Todmans SRE in Rayleigh, Essex has become the 500th law firm in England and Wales to secure the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation.

Since CQS launched at the beginning of the year the Law Society has received 1229 applications from solicitors’ firms seeking to join the scheme, which recognises high standards in residential conveyancing.

The Law Society had originally envisaged an end-of-year target of 600 firms, but CQS looks set to go well beyond that number by end of 2011.

The CQS scheme requires practices to undergo a strict assessment, compulsory training, self reporting, random audits and annual reviews in order to maintain CQS status. It is open only open to practices regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and to those who meet the demanding standards the scheme will set and has the support of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Land Registry, the Building Societies Association, Legal Ombudsman and the Association of British Insurers.

Todmans SRE Partner William Todman said: “We’re delighted to be the 500th firm to achieve CQS accreditation. The standard sends out a clear message to the public that they can expect a high quality service from CQS firms.