Conveyancers at ‘breaking point’ as Stamp Duty holiday deadline overwhelms legal firms

Conveyancers are at breaking point as many struggle to cope with the surge of transactions passing through the housing market hoping to complete by the 31st March Stamp Duty holiday deadline, it has been claimed. And some have complained that estate agents ‘aren’t helping’ by giving vendors unrealistic completion dates. Tech platform Teal Legal canvassed conveyancers across the UK and found that 32% of them had stopped accepting new instructions because of their overwhelming workload and that 93% of them reported working substantially longer working hours to cope with half claiming to be so overworked they want to quit their job. Nearly two thirds reported having a substantially higher workload than a year ago. “I can’t keep up with my emails however many hours I work,” one anonymous respondent told Teal Legal. “I am getting emails from other solicitors at all hours of the day and weekends so it appears to be a common problem.” Teal also canvassed conveyancers about the stamp duty deadline, and 60% said it should be extended. “Over the past few months, we have been hearing increased levels of frustration from our estate agency colleagues about lack of communication and progress from Conveyancers once deals reach…