In short
The SRA Transparency Rules ask firms advertising certain services, such as residential conveyancing, uncontested probate and immigration applications, to publish price and service information online. Every SRA firm with a website also publishes its complaints procedure, SRA number and digital badge. The complaints part says how and when a client can go to the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA.
Check each item against the current rules on sra.org.uk and have your COLP sign off the page.
This is a working checklist for partners, COLPs (compliance officers for legal practice) and practice managers at SRA-regulated firms. It sets out the common items once, then adds what changes for conveyancing, probate and immigration, with wording you can adapt.
There's also a short family section and a checklist you can print. It isn't legal advice, and it's written for SRA firms, not licensed conveyancers or immigration advisers regulated by the IAA.
Rule 1 (the price rule) also doesn't apply to publicly funded work.[1]
Short on time? Jump to the printable checklist, or go straight to conveyancing, probate, immigration or family law.
Which services are on the Rule 1 list?
Rule 1.3 lists six services for individuals and Rule 1.4 lists three for businesses.[1] If you advertise any of them as part of your usual business, the Transparency Rules ask you to publish costs information for that service.[1] In plain words, the services for individuals are:
- residential conveyancing: freehold or leasehold sales and purchases, mortgages and remortgages
- estate administration where the assets are in the UK and nothing is contested (uncontested probate)
- preparing and submitting immigration applications, except asylum
- immigration appeals at the First-tier Tribunal against Home Office decisions, except asylum appeals
- summary-only road traffic offences dealt with at a single hearing in the magistrates' court
- unfair or wrongful dismissal claims brought by employees at the Employment Tribunal
For businesses, the list is defending those dismissal claims, debt recovery up to £100,000, and licensing applications for business premises.[1] Rule 1.6 adds that the information is clear, accessible and in a prominent place on your website.[3]
Two more rules apply whatever work you do. Rule 2.1 covers your complaints page (see the complaints procedure section).[4] Rule 4.1 asks for your SRA number and the SRA's digital badge in a prominent place.[4]
If you are redesigning your site or stationery, branding for solicitors shows where those items sit next to your logo and colours. The version quoted here has been in effect since 11 April 2025.[5]
What should every price page show?
Every covered service needs a price, how you charge, likely extra costs, VAT, what's included with stages and timings, and who does the work.[2] The first table pairs each price and service item with the rule it comes from and a line of sample wording for a made-up firm.
Price and service items
| Item | Rule | Sample wording |
|---|---|---|
| Total cost, or an average or range | 1.5(a)[2] | "Our fee for [service] is £[X] plus VAT. Where the work varies, most clients pay £[X] to £[Y] plus VAT." |
| How you charge | 1.5(b)[2] | "This is a fixed fee for the stages listed below. Extra work is charged at £[X] an hour plus VAT, and we'll tell you before it starts." |
| Likely disbursements | 1.5(d)[2] | "Disbursements are costs we pay to others for you, such as [search fees]. We expect them to total £[X] to £[Y]." |
| VAT on fees and disbursements | 1.5(e)[2] | "VAT on our fee: £[X]. VAT on disbursements, where it applies: £[X]." |
| What's included, stage by stage | 1.5(f)[2] | "The fee covers [stage one], [stage two] and [stage three]." |
| Likely timescale for each stage | 1.5(f)[2] | "[Stage one] usually takes [X] to [Y] weeks." |
| What isn't included | 1.5(f)[2] | "Not included: [work a client might expect]. We'll quote for it separately if you need it." |
| Who does the work | 1.5(c)[2] | "[Name], [role], has [X] years' experience in [area] and is supervised by [Name], [role]." |
| Paying from damages (only if you use CFAs or DBAs) | 1.5(g)[2] | "You may have to pay [what] yourself if [when], including from any damages." |
Complaints, badge and placement
Three more items apply to the whole website, not one service.
| Item | Rule | Sample wording |
|---|---|---|
| Complaints | 2.1[4] | "If you're unhappy, contact [name] at [email]. If we can't resolve it, you can go to the Legal Ombudsman [how and when] or the SRA [how and when]." |
| SRA number and digital badge | 4.1[4] | [Badge] "Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. SRA number [X]." |
| Where it sits | 1.6[3] | Link the price page from the main menu and from each covered service page. |
Square brackets mark what you fill in. Treat the lines as a starting draft, not approved wording. The printable checklist below has a tickable version of the same items.
