Practising fee for solicitors rises to £326, but overall individual cost to fall by £1
Law firms across England and Wales are facing a sharp 11% rise in practising costs this year, as the Law Society seeks approval to collect £148.4 million from the profession — a £16.6 million increase on last year. But in a twist, individual solicitors will see little change in what they personally pay.
The rise, effective from 1 November 2025, has been driven by ballooning costs at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which is seeking £86.5 million — a year-on-year jump of £16.3 million. According to Law Society submissions to the Legal Services Board, the SRA’s increased need stems from a surge in solicitor misconduct reports and the rapid expansion of bulk litigation cases.
Despite the budget hike, the practising certificate (PC) fee for individual solicitors will only rise from £307 to £326 — a net increase offset by a proposed £20 drop in the individual contribution to the SRA Compensation Fund. Factoring in other reductions, the average solicitor will end up paying £1 less to practise in 2025–26.
The story is starkly different for law firms, which will shoulder 60% of the total budget — some £89 million — a 12% increase. The actual financial hit to firms depends on turnover: those with flat earnings over two years will see an 8.8% increase in costs. The firm-level compensation fund contribution is also being cut, from £2,220 to £1,950.
SRA chief executive Paul Philip justified the budget rise by citing the regulatory burden posed by high-volume claims firms. He revealed the SRA is actively investigating over 80 live cases across 74 firms, involving an estimated 200,000 claims linked to issues such as financial product mis-selling, housing disrepair, and cavity wall insulation schemes.
Embed from Getty Images“It’s a huge issue and we have very serious concerns about firms involved in high-volume cases,” said Mr Philip, calling the workload “space-occupying” and warning that resources had to be redirected away from other regulatory tasks.
In response, SRA chair Anna Bradley attended a Ministry of Justice roundtable to explore possible protections for consumers facing potential harm from bulk litigation practices. The Civil Justice Council, in its June review, urged the government to investigate litigation funding models like those used by collapsed firms SSB Law and Pure Legal. It called for urgent regulatory reforms around portfolio funding to prevent similar collapses in future.
While the SRA’s consultation on its 2025/26 business plan received only seven formal responses, it reported minimal pushback on the increased budget.
The Law Society, meanwhile, is reducing its own share of the practising fee by £3 — likely thanks to the use of its reserves. The levies for the Legal Services Board, Legal Ombudsman, and anti-money laundering supervision are also being trimmed by £500,000 to £24.3 million, offering some cost balance in the face of the SRA’s growth.
As regulators warn of mounting challenges in litigation and misconduct, law firms are left to absorb the cost — and the legal profession’s model of shared funding will likely come under renewed scrutiny.
