After more than half a century working in the world of conveyancing, last week has to rank among the most frantic and frankly, one of the strangest I can remember. On Tuesday morning, I was minding my own business and carrying out my usual work on behalf of the Bold Legal Group membership when a member messaged me.
“I just wondered if there was any news on the new UK Finance Handbook? I understand it goes live in March, and firms will have to pay for access, charged per user, per year.”
I had already been involved in discussions with a number of stakeholders about this forthcoming change, including representatives from The Law Society of England and Wales, The Society of Licensed Conveyancers, and the Conveyancing Association.
As luck, perhaps not quite the right word, would have it, that very morning UK Finance released what has since become its now infamous announcement. It stated that from 1 June, conveyancers and solicitors would be charged an annual fee of £50 plus VAT per user to access the UK Finance Handbook.
As the news filtered out, it became obvious very quickly that this proposal was not going to receive a warm reception. BLG members were up in arms, as were conveyancers and solicitors across social media. Hundreds of comments appeared, many echoing similar sentiments:
“Not content with us acting for lenders for free, UK Finance now want us to pay for the privilege!”
“Another cost we’ll have to pass on to clients.”
At that point, individuals and groups across the sector didn’t just voice their concerns, they coordinated.
UK Finance was contacted directly by some, and importantly, people and groups began joining forces.
Without breaching confidences, I can say that I was involved, with others (some of whom understandably wish to remain anonymous), in some of the rapid-fire Zoom calls that took place. What quickly became clear was that this was not a lender-driven initiative. In fact, quite the opposite: many lenders were strongly opposed to the changes and did not want them implemented.
On Thursday, a collective decision was made to sit tight. If UK Finance did not withdraw the proposal by the end of the week, further action would need to be taken – not just by conveyancing groups and individual conveyancers, but also by others involved in the home buying and selling process who would inevitably feel the negative impact if it was implemented.
Thankfully, on Friday lunchtime, came the UK Finance announcement:
“We have decided to recalibrate the charging structure for our enhanced, more interactive and secure Handbook, continuing the current free access for conveyancers (with user accounts) for the foreseeable future.”
On the face of it, this appears to be a fantastic outcome and a clear demonstration of what can be achieved when the many sectors involved in the home buying and selling process work together. However, now that the dust is beginning to settle, it is worth asking how complete this victory really is.
As one individual involved in the discussions put to me:
“I don’t see it as a complete win, but rather a strategic retreat by UK Finance. We’re agreeing to sign up for free, overlooking data-sharing concerns, administrative burdens, and potential liability issues. When ‘the foreseeable future’ ends and charges are introduced, we’ll already be embedded in the system – and it will be far harder to object.”
For now, though, I echo the words of The Law Society President, Mark Evans:
“We commend UK Finance for reacting swiftly to the strength of opposition against the proposal to introduce a charge.”
Time will tell though whether this “recalibration” proves to be a lasting resolution, or merely a pause.
One Response
Providing the new platform allows us to easily see updates (and be notified of them) it will be a marked improvement.
The current Part 1 for England and Wales still says it was last updated in 2017 at the top even though there are sections in it which reference the Building Safety Act 2022.