What should your complaints procedure page say?
Your complaints page should say how to complain and to whom, and that it's free. It should also say how and when a client can go to the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA. Rule 2.1 of the SRA Transparency Rules says a firm "must publish on its website details of its complaints handling procedure".[4] That includes "details about how and when a complaint can be made to the Legal Ombudsman" and to the SRA.[4]
Paragraphs 8.2 to 8.5 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors cover complaints handling.[25] Three of them shape what your page says:
- 8.3: at the start, clients are told in writing how to complain and to whom. They're also told about any right to go to the Legal Ombudsman, and when.[25]
- 8.4: if a complaint isn't resolved to the client's satisfaction within 8 weeks, the client is told in writing. That covers how and when to go to the Legal Ombudsman, with its contact details.[25]
- 8.5: "You ensure that complaints are dealt with promptly, fairly, and free of charge."[25]
Complaining about a solicitor? Start with the firm, then see the SRA's page for the public. The rest of this section is for firms.
In the SRA's 2019 check of conveyancing websites, missing complaints information was the most common gap.
Each row below gives the item, where it comes from, and a sample line you can adapt.
| Item | Rule | Sample wording |
|---|---|---|
| How to complain to the firm, and to whom | Rule 2.1[4]; Code 8.3(b)[25] | "If you're unhappy with our service or our bill, tell [name, role] at [email] or [phone], or write to us at [address]." |
| That complaints are free, and what happens next | Code 8.5 (free, prompt)[25]; response times are our suggestion | "Complaining costs you nothing. We'll acknowledge your complaint within [X] working days and send our response within [X] weeks." |
| The 8-week point and the Legal Ombudsman | Rule 2.1[4]; Code 8.4(a)[25] | "If you're not happy with our response, or we haven't resolved your complaint within 8 weeks, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to look at it. Contact: [phone], [email], [website]." |
| When the Legal Ombudsman can be used | Rule 2.1[4]; Code 8.3(c)[25] | "The Legal Ombudsman's time limit for bringing a complaint is [time limit from its current scheme rules]." |
| The SRA route | Rule 2.1[4] | "You can also raise a concern about us with the Solicitors Regulation Authority [when, from the SRA's page]: [link to the SRA's page]." |
| Where it sits | Rule 2.1 ("on its website")[4]; footer link is our suggestion | Link the complaints page from the footer of every page and from the client care letter. |
You don't have to write the procedure from nothing. The Legal Ombudsman publishes a Model Complaints Resolution Procedure that firms can adapt, with template letters for the key stages.[26] It is "designed to help legal service providers resolve complaints in a way that is clear, fair", and aims for an early outcome.[26]
Check your complaints wording with your COLP before you publish it.
Printable checklist: one copy per service
Print this page or save it as a PDF, and use one copy for each covered service on your website. The complaints and badge boxes apply to the whole website, so tick them once. Tick a box only when a visitor could find the item without asking you.
Price and service (one copy per service)
Complaints and badge (tick once for the whole site)
Extras for some services
Sign-off
Where each item sits on your website
| Item | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Price and service information | On a price page for each covered service, linked from the menu and the service page |
| Complaints procedure and Legal Ombudsman details | On a complaints page on your website (Rule 2.1). Linking it from every page is our suggestion. |
| SRA number and digital badge | In a prominent place on the site |
| COLP sign-off, with the date | In your own records, one per page |
Residential conveyancing: what to add
Conveyancing is on the list for freehold and leasehold sales and purchases, and for mortgages and remortgages.[1] On top of the common items, two parts need the most care here: the disbursements and any referral arrangement. Our page on marketing for conveyancing solicitors shows where these price pages fit in getting enquiries.
Sample lines for a conveyancing quote
- "Legal fee for a freehold purchase up to £[X]: £[X] plus VAT of £[X]."
- "Leasehold purchase: add £[X] plus VAT. Any charge for the managing agent's information pack is extra, and we'll tell you the amount once we have it."
