Hiring guide: residential conveyancing
Hiring a residential conveyancer in 2026: salaries, costs and what to look for
By Ben Holtom, founder of Sourcefully. Updated .
The short answer
Outside London, conveyancing assistants typically earn £23,500 to £30,000 in 2026 and experienced residential conveyancers running their own files £28,000 to £38,000. Residential property solicitors earn around £35,000 to £58,000 at NQ and £47,000 to £78,000 at 4 to 5 PQE depending on region, and £52,000 to £76,000 at NQ in London. A typical 20% agency fee on a £32,000 conveyancer is £6,400; a Sourcefully flat fee is £4,000 plus VAT.
Residential conveyancing is the role most firms hire most often and lose most often. Caseloads are high, the work runs to other people's deadlines, and a good conveyancer with a manageable file count rarely needs to look for a job. That makes the role itself, not the job board, the thing that decides whether you fill it.
The figures below cover England and Wales. Solicitor pay is shown by region; assistant and conveyancer pay is shown for regional firms outside London.
Salaries in 2026
Conveyancing assistants and non-qualified conveyancers, regional firms
| Level | Typical range 2026 |
|---|---|
| Entry level assistant, under 1 year | £23,500 to £24,500 |
| Early career, 1 to 3 years | £25,000 to £27,000 |
| Experienced assistant, 3 to 5 years | £27,000 to £30,000 |
| Conveyancer running their own files | £28,000 to £34,000 |
| Senior, supervisory or high-volume fee earner | £29,000 to £38,000 |
Residential property solicitors by region
| Region | NQ (0 to 1 PQE) | 4 to 5 PQE | 8 to 15 PQE |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | £52,000 to £76,000 | £69,000 to £102,000 | £91,000 to £154,000 |
| South East | £40,000 to £58,000 | £53,000 to £78,000 | £70,000 to £118,000 |
| South West | £39,000 to £57,000 | £52,000 to £77,000 | £69,000 to £116,000 |
| East of England | £37,000 to £53,000 | £48,000 to £71,000 | £64,000 to £108,000 |
| East Midlands | £37,000 to £53,000 | £48,000 to £71,000 | £64,000 to £108,000 |
| West Midlands | £38,000 to £55,000 | £51,000 to £74,000 | £67,000 to £112,000 |
| North West | £39,000 to £57,000 | £52,000 to £76,000 | £68,000 to £115,000 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £39,000 to £57,000 | £52,000 to £76,000 | £68,000 to £115,000 |
| North East | £35,000 to £51,000 | £47,000 to £69,000 | £62,000 to £104,000 |
| Wales | £35,000 to £51,000 | £47,000 to £69,000 | £62,000 to £104,000 |
Solicitor bands are from LawBoard salary benchmarking 2026, which models mid-size firm pay across England and Wales. Smaller high street firms often pay below these bands, and larger regional firms above.
Assistant and conveyancer bands are typical ranges for regional firms outside London. London and the South East pay towards the top of them, and the North East and Wales towards the bottom.
What moves pay: the file count and its complexity (leasehold, new build, shared ownership and unregistered land all add weight), whether the person runs sales and purchases end to end, and whether they supervise others. Commercial property is covered in the corporate and commercial guide.
What it costs to hire
Compared with a typical agency fee of 20% of first-year salary, Sourcefully's flat fees are set by salary band and paid when your hire starts. For roles from £45,000, £500 is due when the search starts and deducted from the fee. Fees are plus VAT.
| Role | Salary | Agency at 20% | Sourcefully flat fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conveyancing assistant | £26,000 | £5,200 | £3,000 |
| Conveyancer running own files | £32,000 | £6,400 | £4,000 |
| Residential property solicitor, 4 to 5 PQE | £62,000 | £12,400 | £7,500 |
Hiring several roles a year? The Embedded Talent Partner retainer is £2,750 a month plus £1,000 per start. It covers up to three live roles at a time, with adverts under your own brand. Use the Recruitment Cost Audit to see which option works out cheaper for your volume.
What the conveyancing market is like
Demand for conveyancers follows transaction volumes, so it rises and falls with the housing market. What does not change is that experienced conveyancers who are happy with their caseload stay put. Most of the people you would want to hire are not applying to adverts, and many of those who are have left because of caseload, systems or support.
Caseload is the real salary. A conveyancer offered £2,000 more to run 30 more files is being offered less per file, and candidates work that out. Firms that state the expected file count and the support around it get more serious applicants than firms that lead on salary alone.
What to look for when you screen
- Their current file count, and the mix of sales, purchases, remortgages, leasehold and new build.
- How much of the process they run themselves, from instruction through exchange and completion to post-completion and registration.
- Which case management system they use, and how comfortable they would be switching to yours.
- Their approach to source of funds and anti-money laundering checks, and an example of a red flag they spotted.
- How they keep clients and estate agents informed when a chain stalls.
- What they can sign off themselves, and what goes to a supervising solicitor.
How to make your role stand out
- State the expected file count and who supports the role.
- Name your case management system and how much of the process is automated.
- Put the salary in the advert. Conveyancers compare roles side by side.
- Be clear about hybrid working. Much of the work is screen-based and candidates expect some flexibility.
More hiring guides
- Private client
- Corporate and commercial
- Family
- Employment
- Secretaries, assistants and paralegals
- Fee-earning paralegals
See also the law firm salary guide 2026, how much legal recruitment costs and all hiring guides.
Free PDF
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Solicitor pay for five practice areas across all ten regions, plus legal support roles and what each costs to recruit. Four pages, ready to print for your next salary review or hiring meeting.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a residential conveyancer earn in 2026?
Outside London, conveyancing assistants typically earn £23,500 to £30,000. Non-qualified conveyancers running their own files earn £28,000 to £34,000, and senior or supervisory conveyancers up to around £38,000. Residential property solicitors earn around £35,000 to £58,000 at NQ and £47,000 to £78,000 at 4 to 5 PQE depending on region, with London higher.
What is the difference between a conveyancing assistant and a conveyancer?
A conveyancing assistant supports files run by someone else: searches, ID checks, chasing, post-completion and registration. A conveyancer runs their own caseload from instruction to completion. Once someone owns files, the market expects fee earner pay rather than assistant pay.
How much does it cost to recruit a conveyancer?
A typical agency fee of 20% on a £32,000 conveyancer is £6,400. Sourcefully charges a flat £4,000 plus VAT for a role at that salary, paid when your hire starts. Firms hiring regularly can use the retainer at £2,750 a month plus £1,000 per start.
How long does it take to hire a conveyancer?
Plan around the notice period. Many experienced conveyancers are on one to three months' notice, so even a quick search rarely produces a start date within six weeks. Starting before a resignation lands is the single best way to avoid a gap.
About the author
Ben Holtom, founder of Sourcefully
Ben has 15 years in recruitment, including internal recruitment at Reed and The Edwin Group. He founded RecQuest, a South Coast legal recruitment business, in 2025 and partnered with 45 law firms, making nearly a placement a week. He now runs Sourcefully, offering law firms embedded recruitment and fixed-fee hiring.