The latest research from property legaltech firm Search Acumen shows modest transaction movement and a fall in the number of active law firms in the last financial year (April 2024-March 2025), but average caseloads are on the up following the previous year’s decline.
The analysis of HM Land Registry data shows there were 992,024 residential and commercial transactions completed in the last financial year, a 3.5% rise compared to the one before. However, transactions volumes are still over a fifth (22.2%) lower than two years ago, having not reached the high levels seen during the post-pandemic surge.
Against this backdrop of underwhelming market performance, the legal sector has seen notable consolidation, with reports of strong M&A activity in 2024.* The average number of active law firms handling property transactions fell by 3.9% in the last financial year and is 8.3% below the last two years.
As a result, average caseloads per firm have begun to rise. Property law firms on average handled 267 transactions in the last financial year, a 7.8% jump on the preceding financial year. However, this figure remains 15.1% below the average caseload two years ago.
Source: Search Acumen analysis of HM Land Registry data
Table 1: FY and quarterly transaction figures
The latest data also sheds light on the trajectory for the year so far. In the first quarter of 2025, which saw a rush in activity ahead of the Stamp Duty deadline, there was only a 1.1% increase in completed real estate transaction volume compared to the previous year.
However, this early growth was offset by a subsequent plunge in April, where volumes were just under 5% lower than last year. As a result, the first fourth months of 2025 experienced an overall -0.4% fall in completed transactions.
Active property law firms were down year on year by -6.7% in the last quarter, and the average case load for Q1 2025 was 69, 8.42% higher than the previous year.
Taking the last decade into perspective, transaction volumes in Q1 2025 are only 5.2% higher than they were for the same period in 2015, while the number of active property law firms has fallen by 13.2%.
Overall, average caseloads in the last quarter are 21.24% higher than a decade ago.
Source: Search Acumen analysis of HM Land Registry data
Graph 1: Average caseloads against total active firms
Andrew Loyd, Managing Director at Search Acumen, says: “It’s been almost a year since the current Government came into power, but we are yet to feel the impact of its ambitions for the UK’s property sector.
“We know there’s strong demand and a healthy appetite for investment across the real estate ecosystem, opening up exciting opportunities. In commercial property, we’ve started to see how strong rental growth and a stabilisation in yields finally means offices are an attractive option ready to catch up with better performing sectors in retail and industrial. We are also seeing a lot of interest around large, social housing portfolios, which will only continue to increase following the Government’s recent £39bn investment pledge.
“But for all this buzz, the reality is that transactions are still not where the industry would like them to be, and these figures are concerning. The real estate sector is at a critical juncture. With macroeconomic turmoil looming overseas, there is a danger that a drop in market confidence could derail growth in the property sector.”
For lawyers, the next few months will be especially important, he explains:
“In the face of these challenges, the remainder of the year will be pivotal. The Spending Review sent some strong, positive signals, opening the doors to more sustained growth in transaction volumes.
“Real estate lawyers will be under pressure to keep up the pace as they navigate a rapidly evolving landscape driven by considerable market consolidation. Many increasingly find themselves in growing, centralised practices with rising levels of casework and a need to make sure they are investing in the right tools to deliver the results they’re aiming for. Under these conditions, maximising efficiencies and standardising processes across teams is essential to maintaining speed and quality.
“Property transactions in the past were routinely held back or slowed down by the complexity and archaic nature of processing multi-site portfolios, but this is no longer the case for legal teams that have begun to adopt new digital tools, which can cut down document reading time by 80% in some cases.
“Law firms hoping to maintain the speed and quality of their work for clients can no longer afford to be behind on these developments.”
