fee earner are the usual causes of delay, not bad luck.

  • Ask for regulator details and licence numbers in writing before instructing.
  • Set response deadlines in your engagement letter, not just verbally.
  • Chase politely but firmly if updates stop arriving. Silence is the clearest warning sign of an overstretched firm.

Why named fee earners and transparent quotes matter

Every guide we've written for Cohaus comes back to the same practical point: a named fee earner and a written, itemised quote protect you more than any qualification on a letterhead. We publish deed-of-trust guidance and co-buying checklists because the paperwork that protects joint buyers is rarely the paperwork people think to ask for.

Cohaus exists for exactly the situation this article covers: buyers who need more than a standard conveyancing checklist because they're purchasing with someone else. Where a solicitor or conveyancer handles the legal mechanics of your sale, Cohaus helps you get to that point in the first place, matching you with compatible co-buyers, managing shared deposit contributions, and pointing you towards legal advisers who actually understand multi-party purchases.

Cohaus

The platform's guides on deeds of trust and co-ownership agreements exist precisely so you walk into that first solicitor meeting already knowing what to ask for. If you're exploring co-buying as a way into home ownership, visit Cohaus to read the deed-of-trust guide and find recommended legal advisers before you start instructing anyone.

Frequently asked questions

Is a licensed conveyancer cheaper than a solicitor? Not necessarily. Fee bands overlap significantly, and pricing depends more on transaction complexity and firm location than on which title the practitioner holds.

Do I need a solicitor for conveyancing, or can a conveyancer handle everything? A licensed conveyancer can legally handle the entire process for most standard purchases and sales. A solicitor becomes the better choice once disputes, trusts, or company ownership enter the picture.

Can I split solicitor fees on a joint house purchase? Yes.

What's the real difference between a conveyancer and a solicitor in the UK? A solicitor holds broader legal training and SRA regulation; a licensed conveyancer specialises solely in property transactions under CLC regulation. Both are legally authorised to handle your conveyancing.

How do I check if my chosen conveyancer or solicitor is properly regulated? Search the SRA register for solicitors or the CLC's find-a-lawyer tool for licensed conveyancers, and ask for their licence number directly.

This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer. Consult a qualified legal professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.

Sources