A review of referral fees paid by conveyancing firms to estate agents is to be carried out after allegations of misconduct by the BBC’s Panorama programme.

The undercover investigation, broadcast this week, alleged that leading estate agents pressured sales people to use firms with whom they had a business arrangement.

First time buyers featuring in the programmes paid £2,820 for conveyancing after being referred by their estate agent – nearly three times more than the cheapest conveyancing quote for the same property.

The Council for Licensing Conveyancers said the BBC had highlighted ‘serious concerns about conditional selling and the questionable sales tactics of certain estate agencies, which may impact the conveyancing sector by limiting consumer choice of legal adviser. This is of concern to the CLC because of the apparent disregard for consumer choice and transparency on pricing affecting conveyancing service provision.’

The regulator said it had no evidence to suggest that unethical practices were prevalent in the conveyancing sector, but in the interests of ensuring genuine consumer choice it would undertake a thematic review of referral arrangements.

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The review will begin in early 2026 and will look at referral arrangements (their prevalence, value and transparency) and more broadly at compliance with the CLC’s transparency rules.

The CLC added: ‘Ahead of the review, we strongly encourage all CLC practices, and particularly those that have paid referral arrangements, to review their compliance with the CLC’s transparency and informed choice rules. We encourage any practices that are not fully compliant currently to take appropriate steps to ensure their compliance before the review commences.’

The CLC allows for referral fees to be paid by its members to estate agents but its code of conduct states that they must understand clients’ specific needs, treat them fairly, keep their money safe, and act in their best interests.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority also allows firms to share their fees with third parties who introduce business to them. Clients must be informed of any fee sharing arrangements and informed about any referral fees that have been paid.

Purplebricks, one of the estate agents named in the Panorama programme, said there were cases where it had ‘fallen short’ but that significant changes have been made to improve customer service and rebuild trust.

The company added: ‘We are extremely disappointed and concerned by the way Panorama has pursued this investigation. We provided detailed evidence to challenge many of the claims put to us - including full call recordings and correspondence - but they appear to have been ignored.’