Conveyancing firms: where the hours between AML checks and completion actually go

Every UK conveyancer already knows where a file actually slows down: not at exchange, but in the weeks before it. Searches ordered, then chased when the local authority takes three weeks instead of one. Enquiries raised, enquiries answered, then re-raised because the reply didn't actually address the question. A chain of three or four linked transactions, each dependent on the other, that needs someone actively holding it together or it drifts. That work barely touches the law. It's logistics - and it's most of the file.

That logistics load has been growing, not shrinking. The Law Society's expanded TA6 Property Information Form now asks for more detail than it did a few years ago - on flooding history, building safety, boundary disputes and more - which means more to check and query in that enquiry back-and-forth before a file is safe to progress. HM Land Registry's push towards digital identity verification through its safe-harbour framework has changed how AML checks get documented on every new matter, and where a sale involves leasehold, the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 - not yet fully in force, but with its leasehold disclosure provisions commencing in stages - will add further paperwork for a firm to gather and disclose as those provisions come into effect. None of it shows up as fee-earning time. It shows up as more searches to chase, more enquiries to answer, and a longer chain to hold together.

None of it is optional, and every conveyancer we speak to describes the same ceiling: you can only carry so many live files before the chasing swallows the day. That's the reason completions run late, the reason a client rings for the third time this week wanting an update you don't have yet, and the reason taking on more instructions just means more evenings at the desk. The question isn't whether AI can help with some of this - most conveyancers already sense it can. It's exactly where, and in what order, for a firm that runs the way yours does.

Where the hours actually go on a typical file

We don't put a single blanket figure on conveyancing admin, because caseload decides it - a high-volume, fixed-fee freehold desk loses time differently to a firm doing complex leasehold and new-build work. What we do see consistently, across the firms we assess, is that four tasks account for most of the non-billable hours on a live file:

• File opening and AML. New matter setup, ID verification, source-of-funds checks and client-care paperwork before the file properly starts. In the firms we assess, this typically runs to somewhere in the region of 3-6 hours a week per fee-earner, depending on caseload and how much of the ID-verification step is already digitised through a platform such as Thirdfort or Credas rather than done by hand.
• Ordering and reviewing searches. Local authority, drainage, environmental and other searches, ordered, chased when they're late, then read closely enough to pull out what matters for the report on title. A busy fee-earner typically loses several hours a week here just reading and re-reading search results that mostly say the same thing.
• Raising and replying to enquiries. The enquiries the other side raises, and the ones you raise back, drafted, checked, sent, then chased when nobody answers. Firms running a heavier caseload often find this is the single biggest block of writing time in the week, most of it repeating the same handful of standard queries with small variations.
• Milestone chasing across the chain. Contracts, searches, mortgage offer, enquiries, exchange, completion - and the relentless follow-up with the other side's solicitor, the lender, the estate agent and the client that keeps a chain from collapsing. This is usually the task fee-earners underestimate most, because it's spread across the day in five-minute calls and emails rather than sitting in one visible block.

Add those together across a full caseload and it's easy to see why a conveyancer who is technically capable of handling more files simply doesn't have the hours to do it. The admin isn't a side issue. It's most of the week.

What's safe to hand to AI - and what stays with the conveyancer

This is where most conveyancing firms hesitate, reasonably so. You're regulated - by the Solicitors Regulation Authority if you're a solicitor-led firm, or the Council for Licensed Conveyancers if you're not - and client money, client data and legal sign-off aren't things you experiment with. That caution is correct, and it's exactly why the line matters.

The honest answer is that AI is useful for the admin around the law, not the law itself. It can draft a routine enquiry from the file, summarise a search result and flag what's unusual, draft a status-chase email to the other side, or produce the first pass of a client update. What it should never do on its own is decide whether an enquiry needs raising, judge whether a search result is acceptable, or sign anything off. That judgement - and the professional liability that sits behind it - stays with the conveyancer, full stop. A workflow assessment worth its fee draws that line explicitly for your firm, task by task, rather than leaving you to guess.

The other governance question is data. Client and matter data has to stay confidential and covered by the same AML and data-protection obligations you already work under - which rules out feeding it into a free, consumer-grade chat tool that trains on whatever you type in. The assessment only recommends business-account plans built for that, and flags the confidentiality and data-protection checks to run before anything goes live. Your case management system - LEAP, Osprey, Redbrick or whatever you run - stays the system of record throughout. AI sits around it, doing the drafting and chasing that currently happens by hand, not replacing it.

If it helps to run this same kind of self-audit on a different part of the business first, we've written before about the checks that show where a process is quietly leaking time - the same discipline of scoring where a workflow actually breaks down applies just as well to a conveyancing file as it does to a sales pipeline.

One task, worked through: milestone chasing before and after

Take a firm running, say, 40 live files at any one time - not unusual for a small-to-mid-sized conveyancing team. Under the old way, keeping the chain moving on each file means a phone call or email to the other side's solicitor, the lender, the estate agent, and sometimes the client, roughly once or twice a week per file, just to establish where things stand and nudge whatever's stuck. Multiply that across 40 files and you're looking at several hours a week that produce no legal work at all - just status-checking and chasing, done from memory or a scribbled note on the file.

The alternative the assessment maps out isn't a magic fix - it's a recipe. Case management notes and milestone dates already sitting in the file get pulled into a template that drafts the routine chase: "still awaiting search results, chased again today" or "enquiries raised, awaiting reply from the other side." A fee-earner or paralegal reviews and sends rather than writing each one from scratch. The judgement - who to chase, how firmly, whether something needs escalating rather than a polite nudge - stays exactly where it should, with a person who knows the file. What changes is that the drafting stops being the bottleneck. Firms that put this in place typically find the milestone-chasing block of the week shrinks by roughly half, though the actual number depends on how many files you're carrying and how much of the chase was already templated.

Find your own number

Every one of those ranges above is a typical picture, not your firm's number. Caseload mix, how digitised your ID checks already are, how much leasehold work you carry, and how your case management system is set up all change where your hours actually go - which is exactly why a benchmark isn't much use to you on its own.

Our free admin cost calculator gives you a rough starting estimate in a couple of minutes, based on how your firm answers a few quick questions. It's a reasonable first look, but it's still an estimate, not a diagnosis of your actual file work.

The proper way to find your number is the AI workflow assessment for conveyancers: a 60-minute session where we map file opening and AML, searches, enquiries and milestone chasing against how your firm actually runs a matter, then hand back a report with named tools, step-by-step recipes, and a plan for what to fix first - built around your files, not an industry average. It costs less than the fee on a single completion, and it's guaranteed: if the report doesn't show at least 5 hours a week worth reclaiming, you get the £799 back.

If you'd rather start smaller, our free two-minute quiz gives you a first read on where your firm's admin is heaviest, no commitment required. Either way, the point is the same: see where your hours are going before you decide what to do about them.