AI for UK Conveyancing: Automate Property Queries Without Hallucination
IgeraLegal handles standard client queries from your precedents and matter files — SDLT, title issues, leasehold terms — accurately every time, with the exact source cited.
Why conveyancing is a high-volume, repetitive practice area
A busy conveyancing firm handles 100 to 300 matters simultaneously. Each matter generates 5 to 15 client queries across the lifecycle of the transaction — from instruction through to completion. Many of these queries arrive outside office hours, when clients have time to review documents and raise questions.
The financial and emotional stakes are high for clients, which means every query needs a precise, confident answer. An inaccurate response on SDLT amounts, search results, or completion timelines can damage trust and — in extreme cases — expose the firm to a negligence claim.
Research consistently shows that 60 to 70% of conveyancing client queries are repetitive: SDLT calculations, confirmation that searches are back, what the mortgage offer requires, when completion will happen, what leasehold service charges are. These are not complex legal questions — they are information retrieval tasks.
IgeraLegal handles these repetitive queries from your uploaded matter documents and precedents. Paralegals and fee earners are freed to focus on the complex matters, requisitions on title, and the coordination work that genuinely requires their professional judgement.
300
simultaneous matters in a busy conveyancing firm
65%
of client queries are repetitive and automatable with IgeraLegal
4 sec
IgeraLegal response time with the exact source document cited
Standard queries IgeraLegal can automate
Every query type below is answered from documents your firm uploads — not from a generic AI model that may be out of date or simply wrong.
SDLT calculations: automated from your methodology
SDLT is one of the most common client queries in residential conveyancing. IgeraLegal calculates from the Finance Act provisions your firm has uploaded, not from a potentially outdated training dataset.
> Client buying a £450,000 property — first-time buyer. What is the SDLT?
IgeraLegal: First-time buyer SDLT on £450,000 (2025/26 rates):
• £0 on the first £425,000 — first-time buyer relief threshold under FA 2003 s.57AA as amended by Autumn Budget 2024.
• 5% on £25,000 (£425,001–£450,000) = £1,250.
Total SDLT: £1,250.
Note: first-time buyer relief only applies if the property does not exceed £500,000 and the buyer has never previously owned a dwelling anywhere in the world.
Source: Finance Act 2003 s.57AA · Autumn Budget 2024 SDLT amendments
Standard residential rates
SDLT on standard residential purchases uses the tiered rate structure. IgeraLegal applies the correct bands automatically and flags the 2% surcharge for non-UK resident buyers (FA 2003 s.75).
Additional dwelling surcharge
The 3% surcharge on additional dwellings (FA 2003 Sch.4ZA) applies to buy-to-let and second home purchases. IgeraLegal explains the conditions, the main residence replacement exemption, and the refund process.
Commercial and mixed-use SDLT
Commercial SDLT uses different rate bands and does not attract the additional dwelling surcharge. Mixed-use transactions require careful classification — IgeraLegal can explain the criteria and the lower commercial rates that may apply.
LBTT (Scotland) and LTT (Wales)
For firms acting on Scottish or Welsh transactions, IgeraLegal can answer based on LBTT and LTT legislation if those documents are uploaded to the firm's knowledge base.
Title queries: IgeraLegal searches the title documents on file
Restrictive covenants, easements, and rights of way are among the most frequent sources of client queries and requisitions on title. Clients want to know whether they can extend the property, run a business from it, or whether a right of way affects their use of the garden.
IgeraLegal searches the title register and title plan that your team has uploaded to the matter file and answers the client's question directly from those documents. It cites the relevant entry — A Register, B Register, C Register — and explains its practical effect in plain language.
For unregistered land, IgeraLegal can work from the epitome of title documents uploaded to the matter. For flying freeholds, shared ownership titles, or properties with complex title plans, the system flags complexity to the fee earner rather than attempting to oversimplify.
Requisitions on title from the buyer's solicitor can also be managed through IgeraLegal: the system retrieves relevant sections of the title documents to assist in drafting replies, reducing the time fee earners spend cross-referencing the register entry against standard requisition forms.
Local authority searches: status queries automated
Planning history
Clients frequently ask whether there are any planning conditions attached to the property, whether permitted development rights have been removed, or whether there are any outstanding enforcement notices. IgeraLegal reads the local authority search results document and answers from it precisely.
Building regulations
Where searches reveal building regulation approvals or completion certificates for works done to the property, clients ask whether the works were signed off. IgeraLegal retrieves the relevant entry and flags any absence of completion certificate that the fee earner should raise with the seller.