- "Search fees: about £[X], including VAT where it applies."
- "HM Land Registry fee: £[X], depending on the price of the property."
- "Bank transfer fee: £[X] plus VAT for each transfer."
- "A typical purchase takes [X] to [Y] weeks from instruction to completion. A longer chain can add time."
The conveyancing quote builder prints the same price items, so you can see them laid out in a quote.
Referral and fee-sharing lines
Paragraphs 5.1 to 5.3 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors cover introducers.[6] They apply if an estate agent, broker or comparison site introduces clients and you pay them or share fees.[6]
Clients are told about any financial interest in the referral and any fee-sharing arrangement.[6] The fee-sharing agreement is in writing. Referring a client on to a separate business needs their informed consent.[6]
A sample line for the quote: "[Introducer] introduced you to us. We pay them £[X] plus VAT for each introduction. This [is / isn't] included in the price above." We'd put it in the client care letter too, not only on the website.
What the SRA found in 2019
In March and April 2019 the SRA checked a random sample of firm websites.[12] Of 210 firms offering residential conveyancing, 25% fully complied with the Transparency Rules.[9] Half complied in part, and 25% didn't comply at all.[10] That was 2019 data under the earlier rules, and we found no newer SRA sweep for conveyancing.
The SRA's report lists the most common gaps on those conveyancing sites.[11]
- Missing complaints information (61%)
- No key stages or timescales (50%)
- No VAT amount (49%)
They're the three rows to check first on your own page.
The same report says what followed for firms that published nothing. The SRA said it would check their websites again in two months, and would then consider "what further regulatory action, including potential enforcement action, is required".[9] That was the position in 2019, so read it as background, not as today's enforcement policy.
Licensed conveyancers follow the rules of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers rather than this guide, so start at clc-uk.org.[23] Before you publish any referral wording, check it with your COLP.
What does a complete price page look like?
A complete price page gives the price in its first line, then what the price buys, then the costs around it. Below is one page for one service at a made-up conveyancing firm, built from the items above in the order a buyer reads them.
| Order on the page | What the reader sees | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Heading and price | "Buying a freehold home: £[X] plus VAT of £[X], for properties up to £[X]." | 1.5(a) and (e)[2] |
| 2. How you charge | "This is a fixed fee for the stages below. If the work changes, we'll tell you the new fee before we start it." | 1.5(b)[2] |
| 3. Stages and timescales | "The fee covers [stage one], [stage two] and [stage three]. A typical purchase takes [X] to [Y] weeks. A longer chain can add time." | 1.5(f)[2] |
| 4. Disbursements, with VAT | "Search fees: about £[X], including VAT where it applies. HM Land Registry fee: £[X], depending on the price. Bank transfer fee: £[X] plus VAT." | 1.5(d) and (e)[2] |
| 5. Not included | "Not included: [leasehold work, new-build work]. We'll quote for it separately if you need it." | 1.5(f)[2] |
| 6. Who does the work | "[Name], [role], runs your purchase and has [X] years' experience in residential conveyancing. [Name], a partner, supervises." | 1.5(c)[2] |
| 7. Referral line, if any | "If an estate agent or broker introduced you, we pay them £[X] plus VAT. This [is / isn't] in the price above." | Code 5.1[6] |
| 8. Footer | A link to the complaints page, the SRA number and the SRA's digital badge. | 2.1 and 4.1[4] |
Our view, not a rule: two things make a page like this easy to use. The price sits where the reader looks first. And each figure that varies says what it varies with, so a buyer knows why their own quote may differ.
A price page gives the general figure, and a quote gives the buyer's own, so link one from the other. The conveyancing quote builder lays out these items for a single quote. This example is a layout, not approved wording, so your COLP signs off the final page.
