Joy Hagelthorn, senior product manager at e4 Strategic UK, explores the frustrations that persist within the conveyancing process, and explains why she believes 2026 will be the turning point.
Just before Christmas, I read a piece on Today’s Conveyancer from Landmark Information Group that looked ahead to this year and the pressures and prospects facing conveyancers. I expected it to be a relatively quick read, but it ended up being far from it.
Despite my best intentions, I kept reflecting on it over the festive break. Not because it said anything wild or dramatic, but because it reflected issues we have been working through for some time and echoed long-running conversations about how this part of the market really works, where it creaks, and what might finally make a difference.
When I returned to the office, it sparked proper discussions with colleagues and practical questions. What is actually slowing firms down? Where is effort being wasted? And what would genuinely make day-to-day conveyancing work easier for both teams and clients?
Fragmentation sits at the centre of the problem
One of the strongest themes in the research was how disconnected the offer-to-completion stage remains. While earlier stages of the mortgage journey have improved, this part of the process still relies heavily on manual steps, emails and disconnected systems.
Within this, one figure clearly stood out – conveyancers still spend around 40% of their day chasing (or presumably providing) updates, a number which has barely changed.
Now this is not a question of effort, but of how information flows. Too much data still sits in silos, updates rely on manual actions, and the same questions are often asked repeatedly across various stakeholders because there is no shared reference point. Each chase takes time and stalls momentum, which helps explain why this barrier adds pressure to so many transactions.
A further issue is not simply that information is shared slowly, but that critical information is sometimes overlooked altogether. In a process that can involve over 100 documents and multiple hand-offs, important data points can sit unnoticed in title documents, searches or lender instructions
As such, it was no surprise to see transaction times, heavy workloads and poor communication remain some of the top frustrations, with working flexibility and reduced admin amongst the improvements needed to retain good people. This all reflects a common view that skilled professionals expect systems and tools that support the work they are doing, making daily work easier and quicker.
A shared opportunity rather than a single fix
What struck me most in the article was how much agreement there is on what needs to improve. In terms of better visibility, fewer chasers, clearer allocation of responsibility and information that needs to be shared between parties.
Lenders and conveyancers face the same constraints from different angles and real progress depends on collaboration.
Technology has an important role to play, but only when it supports how firms wish to work, when it simplifies the process, and when it is built around a clear understanding of how transactions actually move forward. Automated workflows could offer the opportunity to move information more quickly and to surface it intelligently – highlighting restrictions and drawing attention to conditions that might otherwise only emerge later in the transaction.
With industry reform now firmly on the agenda and various industry initiatives gathering pace, there is a real chance to address practical change that reduces friction, restores confidence, and improves the experience for everyone involved,
About the author
Joy Hagelthorn is senior product manager at e4 Strategic UK. With over 17 years of diversified experience in digital innovation in industries such as global retail, education and real estate, Joy is adept at understanding business processes and identifying gaps with a focus on providing sustainable solutions.
