Jersey's Law Society is scrapping the fixed service fees solicitors charge when people buy or sell property. Currently when people buy or sell a property, they pay their lawyer a flat fee of at least 1% of its value.
Now the Law Society has agreed to scrap these set fees and allow firms to decide what to charge.
The Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA) welcomed the move, saying it would be fairer for the consumer and lead to lower prices.
Serious infringements
It said: "This will enable conveyancing lawyers to compete with each other on price, bringing potentially lower prices to consumers."
However, the Law Society warned that it was concerned that some property transactions could end up costing customers more if a lawyer decided to charge on an hourly rate and the sale took a long time.
The 1% fee had been in place since 1954.
The JCRA said that any fixed prices were "potentially serious infringements of the Competition Law because they deprive consumers of the benefits of competitors competing against each other on the price of goods or services they provide."
One-Minute World News 
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