Uncontested probate: price and service items
Rule 1.3 covers "the collection and distribution of assets belonging to a person following their death".[1] That item applies only where the assets are in the UK and nothing is contested.[1]
The SRA's November 2018 summary page splits what to publish into five price items and four service items.[13] That page is older guidance. Rule 1.5 is the current text, and the items line up with it one for one.[2]
| Item | Type | Template wording for a made-up firm |
|---|---|---|
| total cost or range | Price | "For an estate with one property, [X] bank accounts and no inheritance tax to pay, our fee is usually £[X] to £[Y] plus VAT." |
| basis of charges | Price | "We charge a fixed fee of £[X] plus VAT to get the grant. After that we charge £[X] an hour plus VAT for a solicitor and £[X] for a paralegal." |
| likely disbursements | Price | "Probate application fee: £[X]. Notices in The Gazette and a local paper: about £[X]. Bankruptcy search for each beneficiary: £[X] each." |
| VAT | Price | "VAT on our fee: £[X]. Disbursements marked with a star include VAT." |
| conditional or damages-based fees | Price | "We don't use conditional fee or damages-based agreements for this work." [Change this line if you do.] |
| what's included | Service | "Finding the beneficiaries, valuing the estate, applying for the grant, collecting the assets, paying debts, preparing estate accounts and paying out the estate." |
| what isn't included | Service | "Disputes between beneficiaries, claims against the estate, selling a property (quoted separately) and tracing missing beneficiaries." |
| key stages and timescales | Service | "A simple estate usually takes [X] to [Y] months. The grant usually arrives [X] to [Y] weeks after we apply." |
| who does the work | Service | "[Name], a solicitor with [X] years' experience in estate administration, runs your matter. [Name], a partner, supervises." |
The SRA's summary asks for the qualifications and experience of anyone doing the work and of their supervisors, so name real people.[14] This is a template, not legal advice. Fill the brackets from your own files, never from another firm's page. Your COLP signs off the final version, including any line that doesn't fit how you work.
Immigration: which work is inside the price guidance?
Applications are inside the rules unless they're asylum, and the SRA's immigration guidance names other work where you don't have to publish prices.[15] Check which list each immigration service on your website belongs to.
Inside the rules: publish a price
- An application under the Immigration Rules, such as a visit, student, partner, work or ancestry visa
- Naturalisation or registration as a British citizen
- An appeal at the First-tier Tribunal against a Home Office decision, other than asylum, as its own service under Rule 1.3(d)[1]
Outside the price guidance
- An asylum application
- A statelessness application
- A human rights or private life application
- An application for Secretary of State immigration bail
- A reconsideration or legacy request
- A judicial review, such as a claim for unlawful detention
- A service to a business, such as certificates of sponsorship[16]
The guidance lists what the quoted fee should cover: reviewing documents, meeting the client, taking instructions and advising. It also covers preparing and submitting the application, and advising on timelines and outcome.[17] Say clearly what the fee leaves out.
Three lines to add to an immigration price page
- Home Office fees: the SRA's example reads "Any Home Office fees for making the application. You will pay this to the Home Office directly as part of the application process."[18] Link the current Home Office fees table, which took effect on 8 April 2026.[22]
- Interpreters: the SRA calls interpreter costs hard to estimate and a large share of the total, and suggests a clear range.[19] Sample: "Interpreter: £[X] an hour, usually for [X] to [Y] hours. You can bring your own interpreter if you prefer."
- VAT: the guidance suggests a statement that you'll confirm whether VAT applies once instructed. Sample: "We'll confirm whether VAT (at 20%) is payable when you instruct us and we can work out if it applies."[20]
The same guidance suggests translating price information into languages your clients speak.[21] A translated page is publicity too, so it should say exactly what the English page says.
Advisers regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA, formerly OISC) answer to the IAA, not the SRA, so this guide isn't written for them.[24] Where a matter mixes covered and uncovered work, it's a judgement call, so check with your COLP.
Family law: not on the Rule 1 list, but publish a price anyway
Rule 1.3 doesn't list family law, so Rule 1 doesn't ask you to publish family prices.[1] Two paragraphs of the SRA Code of Conduct still apply. Paragraph 8.7 asks you to give clients "the best possible information about how their matter will be priced".[7] Paragraph 8.8 asks that publicity, including about charges, is accurate and not misleading.[8]
The complaints and badge rules apply to family firms like any other.[4]
Our view, not a rule: a fixed fee for a defined stage, such as an uncontested divorce application, gives people something they can compare. Ranges for finances or children matters do the same job when the stages are spelt out. Before you publish family prices, check them with your COLP.
