A housing market that ground to a complete halt last year is suddenly white hot, as pent-up demand meets a controversial tax holiday. Conveyancers are working flat out to cope, but a process that dates back to the 19th century remains in need of urgent reform.
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Comment: Trust is key in conveyancing
Distributors can do the heavy lifting and reduce delays
By Mark Snape 25
th February 2021 12:48 pm
Back in October, as the housing market particularly purchasing really heated up just prior to Lockdown 2, three organisations the Conveyancing Association, the Society of Licensed Conveyancers and Bold Legal Group issued an open letter urging all market stakeholders to be patient with conveyancers as they worked through cases.
Three months on amid Lockdown 3, one suspects that, with the stamp duty holiday deadline not far away, a stronger message may be issued. Indeed, some conveyancing firms may have taken matters into their own hands. I constantly hear anecdotal evidence from advisers regarding firms not on our panel, I may add with which it is incredibly difficult to communicate.
A number of leading organisations in the conveyancing industry have agreed to work together as The Conveyancing Task Force.
The task force will discuss reforming and the enhancement of the conveyancing process for the benefit of consumers and lawyers alike.
The Conveyancing Task Force comprises of The Law Society, The Society of Licensed Conveyancers, The Conveyancing Association, CILEx and the Bold Legal Group.
All members of the group have recently released three documents to their members relating to the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending expiry of the SDLT holiday at the end of March.
Simon Law, chairperson of the Society of Licensed Conveyancers and chair of the Conveyancing Task Force, said: “These are challenging times for the conveyancing profession, with the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and an increasing move to working electronically.
By Monidipa Fouzder2021-02-22T15:02:00+00:00
The Law Society and other conveyancing bodies have put informal collaborations on a more formal footing with a new taskforce that will agree and lead changes to the homebuying and selling process.
The ‘Conveyancing Task Force’, which has been two years in the making and has formal terms of reference, comprises Chancery Lane, Society of Licensed Conveyancers, Conveyancing Association, CILEx and Bold Legal Group.
Society president David Greene said taskforce members have been working informally together for some time on areas of shared interest to help practitioners and consumers. The new arrangements, he said, ‘will help formalise joint working to enable cooperation to take place effectively without compromising the independence of each organisation’.