Buying a home should be one of life’s most exciting milestones. Yet for many consumers, the reality is very different. Delays, uncertainty and a lack of clarity can turn what should be a positive experience into a stressful one.
That is the clearest message from our latest consumer research. Some 83% of people who bought a home in the last year described the process as stressful, with uncertain timelines and a lack of regular updates among the biggest contributors. Speed is still important, but the findings suggest that confidence depends just as much on having a clearer view of what is happening throughout the transaction.
Behind many of these frustrations is a transaction process that remains fragmented and disconnected for consumers and professionals alike. Property transactions involve multiple parties, from brokers and lenders to estate agents and conveyancers, often working across separate systems and processes. This fragmentation means buyers and sellers are frequently asked to provide the same information multiple times, while professionals spend time checking, re-keying and chasing information that cannot easily move between organisations.
The pressure conveyancers are managing
For conveyancers in particular, this presents a significant challenge. As consumers expect faster and more frequent updates, conveyancers are balancing substantial caseloads, complex legal requirements and multiple stakeholders. But in many cases, conveyancers are already operating at capacity and doing everything possible to keep transactions moving.
Any change to the transaction process should be shaped with conveyancers and grounded in the reality of their work. New approaches should reduce avoidable administration and give conveyancers more space to apply the expertise and judgement that remain central to a safe and efficient home move.
Creating a more connected ecosystem
A more connected property transaction process offers a way to address these challenges. Consumers are already demonstrating a clear appetite for digital services, with the same research showing that 75% are comfortable with digital verification and online document sharing, while 91% say they would be more likely to choose a conveyancer offering a fully digital service. The next step is ensuring these digital interactions form part of a more connected process that benefits both buyers and property professionals.
When trusted information flows more efficiently, duplication is reduced, administrative burdens are eased and everyone gains a clearer picture of progress. For consumers, that means greater transparency and less uncertainty. For professionals, it means better oversight of the transaction and potential delays, so issues can be identified and managed earlier.
The last mile
Technology has an important role to play, but only when it forms part of a connected ecosystem rather than another standalone solution. Much of the current focus is on improving information and efficiency earlier in the journey. That work is crucial, but a more certain and secure transaction depends on looking at the journey as a whole, with the same attention continuing through to the last mile of the process. This is where large sums of money change hands and fragmented, manual activity can create vulnerabilities, with error, delay or fraud carrying significant consequences for consumers and professionals.
Digital settlement and title lodgement can help connect these final stages by bringing the movement of funds and the application to register the transfer of title into a more coordinated process. Extending digitalisation through completion and registration can reduce reliance on manual hand-offs and give professionals greater visibility and control at one of the transaction’s most exposed points.
Building confidence through connection
The opportunity is to create a property transaction that people can follow and professionals can manage with greater confidence. Achieving this will require collaboration across brokers, lenders, estate agents, conveyancers, technology providers and regulators. Many of the foundations are already in place. The priority now is to bring them together in a way that creates a smoother, more predictable experience for consumers while helping professionals work more effectively. Ultimately, a more connected property market is not about replacing expertise with technology, but using technology to enable that expertise to deliver greater value.
About the author
Simon has almost 30 years’ financial services experience, leading strategy, operations, and customer teams. He spent the majority of his banking career at CYBG PLC (now Virgin Money UK PLC), where the roles undertaken have created a unique blend of commercial, strategy, operations, payments, distribution (personal and business), change and transformation experience. He was latterly director of operations and enablement and also led its customer banking centres.
A resourceful, authentic and innovative leader, Simon has built a strong reputation for strategy development and delivery whilst developing engaged and committed teams. Simon joined PEXA in 2021 as chief operating officer in the UK. In recognition of his leadership and impact on the business, he was appointed UK Co-CEO in 2026, where he continues to play a key role in driving PEXA’s growth and strategic direction.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Today’s Conveyancer.
3 responses
Connected to whom, and on whose terms?
This is an article by the chief executive of a technology platform, arguing that property transactions are “fragmented and disconnected” and need a more connected ecosystem.
His evidence is a survey from the seller of the solution. Of course 83% of buyers find the process stressful. Ask if they like digital verification, and 75% agree. Ask if they’d prefer a “fully digital” conveyancer and 91% oblige. Nothing reported says who bears the loss when the data is wrong or the system is breached. Stress comes from chains, developer opacity, leasehold abuse and a contract that binds no one until exchange, not from an email failing to reach a dashboard.
Calling a legal problem a plumbing problem suits those who sell plumbing.
Australian practitioners have seen the sequel. Dependence on a single channel, annual price rises a compelled user cannot refuse, and a Senate inquiry into market power. “Connected” is where the story begins, “compulsory” is where it goes, and “captive” is where it ends. Verification duties and indemnity insurance exposure stayed with the solicitor throughout.
The article never mentions AI, yet it is the subtext. Every connection is a conduit for automation, scoring and data reuse. The public and politicians are wary, the Post Office scandal shattered the myth of computer infallibility, and data suppliers routinely exclude responsibility for accuracy in their terms.
SME firms are looking for leadership on AI in transactional work, from regulators, from the Law Society, from their own profession. They are not looking for it from law tech sellers. Lady Caroline Lamb’s verdict on Byron fits AI neatly: ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’. That is unfair to the good it can do, but it is a fair description of a tool adopted without governance, accountability or clear liability.
“Not about replacing expertise with technology” misses the point. What’s at stake is independence. A solicitor’s duty runs to the client, not to a network, and “greater visibility and control” over the transaction is, in practice, oversight of the lawyer.
Property lawyers don’t reject technology. They reject having the architecture of their practice designed by those who sell to them and presented as consensus. Until that changes, “more connected” will be heard as “more dependent”.
The less connected the better, in my view. Every connection creates vulnerability to cyber attack and blackmail. Remember Simplify? The market frozen for months on end.
A network of independent law firms connected only where absolutely necessary is the safest and most reliable strategy to maintain a secure system of property transfer in England and Wales.
How about PEXA look to answer the mess that they have created in their own home country in Australia instead of trying to push everyone around over here? They have failed conveyancers in the land of Oz with outages, etc. So how is this going to help us over here?