The deadline for conveyancers to register to be involved in the TA6 consultation is on Friday 16th August. The Law Society of England and Wales says it has had over 1,000 conveyancing professionals register to take part.
The furore erupted following the introduction of the updated fifth edition of the TA6 Property Information Form in March. At the time The Law Society said the inclusion of a range of questioning relating to material information would provide opportunities for property professionals to get involved in a transaction at an earlier stage, secure the work, speed up the sale process and reduce transaction fall throughs.
“Earlier contact between sellers and their solicitors may provide an opportunity to address any issues that could cause delays in the sale process at a later date. We hope that the TA6 will help facilitate the flow of information from marketing a property by estate agents through to the legal process. The aim is that having better informed buyers could help reduce both the time the process takes and the number of sales that fall through”
said Law Society president Nick Emmerson, when the updated form was launched.
But there was backlash from the profession railing against the extensive increase in the number of questions and depth of information required; with the new form running to 32 pages. Concerns were also raised about the liability placed on conveyancers and the lack of consultation with the profession on the updates. A Special General Meeting of the Law Society, the first in over a decade, at which a motion of no confidence was voted on, brought the issue to a head with the Law Society acknowledging the strength of feeling, postponing the mandatory introduction of the form for CQS firms and introducing the consultation.
A Today’s Conveyancer poll on the issue via LinkedIn asked what readers thought about the updated forms, presenting four responses: “A positive change”, “No anticipated impact to work”, “A negative change”, and “Undecided/unknown”. The poll received 210 responses, revealing: 78% of voters deemed the update as “a negative change”; 14% remained “undecided/unknown” on the matter, while just 4% perceived it as “a positive change” or anticipate “no impact to work”.
Speaking exclusively to Today’s Conveyancer, Law Society CEO Ian Jeffery said the consultation was the ‘right response’ after the professional body was taken to task by those in the industry, adding that while the updated TA6 went through the ‘usual pattern’ of review through the specialist committees and in-house advisors before it was introduced, the ‘strong reaction’ needed addressing.
The consultation will provide participants with the option to take part in focus groups or user experience testing. A survey will also be sent to those registering, along with all Law Society members who currently list residential conveyancing among their areas of expertise. Commenting Law Society president, Nick Emmerson, says
“With more than a thousand people registered to be involved in the TA6 form consultation, we know that this is a very important issue for our members. We are committed to engaging with conveyancers across the country and want to hear from members who have used the forms and those who have not.”
“The consultation will help us understand users’ experience and views of the TA6 form, its part in the wider conveyancing landscape and to identify improvements to the property form.”
One Response
With the Law Society claiming in some perverse manner, based on a hidden secret opinion, there is no extra civil or criminal liability for solicitors and their clients, despite a tremendous amount of additional information to be supplied, what could possibly go wrong!
When common sense and basic law goes out of the window one has to wonder who has taken over the asylum.