New research by the Conveyancing Association has found that consumers are overwhelmingly in favour of more upfront information being provided during the conveyancing process.
The study found 98% of consumers thought upfront information was a good idea. What’s more, 96% of respondents were property-owning sellers who are happy to pay more for information upfront.
This comes as National Trading Standards announced in February that, by the end of May, all property listings will need to contain the property’s council tax band or rate and the property price and tenure information (for sales) in a new effort to improve the availability of upfront information in the conveyancing process.
A further two phases are being developed, which will incorporate further material information such as restrictive covenants, flood risk and other specific factors that may impact certain properties.
Beth Rudolf, director of delivery at the Conveyancing Association, said:
“What was especially interesting was the response from people who were part way through a transaction.
They were even more likely to think paying for better information was a good idea. I think that tells us everything we need to know – the consumer is absolutely behind it.”
Ben Ridgway, managing director of proptech firm iamproperty, added:
“At the very least, fall-through rates should reduce. An industry average that has over 30% of properties falling through – it’s just crazy to think about all the wasted time and resource.
Upfront information has the potential to boost property pipelines significantly, which goes straight to the bottom line for estate agents.”
I think everyone sees that it’s a good idea, but they’re probably a little bit concerned about how they’re going to pull the information together, and how long it’s going to take. Are they going to put all the extra work in to compile this information or are they going to look for technology solutions?
The key thing is it’s not one size fits all. I’m a massive advocate of collaboration, sharing information and instructing solicitors earlier in the process, and lots of agents will probably choose to partner with a local solicitor.
Or you can use technology to join all of these parts together; there’s lots of solutions out there that make life easier.”