How we keep this checklist current
We re-check this page against sra.org.uk and gov.uk every April, when we look for a new Home Office fees table. The current table took effect on 8 April 2026.[22]
Rules last checked: 17 October 2026. Next check: April 2027.
We searched this topic on Google UK in October 2026. The pages we read either explained the rules in general terms or were one firm's own price statement. None of them put the services side by side with sample wording. That's the gap this page fills.
Price pages: where Naelar fits
We build practice-area pages for UK firms, and nothing is published before the firm signs it off. We're not a law firm and don't give legal advice, so your COLP stays the person who approves the page.
See local SEO and AI search for the pages we build, or intake and CRM for sending quotes after an enquiry. If the whole site needs rebuilding, law firm website design covers where the price pages sit.
For conveyancing firms, the conveyancing CRM guide covers the quote stage.
If an agency is building your pages, our guide to choosing a legal marketing agency lists what to ask for in writing.
Score your own price page today
Print the checklist above, then open your own website on a phone, as a client would.
- Pick one service from the list above that your website advertises.
- Tick each box only if a visitor could find the item within two taps of your home page.
- Count the empty boxes and write down who will fix each one, and by when.
- Repeat it for every other covered service you list.
- Then do the same for your complaints page, once for the whole site.
- Send the marked-up sheets to your COLP to review.
The empty boxes are your to-do list.
Sources
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, "SRA Transparency Rules", Rules 1.1 to 1.4 (services covered), sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/transparency-rules. Version in effect from 11 April 2025. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same rules, Rule 1.5 (what costs information includes), sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/transparency-rules. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same rules, Rule 1.6 (clear, accessible, prominent), sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/transparency-rules. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same rules, Rule 2.1 (complaints information) and Rule 4.1 (SRA number and digital badge), sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/transparency-rules. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same rules, version note, sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/transparency-rules. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, "SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs", paragraphs 5.1 to 5.3, sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same Code, paragraph 8.7, sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same Code, paragraph 8.8, sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, "Web sweep" report, residential conveyancing sample, updated 25 November 2019, sra.org.uk/sra/research-publications/web-sweep. 2019 data. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same report, conveyancing results (fully, partly, not at all), sra.org.uk/sra/research-publications/web-sweep. 2019 data. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same report, top three gaps on conveyancing sites, sra.org.uk/sra/research-publications/web-sweep. 2019 data. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, "Price transparency", November 2018, note on when the sweep ran, sra.org.uk/solicitors/resources/fees/transparency-price-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same page, price items, sra.org.uk/solicitors/resources/fees/transparency-price-service. Older guidance; Rule 1.5 is the current text. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same page, service items, sra.org.uk/solicitors/resources/fees/transparency-price-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, "Transparency in price and service" guidance, immigration section, updated 30 September 2024, sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/transparency-in-price-and-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same guidance, services to businesses, sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/transparency-in-price-and-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same guidance, what the quoted fee should include, sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/transparency-in-price-and-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same guidance, immigration example, Home Office fees, sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/transparency-in-price-and-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same guidance, interpreters, sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/transparency-in-price-and-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same guidance, VAT statement, sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/transparency-in-price-and-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Same guidance, good practice tips, sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/transparency-in-price-and-service. Checked 17 October 2026.
- GOV.UK, Home Office, "Home Office immigration and nationality fees, 8 April 2026", gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table/home-office-immigration-and-nationality-fees-8-april-2026. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Council for Licensed Conveyancers, home page, clc-uk.org. Checked 17 October 2026.
- GOV.UK, Immigration Advice Authority, "Enhanced agenda and identity for UK immigration advice regulator", 16 January 2025, gov.uk/government/news/enhanced-agenda-and-identity-for-uk-immigration-advice-regulator. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, "SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs", paragraphs 8.2 to 8.5 (complaints handling), sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors. Checked 17 October 2026.
- Legal Ombudsman, "Model Complaints Resolution Procedure", learning resources for legal service providers, legalombudsman.org.uk (Model Complaints Resolution Procedure). Checked 17 October 2026.