John Bott reckons that few conveyancers will have the courage to increase their fees to cover the work involved in completing the new stamp duty land tax (SDLT) forms (see [2004] Gazette, 11 December, 12).

I think he is wrong.

My firm is charging an extra half an hour's time for dealing with the new form in residential cases and I have heard of a number of others in my area that, like us, are not prepared to absorb the extra cost.

Conveyancing lawyers need to recognise that they now do a good deal of additional work compared with, say, five years ago.

Examples include ID checking, environmental and water searches, dealing with additional enquiries (which have proliferated in the past couple of years), dealing with building regulations enquiries, obtaining defective title indemnity polices (post-Council of Mortgage Lenders handbook) and now the SDLT forms.

They should also not forget that many clients and solicitors now communicate by e-mail, which results in time being spent (usually by the lawyer rather than the secretary) in typing and then printing off for the file.

The SDLT return forms mark an interesting stage in the history of residential conveyancing.

Lawyers are suddenly waking up to the fact that basic laws of economics do not allow them to absorb the increased work and responsibility that is imposed on them by government, mortgage lenders and the like.

Those lawyers who are not brave enough to charge extra for doing significant amounts of additional work will put themselves out of business in the next three to five years, perhaps sooner.

Conveyancing charges will rise over the same period but will still be a bargain when compared with the fees charged by most of our European counterparts.

David Briffa, Warners Solicitors, Tonbridge