There is a particular brief that comes up time and again in my conversations with conveyancing firms across London, the Home Counties and the South Coast.

An experienced conveyancer. Someone who can pick up a caseload, manage clients confidently, work with minimal supervision and, ideally, hit the ground running.

It is an entirely understandable ask. Particularly in a market where firms are watching costs carefully, adding headcount needs to make commercial sense. But when so many firms are looking for broadly the same profile, there is a question I think is worth asking.

Are we all looking for an experienced conveyancer who is becoming increasingly difficult to find, while not doing enough to develop the next generation of them?

As firms start looking at budgets, performance and plans for 2027, September feels like a particularly good time to have that conversation.

A property market that requires a little perspective

It is difficult to talk about conveyancing recruitment without acknowledging the property market itself, particularly across London and the South East.

The headlines have undoubtedly been mixed. The latest UK House Price Index showed London prices down 2.5% in the year to June 2026, making it the weakest-performing English region. However, that is only one measure of a much bigger market. HMRC’s latest transaction figures showed 106,620 non-seasonally adjusted residential transactions across the UK in July, 5% higher than the same month last year.

There is plenty happening locally too. HM Land Registry’s July data recorded more applications in the South East than any other region, with Greater London second. That data reflects Land Registry workload rather than being a direct measure of current market activity, but it is another useful reminder that “softer” does not mean “stopped”.

That broadly reflects the conversations I am having. Law firms are not necessarily throwing open the doors and hiring at volume, but neither have their people requirements disappeared. Instead, many are being more considered about where they add headcount and what they need that person to deliver.

And that tends to bring us back to experience.

Everyone wants experience, but where does it come from?

There is nothing unreasonable about wanting someone who can operate independently. An experienced conveyancer can bring immediate capacity, reassure clients and reduce the supervision burden on senior colleagues.

The difficulty comes when every firm wants that person ready-made.

Someone has to give a junior conveyancer their first real opportunity to manage files. Someone has to develop the person who is currently capable of handling a caseload but has not yet supervised others. And someone has to give a good senior conveyancer exposure to management, leadership or business development if they are going to progress beyond being an excellent fee earner.

That development takes time.

It also creates a genuine commercial dilemma for firms. If somebody is very good at their current job, moving them away from it can create an immediate gap. A conveyancer who manages a significant caseload efficiently and bills consistently is valuable exactly where they are.

I completely understand why firms can be reluctant to disrupt that.

The problem comes when today’s solution creates tomorrow’s vacancy.

Can somebody become too valuable to promote?

We have written previously at Clayton Legal about what genuine career progression actually looks like, and I think the question is particularly relevant in conveyancing.

Progression cannot simply mean a new title while the job underneath it remains broadly the same. For somebody who wants to develop, it might mean supervising colleagues, managing a team, becoming more involved in client relationships or taking on greater commercial responsibility.

If those opportunities never materialise because somebody is simply too useful carrying their existing caseload, eventually another firm may offer them.

At that point, the original firm has two problems. It has lost an experienced conveyancer and now needs to replace somebody whose experience it helped to build.

There will always be people who are perfectly happy doing the job they already do, and progression should not mean forcing everyone towards management. But firms need to understand what their people actually want and whether there is a credible route to achieving it.

Otherwise, it is very easy to assume somebody is settled right up until they hand in their notice.

What is actually making people stay?

This is where the findings from Clayton Legal’s latest Salary Survey and Market Insights Report become interesting.

When we asked legal professionals who were unlikely to consider moving what was keeping them with their current firm, 64% cited good work/life balance. Working arrangements, including home, flexible and hybrid working, followed at 56%, while 48% cited culture and working environment.

Benefits, by comparison, were selected by just 14%.

There has also been movement in the reasons people actually leave. Better work/life balance accounted for 17.5% of moves, up from 12.6% in our previous survey, while salary and benefits fell as a primary reason for moving.

That does not mean salary is unimportant. Particularly across London and the South East, where salaries, commuting costs and the cost of living can vary significantly within a relatively small geographical area, remuneration absolutely forms part of the decision.

But candidates rarely talk to me about one thing in isolation.

The role itself matters. The firm matters. Caseload and support matter. Progression matters. Flexibility and the commute can matter enormously. Often, somebody who initially tells me they want more money starts describing several other frustrations once we properly talk through why they are considering a move.

For firms trying to retain experienced conveyancers, understanding those reasons before somebody enters the job market is hugely valuable.

London, the Home Counties and South Coast are not one market

Another challenge with conveyancing recruitment is treating the South as though it operates as one homogeneous market.