Road adoption status
Whether the road fronting the property is adopted (publicly maintained) or private is a question with significant financial implications. IgeraLegal reads the highway search result and explains the maintenance liability in plain English, flagging unadopted roads for fee earner review.
Leasehold conveyancing: specific queries from the lease
Leasehold matters generate a disproportionate volume of client queries because the lease document is long, technical, and contains terms that directly affect the client's use and enjoyment of the property. Ground rent, service charge, the lease term remaining, restrictions on alterations, subletting conditions — all are common questions that buyers raise before and after exchange.
IgeraLegal reads the lease document uploaded to the matter file and answers questions about its specific terms. It does not apply generic knowledge about what leases usually say — it reads the lease in front of it and cites the relevant clause.
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 banned ground rent escalation clauses in new residential long leases. IgeraLegal can explain whether the lease predates or postdates the Act and what the ground rent implications are, based on the lease date and the relevant clause text.
For leases where there are fewer than 80 years remaining, IgeraLegal can explain the marriage value implications for lease extension under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (as amended by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024), flag the valuation point to the fee earner, and explain the process to the client.
Ground rent
Amount, escalation clause, post-2022 Act position
Service charge
Amount, variable/fixed, Section 20 consultation
Lease remaining
Years left, marriage value threshold at 80 years
Alterations
Consent required, absolute or qualified covenant
GDPR in conveyancing: client and third-party data
Conveyancing files contain highly sensitive personal data: financial checks, certified copies of ID, source of funds declarations, mortgage offer details, and often information about third parties (guarantors, joint buyers, sellers) who have not consented to their data being shared with an AI provider.
Using generic AI tools — ChatGPT, Copilot — with client conveyancing data is a potential breach of Article 28 UK GDPR. If there is no Data Processing Agreement in place with the AI provider, and the provider may use your data to train its models, the firm has likely failed in its obligations as data controller.
IgeraLegal operates on EU infrastructure with a Data Processing Agreement included as standard. Client data uploaded to the system is never used to train external AI models. The firm retains full control over what documents are indexed and what IgeraLegal can answer on. Access is role-restricted and audited.
EU infrastructure
Data processed on European servers only
DPA included
Art. 28 UK GDPR compliant data processing agreement
No model training
Your client files never used to train any AI model
Case study: firm processing 200 matters per month
Before IgeraLegal
- 4 paralegals spending 2-3 hours per day answering client progress queries by email and phone
- Queries outside office hours going unanswered until the next morning, causing client anxiety and follow-up calls
- SDLT calculations done manually per instruction, with risk of error under time pressure
- Paralegals unable to focus on complex matters due to volume of routine queries
After IgeraLegal
- IgeraLegal handles 65% of standard queries automatically, 24/7
- Paralegals focus on complex matters and completions — where their judgement genuinely adds value
- SDLT queries answered instantly with the exact calculation and statutory source
- Client satisfaction improved: out-of-hours queries answered same day
We were spending more time answering emails about where things were up to than actually progressing matters. IgeraLegal handles the progress updates. Our paralegals now work on the things that actually require legal skill.
*Representative testimonial based on results from conveyancing firms using IgeraLegal
FAQ — AI for UK conveyancing
Does IgeraLegal access Land Registry directly?
No. IgeraLegal reads the title documents uploaded to each matter — the title register, title plan, and any supporting documents your team adds. It does not make live API calls to HMLR. This means answers are based on the documents in your matter file, which is the correct source for advising your specific client.
Can it calculate SDLT for all property types — residential, commercial, mixed?
Yes, if you upload your firm's SDLT methodology or the relevant Finance Act provisions. IgeraLegal applies the correct rate structure for each property type and flags the surcharge conditions (additional dwelling surcharge, non-UK resident surcharge) where applicable.
Is IgeraLegal SRA compliant?
IgeraLegal provides information from your precedents and uploaded documents to assist fee earners and paralegals. Professional responsibility for the advice given to clients remains entirely with the solicitor. The system is a tool, not an adviser.
What document formats does it accept?
PDF, Word and Excel. Standard conveyancing documents — title registers, title plans, search results, leases, mortgage offers — are all handled. Documents are indexed within minutes of upload.
How long does setup take?
24-48 hours from document upload. The Igera team assists with initial configuration, selection of precedent documents to index, and quality testing before go-live.
Does your team spend hours answering the same client queries?
IgeraLegal handles the repetitive queries so your fee earners can focus on the work that requires their professional judgement.
Start free trialNo credit card required · Setup in 24-48 hours · GDPR compliant