New data revealed that 88% of vendors would be prepared to pay more to have a faster conveyancing process that is “smoother and more digital”. While 75% of agents say that any new technology that would speed up sales and aid the conveyancing process would be appealing.
iamproperty, a business that helps estate agensts to succeed, surveyed UK vendors and agents to understand the impact of conveyancing on their transactions, exploring how they perceive the process, the pitfalls and potential solutions.
According to the findings, the top frustration for consumers when selling a property is the conveyancing process taking too long (50%), followed by “time-wasting” (viewing the property and not planning to buy, 48%) and “wishing solicitors were more proactive” (doing paperwork earlier, 46%).
The data also revealed that vendors are most likely to find their own conveyancing solicitor (31%), although Estate Agent recommendations are important (22%). Getting their property sale ready before it goes onto the market was appealing to vendors, as the benefit of transaction speed outweighed additional costs.
Ben Ridgway, Co-Founder of iamproperty, said:
“The volume of property transactions in the UK has more than doubled in the last 10 years, from 714,000 in 2012 to over 1.3 million in 2022. But processes haven’t caught up and the adoption of impactful tech solutions is lagging behind. Couple that with a continued decline in the number of conveyancers (10% in the last 10 years) and it’s no wonder the process is still slow and fragmented.
When we consider that back in 2007 transaction timescales were an average of 82 days, it’s no wonder frustrations are worsening for UK buyers and sellers. Estate Agents are feeling the impact too, taking the brunt of it when clients are frustrated, as well as the knock-on effect of transactions not running as smoothly as they could be.”
Ridgway also states that it has been proven that “tech can speed things up” and has already been working for agents. He says that conveyances can “make more improvements to the process” and “vendors are willing to pay for it”.
