The Solicitors Property Shop (SPS) in the north-east of England has seen a 25% jump in the number of properties sold compared with last year, new figures have shown.The news came in the week that London Solicitors Property Services (LSPS), an umbrella group and consultancy for solicitor property selling, was formally launched.The SPS has sold 133 properties worth 8.7 million in the first 20 weeks of this year; it sold 106 in the same period last year.

In the whole of 1999, its first year of operation, SPS registered more than 800 properties and sold 20 million worth.

The SPS also reported a 36% increase in the value of the properties sold this year.

The average price is 65,328.There are 26 law firms involved in the north-east SPS, while nine firms in Halifax set up their own SPS earlier this month.Addressing a recent meeting of Sheffield law firms interested in setting up an SPS, Anne Murray, its chief executive, warned that unless solicitors act quickly to put themselves back at the heart of residential property sales transactions, the conveyancing market may well evaporate for the high street solicitor.'The seller's pack, the e-commerce Bill and electronic conveyancing could be the nails in the coffin for the high street practice unless solicitors grasp the opportunity to offer a property-selling service,' she said.These sentiments were echoed at a conference in London last week to launch LSPS.

Founder Lawrence Lederman, a west London solicitor, predicted that 'there's going to be more and more firms of solicitors going into property selling'.

LSPS was aimed at 'empowering' firms to sell properties, he said.

Addressing the conference, Law Society President Robert Sayer said property selling allowed solicitors to control the process and not rely on estate agents' referrals.Brian Marson, chairman of Kent-based bulk conveyancing firm Marsons, said the 'real challenge' for solicitors if they failed to take the initiative in the property selling market would not come from estate agents but from the likes of Tesco, Virgin and Marks & Spencer deciding to move into the field.Mr Marson said he understood that a Bill implementing the seller's pack would be included in this year's Queen's speech and that it could go live on 1 January 2003, though a government spokeswoman was unable to confirm this.For more information, see sps.net and lsps.co.ukNeil Rose