Well here we are, another year in the crazy world of Conveyancing nearly over and it’s time for us to get our crystal balls out and hit 88mph and try to predict what lies ahead of us in 2024. A futile task some would say, and probably rightly so. Many of us will attempt it nonetheless but add a disclaimer that it could all be completely and utterly wrong (anyone predicted a pandemic?)
The Housing Market
One thing that probably doesn’t need us to look to Nostradamus is an overall fall in house prices. The Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts that house prices will fall by 4.7% in 2024 (lower than quite a few other predictions out there) and UK Finance have announced that lending for house purchases fell 23% in 2023 but with a predicted, and less sizable, fall of 8% in 2024.
As most of us still need to rely on borrowing, a bit of good news is that it’s largely anticipated that the big squeeze on general living costs will continue to ease through 2024.
Interest rates are likely to remain comparatively high with any falls not likely on the cards until mid 2024 but never underestimate the power of buyers simply getting bored of waiting! More buyers may well be getting past their initial ‘wait and see’ phase and into the acceptance of the ‘new normal’ phase of higher borrowing costs for the longer term.
It was also recently announced that the average cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage in the UK has fallen below 6% for the first time in almost six months, so comparatively we may well still see some purchasers hanging on for lower deals as lenders battle for business. It’s not all in the buyers hands as the relatively short supply of homes should stop prices falling (not crashing!) too far. Cash buyers seem to be in an even stronger position, and as a Conveyancer, who does not rejoice in a good cash buyer purchase.
A Conveyancers’ Need for Speed
With the embrace of things like digital documents and online ID verification stakeholders such as lenders, mortgage brokers and estate agents, the industry is speeding up the initial stages of the house buying process, and in turn putting even more pressure on Conveyancers to speed up the rest of the process. It was said to me at the start of my conveyancing career that one problem is people expect to buy their new house quicker than they can buy their new sofa. In many cases I’m sure that still holds true.
So the practical challenges for Conveyancing firms, once again, is a continued competitive market where speed and customer care is an absolute must. Many firms are already seeking to adopt new and innovative ways of working that gives them an edge over the competition, whether its a polished customer facing portal for digital documents and client access or in assistance with day to day procedures that can speed up the process.
Therefore, one thing that’s probably easy to predict is the embracing of the use of technology and AI. While buyers won’t be able to ask Alexa to ‘buy me a house’ the tools behind Alexa and Siri are already being used to assist Property Lawyers in several areas of making that house buying process quicker.
The use of AI and Large Language Model technology is already being used to effectively read leases and other documents with high accuracy. Using these tools as a quick initial overview of a lease, to assist in compiling a client report or just as that second pair of eyes we all wish we had sometimes can result in both increased time savings and reductions in risk.
The Law Society’s perfect formula?
Another body looking to assist in the embracing of available technology is the Law Society with their proposals for new exchange protocols. The Law Society says ‘The code will modernise the way you do business, save you time and provide much-needed clarity to help you move towards exchanging digitally in a way that’s fit for the 21st century’. Formulas A, B and C could be a thing of the past in favour of Immediate Exchange and Release of Contracts protocols. More changes to our day to day practices are likely as the use of digitally signed documents become commonplace. The Law Society will be responding to consultation feedback in the new year.
Commonhold? Strata? Condominium?
How about a general election! Well with polling not in the current governments favour at the moment the crystal ball predicts a winter 2024/25 election the likely scenario. With the current government’s recent housing reform proposals well discussed, this time next year it may well be greater reforms such as a modified version of the commonhold tenure that we will be gearing up for. Labour’s well documented claim to ‘Abolish leasehold in the first 100 days of government’ is quite a striking one.
Collectively, we always hope the incoming year is bigger and better than before. 2024 looks to be not without its challenges for firms, buyers and sellers alike, but with some positive signs of more ‘stability’ and technological change coming to hopefully make all our lives easier. To summarise… Maybe 2025 will be easier to predict.
Author: Stephen Watson, Conveyancer at Orbital Witness
This article was submitted to be published by Orbital Witness as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
