Licensed Conveyancer Explained: The CLC Route Into Property Law

Not every property transaction in England and Wales is handled by a solicitor. A significant share of conveyancing and probate work is carried out by Licensed Conveyancers, specialist property lawyers regulated by their own dedicated body, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) — a distinct route into legal practice that runs entirely outside the solicitor qualification framework covered in our guide to the SQE.

What a Licensed Conveyancer does

Licensed Conveyancers specialise in property law. The CLC also licenses Licensed Probate Practitioners for probate and estate administration work, and a CLC lawyer can hold a conveyancing licence, a probate licence or both. They carry out the same core conveyancing work as a solicitor doing property transactions — handling contracts, searches, mortgage arrangements, and the transfer of legal title — but do so as specialists rather than as generalist lawyers with property as one of several practice areas.

The CLC qualification route

Becoming a Licensed Conveyancer means completing the Level 4 Diploma and then the Level 6 Diploma in Conveyancing Law and Practice (or equivalents where exemptions apply), studied through approved training providers by classroom, distance learning or apprenticeship. The CLC says both diplomas could be completed in as quick as 18 months, and candidates must also complete 1,200 hours of practical experience. Alternative routes include an apprenticeship pathway combining structured study with supervised practical experience, and the CLC also recognises relevant prior qualifications — law graduates, CILEX members, qualified solicitors, and some overseas-qualified professionals can receive exemptions that shorten the path considerably compared to starting the full diploma programme from scratch. In November 2025 the CLC also launched a professional experience route for fee-earners working in a qualifying law or accountancy firm in England and Wales who have at least four years of continuous conveyancing or probate fee-earning experience. It lets them skip the Level 4 Diploma and go straight to the Level 6 Diploma.

How CLC regulation differs from SRA regulation

The CLC is a specialist regulator focused specifically on property law and probate, distinct from the SRA, which regulates solicitors across the full range of legal practice areas. A firm can be authorised and regulated by the CLC as a "licensed conveyancer" practice, entirely separate from SRA authorisation, even though both types of firm may carry out very similar conveyancing transactions for clients day to day. This dual-regulator landscape means a client instructing a conveyancing specialist could be dealing with either an SRA-regulated solicitor or a CLC-regulated Licensed Conveyancer, with broadly comparable consumer protections but different regulatory bodies standing behind them.

Why the distinction matters in practice

For firms and professionals, understanding which regulator applies affects everything from professional indemnity insurance arrangements to how a service complaint gets escalated — a complaint about a Licensed Conveyancer's work still ultimately reaches the Legal Ombudsman, in the same way a complaint about a solicitor's conveyancing work does, but the underlying conduct regulation and practising certificate requirements sit with the CLC rather than the SRA.

Career pathways and specialisation

Because the CLC route is specifically designed around property and probate work from the outset, it can offer a faster, more focused path into a conveyancing career than qualifying as a solicitor and then specialising afterwards. This makes it a genuine alternative worth understanding for firms building conveyancing teams, not simply a lesser-known fallback route for people who couldn't qualify as solicitors. Firms building a mixed conveyancing team also need to plan supervision structures carefully, since CLC-regulated and SRA-regulated staff sit under different practising certificate and continuing competence frameworks even when working side by side on similar transactions day to day.

Regulation, insurance, and how CLC firms compare to solicitor firms

The CLC regulates both individual licensed conveyancers and the businesses they work in, which can be sole-practitioner firms, partnerships, or Alternative Business Structures offering conveyancing alongside other services. Every CLC-regulated practice must hold professional indemnity insurance that meets the CLC's own minimum terms, broadly mirroring the protection solicitors' clients get through the SRA's compensation arrangements, so a homebuyer using a licensed conveyancer has comparable financial protection to one using a solicitor. The CLC also runs its own compensation scheme, which can pay out where a client loses money through a regulated firm's dishonesty or failure, and it operates a client account regime with rules on how completion monies and deposits must be held and reconciled.

Because licensed conveyancers specialise from day one, many firms position the qualification as a faster, more focused route into a busy conveyancing career than training as a general-practice solicitor first. That focus is also the trade-off: a CLC licence covers conveyancing and/or probate work, depending on the licence held, not the wider range of legal services a solicitor can eventually take on, so career switchers should be clear on which path matches their long-term ambitions before committing to either route.

Ongoing competence (CPD) for CLC lawyers

The CLC's licence year runs from 1 November to 31 October. For the current year, which ends on 31 October 2026, the CLC sets hours: 6 hours for a Licensed Conveyancer, 6 hours for a Licensed Probate Practitioner and 8 hours for a lawyer holding both licences, with an additional 6 hours for people in key management roles such as Head of Legal Practice, Head of Finance and Administration and the money laundering reporting officer.

That changes on 1 November 2026, when the CLC's Ongoing Competence Code comes into force. Instead of counting hours, lawyers must complete at least eight ongoing competence activities a year, at least four of them assessed, with no minimum duration for any one activity, and file an Ongoing Competence Return by 31 October. The first return under the new Code covers 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2027. Check the CLC's current Code and guidance before building a training plan around it.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Licensed Conveyancer as qualified as a solicitor to handle a property purchase? Yes, within their area of specialism. The CLC describes Licensed Conveyancers as qualified property lawyers who can do everything a solicitor can do in a conveyancing transaction, and they are regulated by the CLC rather than the SRA.

Can a CILEX member become a Licensed Conveyancer more quickly? Often yes — the CLC recognises relevant prior qualifications, including CILEX membership, which can reduce the diplomas or modules still required.

Do Licensed Conveyancers handle probate work too? Some do. The CLC licenses Licensed Probate Practitioners as well as Licensed Conveyancers, and a CLC lawyer can hold a conveyancing licence, a probate licence or both.

Who do I complain to about a Licensed Conveyancer's service? Service complaints ultimately go to the Legal Ombudsman, the same body that handles service complaints about solicitors.

This article is general information, not legal or regulatory advice. The CLC updates its qualification routes and ongoing competence requirements from time to time, so check the current position with the Council for Licensed Conveyancers before making decisions about your own route or your firm's training plans.

There is a fuller picture of what counts in our CPD library.