KnowledgeShare: Conveyancing as a process is in dire need of reformation

WeCOMPLETE share their insights.

According to the most recently published reports making a startling appearance in the UK's property industry press, property completions take on average 156 days. Despite a pandemic-induced mini-boom, the housing market started slowing down, and it has become apparent that conveyancing as a process is in dire need of reformation. There seems to be only one solution following the changes and growth trends across all industry sectors - digital conveyancing.

The widespread calls for changes within conveyancing have been heard from all stakeholders, including conveyancing firms themselves. In a world where we can order a new car online to have it delivered without leaving home, it's little wonder that many feel that conveyancing is an antiquated process. Looking at the cycle of selling and buying properties, we can see that technology has been embraced by estate agents, sellers and buyers. Yet, one of the most crucial aspects of the property journey is disappointingly archaic.

Digitisation of the conveyancing process facilitated with 'legaltech' (or 'lawtech') Software-as-a-Service solutions has been heralded by industry bodies like The Law Society as a sign of the evolving landscape of conveyancing. According to the discussion paper published by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers titled Conveyancing 2030, "technology will rapidly improve transparency for consumers about what they are buying and the progress of their transaction. Because of the Internet of Things properties will maintain up-to-date logbooks with little human intervention." And indeed, it is something we have already witnessed.

However, to effectively digitise the process, we need to analyse conveyancing as a whole. We know that many firms are still printing and filing emails instead of utilising online, cloud-based systems, consequently creating more work for their teams and compromising the customer experience.

Digitisation of conveyancing processes, such as instant document uploads and electronic signatures, significantly improve the speed of the completion process as there's no need for posting documents and waiting for their return. At the same time, robust security protocols will ensure the storage and processing of sensitive data are compliant with the legislation surrounding other conveyancing tasks, such as generating new business, quoting, client onboarding, anti-money laundering checks, proof of funds, property searches, queries, certificates, forms, document filing, e-signature, payment collection, invoicing and all communications between all parties.

Rather encouragingly, however, the change is upon us. Conveyancers and the regulatory bodies recognised there is a need for change, and the thriving legaltechs carry on outlining their blueprints for innovation. Technology plays a pivotal role from conveyancing being digitally enabled to digitally-led. What a time to be alive!

Who are WeCOMPLETE?

WeCOMPLETE, the end-to-end digital conveyancing platform, coordinates estate agents and legal teams using world-class technology to progress the sale. Adopted by conveyancers as a complete CRM, it has fundamentally changed the pace of conveyancing, with every step of the process painstakingly expedited. As legal teams progress a case, updating estate agents and clients enables all parties to stay in touch in real-time, eliminating labour intensive phone calls and email communication. As a result, completions are achieved in under 28 days with an average six-week reduction, including the most complex cases and a fall through rate a third of the national average.

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