Digital maturity among conveyancers rises 10% but AI adoption remains limited – InfoTrack

Post-completion also recorded progress, with the proportion of firms using integrated AP1 submissions increasing from 37% in 2024 to 51% in 2026, while 44% reported integrated SDLT submissions, compared with 40% two years ago.

Pre-completion remained one of the least digitally mature stages, recording a score of 35.3%, down 2%.

Some 70% of respondents continued to share documents by email, 65% managed deadlines manually or through spreadsheets and 81% relied on manual risk reviews or double-checking.

Digital onboarding was more widely established, with 89% using digital identity verification, 74% operating a digital source of funds process and 68% completing transaction forms digitally.

However, 71% still used phone, email or post for onboarding communications, while 66% relied on manual calls to verify recipient account details.

The research also found mid-sized firms had overtaken smaller practices among the most digitally mature businesses.

Firms employing between 26 and 199 people accounted for two-thirds of the leading cohort in 2026, while firms with between one and 25 employees represented 25%.

Jordan added: “The change suggests that many mid-sized firms have successfully closed the digital maturity gap, overcoming the coordination challenges often associated with larger teams to accelerate technology adoption and transformation.

“This does not mean that size guarantees maturity. The shift appears to be less about access to technology and more about whether firms can embed it consistently across the organisation.”