The recent collapse of a major conveyancing firm is an unwelcome reminder of just how exposed both conveyancers – as well as their sellers – are to the failures that can occur after exchange of contracts. In this post we examine what the key issues are, and explain what conveyancers can do to protect their clients – and themselves.
PM Law – a lesson to learn
Before its recent demise, PM Law was a major player in residential conveyancing. Operating under a number of brands, and with 24 offices nationwide, it had around 600 staff and a turnover in excess of £14m.
Following allegations of financial irregularity, the firm shut down without warning on 2 February 2026 and subsequently entered liquidation. Thousands of property transactions suddenly ground to a halt. Buyer funds and case files were trapped in the system.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) stepped in quickly to expedite the transfer of an estimated 17,000 client files to other legal firms and provide some financial compensation. Even so, a number of sales and purchases were significantly delayed – and some could have fallen through entirely, with considerable financial and emotional cost to those involved.
The exit of conveyancing firms from the market is not a rare event. The latest IRN UK Residential Conveyancing Market Report records that, even as house sale volumes have increased, the number of active residential conveyancing firms has fallen sharply — from 6,763 in 2021 to just 5,904 in January 2026.
Wider issues with the conveyancing market
Whatever the specific reasons for PM Law’s failure, it exposes a deep structural fragility in our conveyancing system — one that conveyancers will know only too well.
The system is complex, it is old, and it has not fully adapted to the digital world. Digital transformation brings its own challenges, of course, including technical failures and the growing risk of cyber attacks.
Conveyancing is also, as many will know, a fiercely competitive business. The cheapest conveyancing offers currently being advertised start at just £239. At those prices viability is a real concern and with it the stability of the firms themselves.
Transactions involve multiple parties, each with their own agenda and timetable. Mortgage lenders can be slow; offers can expire. Surveys raise issues that take weeks to resolve. Local authority searches often operate at a snail’s pace. Stretched chains are notorious for snapping.
And most crucially of all is what some call the ‘completion gap’ – the period between exchange of contracts and completion day. Exchange is, legally, only a promise to buy and sell. The money does not change hands until completion.
According to recent data from Compare My Move, the average completion gap is two weeks, but it frequently extends to four, or more. The longer the gap the greater the exposure to risk.
For conveyancers, this is not abstract risk. It is the window in which client relationships, professional reputations, and carefully managed chains can unravel through no fault of their own.
The real cost of a failed completion
A common misconception is that the 10% buyer deposit – paid to the seller on exchange and typically held by the conveyancer — provides adequate protection against a failed transaction. In practice, it frequently does not.
If a sale collapses after exchange, the deposit may not cover the full cost of relisting a property, finding a new buyer, and repeating the entire conveyancing process – potentially for both a sale and an onward purchase. Legal recovery takes time. And in most chains, the buyer’s deposit is itself underpinned by the deposit from their own buyer. It exists as a paper promise only until completion actually happens. Not to mention the emotional and ongoing financial impact on your client, who have invested in their plans for the future…
According to Rightmove, up to 23% of sales fall through and cost the economy around £900m a year. No deposit fully compensates for that outcome.
For a conveyancer a fall-through carries its own costs too. Professional reputation, client goodwill and professional standing can all be lost through no fault of their own.
What conveyancers can do
There is some sound, practical advice conveyancers can and should pass on to their clients: pick committed, proceedable buyers; avoid unnecessarily long completion gaps where possible; and respond promptly to lender and conveyancer queries to keep the transaction moving and reduce the window of risk.
Beyond that, the industry is evolving to close the gap more effectively. Property sale guarantees – such as that offered by ClozeSure – offer a backstop that conveyancers can suggest to seller clients. Should a buyer fail to complete after exchange, ClozeSure steps in and completes the purchase such that the seller receives their full agreed sale price, in time to complete any onward purchase.
In the case of sellers caught up in the PM Law collapse, such a guarantee would have offered an invaluable safety net; allowing their sale to complete, their move to proceed, and avoiding financial loss and distress.
Very importantly, property sale guarantees don’t just benefit the seller. By stabilising chains and guaranteeing completions they offer indirect protection to everyone involved – buyers, agents, lenders, and conveyancers too.
If conveyancer numbers continue to fall while transaction volumes rise, and the system does not transform to match modern expectations, the value of such tools – both to clients and to their conveyancers – is only likely to grow.
By Mark Hempshell, Property Insider
