Delays are occurring in Conveyancing, that can lead to some transactions falling through
It is known that with the new rush and demand for buying properties, will come an increase in demand for solicitors and conveyancers. With government backed schemes, low mortgage interest rates and a recovering economy, this will only create more work for teams of solicitors and licensed conveyancers that are already fully stretched. This will inevitably result in the delay of some property transactions and in a worse case, can result in the transaction falling through.
We know that there is a Conveyancing Shortfall because
- Many Conveyancers are working longer hours to ensure that they can deliver service levels that are required to meet the change in the number of property transactions.The Land Registry data will advise what that change is over the past 3 months
- When times were hard and property transactions were low, Conveyancers reduced their staffing levels to accommodate this change. Turning that around to meet the new demand is never easy. It involves strategy, recruitment and process improvements and the confidence that its not just a short term upturn in the economy.
Currently Conveyancers are taking on as much work as possible and limited to only how many hours they can commit to. They are monitoring service levels and it is inevitable that their processes will be stretched.
The current climate has 2 issues
- We have too many property transactions versus available Conveyancers.
- We have some local authorities that are delaying property transactions because Searches are taking too long. This means the work in progress is inefficient and cases are taking longer. Some Solicitors are reporting a two week delay. That will limit the number of new cases they can take on.
What's the solution to the increase and the rush to buy homes?
To solve the first issues some Solicitors and Licensed Conveyancers have restructured their business to bring in trainee Solicitors that can manage the majority of the property process with a regulated Solicitor managing these trainee staff. One of the Homebuyer solicitor companies on our panel, Birchall Blackburn has done just this and continues to move forward with the market.
Smaller companies are doing their best to keep market share and instead of putting up their prices they simply do more but do not have the funds or the experience to expand.
The second issue is easily solved and Personal searches are becoming more acceptable by many lenders and these can be purchased from search providers such as OneSearch. A fast search service that actually aids the speed of completion.
Duncan Pattinson is the Managing Director of We Help You Too Ltd . A business that turns the complex into simple steps.
To support the shortfall in Conveyancing, we continuously monitor capacity of each of our solicitor panel members. We have some Solicitors that literally need just to be off the panel for just 1 day which we accommodate using the online Conveyancing fees calculator.
Homebuyer Conveyancing is quoted in The Times
Duncan Pattinson has discussed this issue in the property and construction section of the The Times. His comments and the article can be seen here:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/construction-property/article4195815.ece
"A recession causes companies to rethink their cost base. They are also wise in moving with the market. When you have already reduced your business costs you will explore every avenue to put in a new process that involves trainee staff."