It doesn’t.

A role in the City presents a very different proposition from one in Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire or along the South Coast. Salary expectations differ, but so do commuting patterns, working arrangements, types of client and firm, caseloads and candidates’ priorities.

A London firm may be able to offer a higher salary but ask someone to accept a substantial commute several times a week. A Home Counties or South Coast firm may not always compete pound-for-pound but could offer somebody a shorter journey, more flexibility, greater responsibility or a clearer route forward.

Neither proposition is automatically better. It depends on the person.

That is why I think firms need to understand their actual proposition before going to market. If you are looking for an experienced conveyancer, why should that person leave a firm where they are already established to join yours?

Salary may form part of the answer, but increasingly it cannot be the whole answer.

September is when the 2027 conversation should start

This is perhaps the biggest reason I wanted to write about this now.

September is a natural point in the year for firms to take stock. You have enough of 2026 behind you to understand performance, workload and where pressure points have emerged. Budget conversations for next year are beginning too.

Headcount needs to be part of that discussion.

If you know you are likely to need another experienced conveyancer in the first quarter of 2027, January is probably too late to start thinking about it.

Many experienced legal professionals have three-month notice periods. Before that comes identifying potential candidates, initial conversations, interviews, possibly second-stage meetings, negotiating an offer and allowing somebody time to make what can be a significant career decision.

And that assumes the first person you meet is the right person.

Starting the conversation now does not mean making unnecessary hires months ahead of need. It means understanding the market, testing whether your expectations are realistic and giving yourself options.

Before you recruit, look at who you already have

There is another important part to 2027 workforce planning that has nothing to do with advertising a vacancy.

Look at the team you already have.

Where are you heavily reliant on one experienced person? Who could take a step forward over the next 12 months? Is there somebody who could become the experienced conveyancer you think you need externally if they received the right development now? And are there good people whose progression has quietly stalled because moving them would leave an inconvenient gap elsewhere?

Not every skills gap can or should be solved internally. External recruitment brings fresh experience, new ideas and skills that may simply not exist within the current team.

But recruitment should sit alongside development rather than automatically replacing it.

If firms continually recruit the finished article without creating opportunities for people to become that finished article, the experienced conveyancer shortage becomes a problem the whole market perpetuates.

Planning now gives you more choices later

The property market across London and the South is not without its challenges, but I don’t think that calls for pessimism. If anything, a more measured environment gives firms an opportunity to think carefully about the teams they want to build rather than simply reacting to immediate workload.

The question heading into 2027 is not just “Do we need to hire?”

It is:

• what experience do we need?
• where are our vulnerabilities?
• who could develop internally?
• and where do we genuinely need to bring somebody new into the business?

And if the answer includes an experienced conveyancer, now is the time to start understanding who might actually be available.

Because if every firm waits until January to look for the same ready-made candidate, we shouldn’t be surprised when that candidate proves difficult to find.

Frequently asked questions about conveyancing recruitment

When should law firms start recruiting for 2027 conveyancing roles?

For experienced hires, firms should ideally start workforce planning several months before they need somebody in post. Three-month notice periods are common among experienced legal professionals, and firms also need to allow time for the recruitment and interview process. Starting market conversations in autumn 2026 can therefore make sense for roles needed in early 2027.

Why are experienced conveyancers difficult to recruit?

Experienced conveyancers combine technical knowledge with the ability to manage files, clients and transactions independently. Developing that experience takes time, and demand for people who can join a firm with minimal supervision remains strong. Firms may need to balance external recruitment with developing people already within their teams.

What attracts experienced conveyancers to a new firm?

Salary remains important, but it is rarely the only consideration. Our conversations with candidates regularly include workload, progression, management, support, flexibility, commute, culture and the quality of the work. The strongest recruitment propositions tend to give candidates a clear reason why moving firms will improve their career or working life.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal is a specialist legal recruitment consultancy with more than 27 years’ experience supporting law firms and legal professionals across England and Wales.

Our specialist consultants work within defined practice areas and regions, giving them a detailed understanding of the firms, talent markets and hiring challenges within their particular area.

I specialise in conveyancing recruitment across London, the Home Counties and South Coast, working with firms and legal professionals at different stages of their hiring and career journeys.

Alongside supporting immediate vacancies, our whole team work with firms on longer-term workforce planning, salary benchmarking and market insight. If you are starting to think about your 2027 conveyancing team (or any other legal department in your Firm), or simply want to understand what the candidate market currently looks like across London and the South, get in touch for a confidential conversation.