Change can be unsettling in any area of life. There are two ways to approach change, we can seize the opportunity and look to what improvements could be enjoyed as a result, or we can feel overwhelmed and just resist it.
Change may be long overdue for the property sector, but the sector now stands on the cusp of delivering massive positive improvements to the home buying and selling process.
Forty years of experience in the regulation of conveyancing has enabled us to build a clear and comprehensive picture of the changes needed to deliver such improvements that consumers and others working in the sector are calling for, and how best those changes can be achieved.
One of the most recent, and most discussed, changes has been the new property information form, TA6.
Some have opposed it because it seeks to introduce much-needed modernisation of the conveyancing process, and doomsayers will inevitably point to past failed attempts. However, we face a different landscape than in the past, given that IT has moved on significantly over the last decade. More importantly, the Home Buying and Selling Council (HBSC) has collaborated to set out an approach that offers huge benefits to the consumer and the country.
The CLC’s concern in relation to the proposed new TA6 is that it seems unsustainable that such a significant element of the conveyancing infrastructure should continue to be controlled by the Law Society who are the representative body of one branch of the legal profession. This is because it impacts stakeholders outside of that profession who have their own needs.
I don’t think anyone would argue that digitisation needs to be at the forefront alongside upfront information. The Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG) would be the right place to identify what information is needed throughout the process and how to deliver that safely and digitally, reducing liability and improving the client journey.
Beyond the TA6 form, the CLC, alongside a number of other industry players, recently submitted information to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee Inquiry into Improving the Home Buying and Selling Process.
The CLC put forward a number of changes which we feel could deliver significant improvement to the home buying and selling process. These include ensuring sellers have instructed a conveyancer before putting the property on the market; that buyers have obtained a decision in principle from a lender before viewing properties and ensuring that on the day of completion everyone is able to move by 1pm.
Other changes include the availability of upfront property information which meets common industry standards, streamlined use of digital identity verification, an acceptable standard of digital signature which is universally accepted, digitisation of data and establishing a common taxonomy, reliable provenance markings to enable easy access to data and specifically for the conveyancing of property, ensuring that there is a complete view across the entire chain for everyone in the chain.
The DPMSG, of whom the CLC is a member, have been championing the creation of a Digital Property Information Protocol to enable stakeholders to collaborate effectively during the home moving process. One of the challenges to digitisation however is that material property data is held by multiple parties, making this complex and costly. This is an area where government support could be transformational whether through funding pilots, pump-priming new approaches or funding digitisation of whole classes of data if that is necessary and enabling the skill and experience of the UK’s technology industry to be deployed. It will be crucial though for everyone in a chain to have visibility of all data within that chain and the ability to communicate seamlessly across the chain. This could be achieved by mandating the use of technology which is connected and interoperable.
From a consumer point of view, the most significant impact would be reducing the time taken to complete conveyancing transactions. One way this could be achieved would be by making standard the provision of comprehensive property information at the earliest point i.e. at the time a property is marketed. This would also mitigate the risk of issues or concerns about the property emerging at a late stage with all the associated wasted costs and time. Additionally, it could reduce the risk of gazundering or gazumping that tends to increase with the length of a transaction. The positive impact of upfront information has been demonstrated in practice.
Given where we are now, with comparatively little resource and cost implication for the public purse, the incoming government, whoever that turns out to be, could make some interventions which would deliver significant improvements and greatly enhance the experience that the UK public and businesses have when buying or selling property. It will be necessary for our new government to recognise the scale of change that is needed in the day-to-day delivery of the home buying and selling process and conveyancing. We have a roadmap that will deliver faster, more certain and more secure property transactions and we hope that after 4 July, the sector can speed ahead with the support of the new government.
Stephen Ward is director of strategy and external relations at the Council for Licensed Conveyancers
