Conveyancing organisations have disagreed with claims made by Tory MP Bob Neill in parliament that the lockdown will play havoc with house buying and selling transactions during this period.
In his claim, he used conveyancers as an example, believing property transactions will be disrupted by the lockdown as a lot of people will not be able to have face-to-face contact to sign legal documents.
Neill rejected the government’s latest Coronavirus lockdown bill. He said:
“With a heavy heart, I cannot support the Government in the Lobby today. These measures are not amendable, but I would have been prepared to look at a more limited or proportionate form of regulations, An example of the short notice that we have had to consider these measures and the poor drafting of them is that people are allowed to go to an estate agent, but they cannot go to a solicitor. But the documentation that people will need to get a mortgage and to move house will frequently need to be witnessed in person by a solicitor. These are poorly drafted regulations, and that is only one of many examples. That is why I cannot support them.”
A spokesperson for the Council of Licensed Conveyancers commented on the MP’s view. They said:
“The government has been very clear that home moving can and should continue under new the lockdown in England and of course that means that everyone involved should take all the usual Covid health security precautions. HM Land Registry has made clear how digital signatures can be used for its purposes. Many conveyancers have adopted digital ID checking and signature solutions in recent years and there has been an their adoption and use during the pandemic. Where it is not possible to use a remote tool the advice issued by the Home Buying and Selling Group (of which the CLC is part) in July about client engagement and the witnessing of signatures holds good and can be consulted here.”
Other industry trade bodies also gave their views. The Conveyancing Association believe that it should be ‘business as usual’ as long as the sector continues to carry out their work in a safe way, in keeping to covid protocols.
A Law Society spokesperson said:
“There are many aspects of a conveyancing transaction that can be dealt with remotely or virtually.
“But some clients lack the confidence or technology to engage remotely or virtually with their solicitor and there are some procedures where lenders or others require that clients are seen in person.
“Many aspects of identification can be carried out remotely although more investigations need to be made when there is no face-to-face interaction.
“HM Land Registry is now accepting witnessed electronic signatures and is working hard to further develop their requirements so that more conveyancers can use these methods of execution.”
