The Conveyancing Task Force, a group of practising conveyancers formed in the wake of the government’s home buying and selling reform consultation, has issued a briefing note to MPs warning that the core issues of the transaction process are being overlooked.
The 23-strong group, which includes small law firms and a PLC alongside individual conveyancers and local law societies, says the structural issues that routinely derail transactions are being overlooked, and the focus of reform should be on quality, supervision and accountability.
In a briefing note sent to Florence Eshalomi MP, chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, the CTF stressed that reform must remain grounded in consumer protection, professional accountability and practical deliverability, rather than assuming that speed and digitalisation alone can resolve deep-rooted structural problems.
The group acknowledges consumers are frustrated, and agrees they are increasingly bearing the costs of a property transaction system under mounting pressure, with delays, fall-throughs and poor communication becoming the norm.
But rather than stemming from outdated processes, the CTF argues the deeper causes lie in the way the modern conveyancing market operates. Commonhold, estate management companies, mortgage complications and lender delays all contribute significantly to issues with the transaction process, the group says.
CTF spokesperson Stephen Larcombe explained: “People are spending thousands of pounds, chasing updates for weeks, struggling to speak to the same person twice and facing enormous stress when transactions collapse.
“Nobody is arguing against sensible reform. But no amount of extra paperwork or digital process will fix a system if professional supervision, continuity and accountability continue to weaken in parts of the conveyancing sector.
“Conveyancing is not an administrative task. It is a professional legal service requiring judgment, investigation, accountability and experience.”
Many of the current proposals for reform risk over-simplifying the causes of delays, the group argues, and says the voices of those working daily in the system must be heard.
In the briefing note, the CTF says the core problem behind the process is being overlooked and claims the quality, supervision and accountability of conveyancing provision within parts of the market has deteriorated under increasing pressure from volume-driven business models.
“No amount of additional process or digitalisation will compensation for weak professional standards, inadequate supervision or excessive caseloads,” the group warns.
“Conveyancing is a legal discipline requiring careful investigation, interpretation and risk assessment. It cannot safely be reduced to a largely administrative workflow.”
Policy contradictions leave conveyancers legally accountable for conflicting priorities, the CTF adds, with government proposals promising faster, simpler and cheaper transactions and the Treasury imposing increasingly complex AML obligations on firms.
While the CTF acknowledges modernisation of the home buying and selling process “is both necessary and welcome”, it says it must be “evidence-led, proportionate and operationally realistic”.
Sustainable reform should focus on “genuine structural causes of delay and inefficiency,” the group says, which include AML reform, simplifying SDLT, accessible planning and building control records, protections for historic building regulations, and improving central and local government services.
“Government must avoid pursuing contradictory policy objectives that simultaneously increase compliance burdens while demanding faster transaction,” the CTF said.
“Digitalisation should support professional judgement, not replace it.”
