Property model may be Australia-bound

The British solicitor property selling model may be exported after Australian lawyers expressed interest in setting up a Solicitors Property Shop (SPS) like those in Yorkshire and the north-east of England.Anne Murray, chief executive of SPS and parent company Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre, has recently returned from a three-week feasibility study co-ordinated by the Law Society of South Australia.

Solicitors in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland - which include Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane respectively - have also expressed interest.Ms Murray said: 'Despite differences in the way houses are bought and sold, solicitors in Australia are under many of the same pressures as those in the UK and are looking for new opportunities to protect their conveyancing business and deliver a better service for their clients.'There is great interest in the SPS concept and, hopefully, a great opportunity for us to set up our first overseas SPS operation.'Meanwhile, in New Zealand, 410 law firms have joined forces to launch their own property selling operation - REAL (Real Estate Agents and Lawyers).

REAL has 28 offices around New Zealand and, like the SPS model, is accessed by sellers through member law firms.The move to sell property in New Zealand began in 1997, when a Bill proposed opening up conveyancing to non-lawyers.

In return, after lobbying from New Zealand Law Society, it was widened to remove the restriction on lawyers selling property.

Neil Rose