The publication highlights issues that we have encountered during our monitoring and inspection work, with practical advice on how these should be addressed to stay compliant with the CLC’s high standards and mitigate risk for clients and conveyancing practices.

The following is just a snapshot of these and other challenges facing conveyancers this year and I urge you to take time to read the Risk Agenda in full.

• Professional ethics

Practitioners will be aware of the strong focus the CLC, as well as the Legal Services Board and others, puts on improving ethics in the profession.

Earlier this year, the CLC introduced new Ethical Principles which place a duty upon our lawyers to uphold the rule of law and maintain public trust and confidence in the legal profession.

Each of the six principles are accompanied by specific outcomes, which must be met. These set the overall standard for practice by CLC-regulated lawyers.

• Applications to HM Land Registry

Research by HM Land Registry last year showed that 22% of the more than 4.4 million applications it received in 2023 required a requisition. As well as adding an average 15 days to the time it took for a transaction to be registered, it estimated that this could be costing lawyers as much as £19 million a year, with £3.6 million attributable just to getting names wrong.

This data gives us cause for concern that some practices are not taking their responsibility seriously. Clients have been charged for the work and there is an obligation to perform it promptly, accurately and with diligence.

• Complaints handling

Failure to keep clients informed, delays and post-completion problems are among the most common issues for clients, according to our survey of the CLC’s regulated community last year.

Complaints should be dealt with fairly, constructively and impartially. Our independent Adjudication Panel has sanctioned licensed conveyancers for systematically poor complaints handling and will not hesitate to do so again.

• IT resilience and recovery

Cyber-attacks can be dangerous and disruptive – not just the incident itself but the recovery, which can suck up huge amounts of management time and money.

In 2022, a large solicitors’ practice was fined almost £100,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for failing to rectify known problems with its cyber-security which led to a ransomware attack.

We expect practices to keep on top of their IT security and the CLC’s ‘Cyber Essentials’ kit is a useful starting point.

• Anti-money laundering (AML)

AML remains a high priority for the property sector, which is deemed at high risk of being exploited by those seeking to launder money.

The CLC’s Anti-Money Laundering Report 2024 found just four of the 46 practices inspected were fully compliant with their duties as laid out in the Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Terrorist Financing Code and the Money Laundering Regulations.

A comprehensive, robust and up-to-date AML policy is crucial to our regulated community discharging their obligations.

• Sanctions

Our recently updated Sanctions Advisory Note details the relevance of financial sanctions and what we expect of CLC practices.

The sanctions regime does not just apply to Russia and Belarus but has a global reach, a point made in the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s Legal Sector Threat Assessment published earlier this year.

Firms that fail to follow financial sanctions requirements could be subject to disciplinary action, criminal prosecution or a large public fine.

• Compliance with the Accounts Code

Compliance with the CLC’s Accounts Code is a core obligation of our regulated community. Too often, we come across unreconciled items and aged balances when we inspect client accounts.

We appreciate there can be reasons for holding client money – such as if a transaction aborts but the client is looking for another property – but if money is not moved for 12 months, it needs to be paid back to the rightful recipient.

• Conflicts of interest

CLC-regulated practices can act for clients on both sides of a transaction with informed written consent under the terms of the Conflicts of Interest Code.

All CLC practices must have a conflicts policy, and all team members must understand what they need to do when there is an actual or perceived conflict.

• Breaches of undertakings

Ensuring that clients’ properties are registered properly following completion is an integral, if not the most important, aspect of a conveyancer’s role.

We urge firms to ensure that teams are properly resourced and trained and that matters are dealt with promptly with the requisite care, skill and diligence that we expect.

As a proactive regulator, we are committed to supporting our regulated community, and this Risk Agenda is designed not only to help practices and individuals remain compliant and uphold high standards, but also to reinforce trust and confidence across the entire property market. By identifying and addressing key risks, we aim to protect all those involved in buying and selling homes — from consumers and conveyancers to estate agents, lenders and developers — ensuring a more secure, transparent and efficient property transaction process for everyone.

Stephen Ward is director of strategy and external relations at the Council for Licensed Conveyancers