Conveyancers are facing unprecedented challenges as fresh data reveals a significant rise in prospective completions.
The extreme difficulties of coronavirus have impacted greatly on the conveyancing industry causing the profession immense pressure and stress. Exclusive risk management solution provider, Lawyer Checker has seen first-hand the effect on the sector.
Lawyer Checker are best known for its innovative conveyancing risk tool Account & Entity Screen (AES), which verifies the legitimacy of the firm on the other side of the transaction. The exclusive conveyancing tool AES is used in 1 in 4 residential conveyancing transactions purchases in England and Wales, which means Lawyer Checker have a holistic overview of what is going on in the market as the majority of their searches are ordered towards completion.
Lawyer Checker reveals up to date figures showing a big increase in the number of searches as November 2020 data found that searches were up nearly a fifth (18 per cent) compared to the same period in 2019.
In addition, Thursdays are traditionally the busiest day as firms prepare for completions and last Thursday 10th December saw a 41 per cent increase on same time last year – and 53 per cent up on the same day in 2018”
Furthermore, last Friday the 11th December again saw an increase; this time of 41 per cent compared to 2019 figures.
Tom Lyes Key Relationship Manager Lawyer Checker commented on the figures. He said:
“Our position in the market, enables us to have strong overview of what is happening around completions and completion numbers. December is always a traditionally busy month for completions with the first two week period seeing clients keen to move into their new homes before Christmas. A 41 per cent jump from this time last year is a staggering figure and not something any of us could have predicted earlier this year. The jump we saw last Thursday 10th December in comparison to 2019 emphasises just why this is a challenging time for many firms. Add in further challenges around capacity, demanding clients and supply chain compromise into the melting pot and you can understand why it is so tough.
“In the early part of the Autumn, we heard from many of our search provider partners who talked about record days in terms of searches ordered, what we are seeing now is a culmination of these transactions coming towards completion. On the plus side, many law firms will be looking to ensure they capitalise on this period to build up cash reserves especially as what lies ahead after March is currently unknown.”
2 responses
Fairly sure we have been shouting about this for the last 3-4 months. This should not be seen as news any more. Start empowering your clients to order their own searches earlier in the transaction where possible so that they can get order in the queues sooner.. Let the client decide when to pay for their own searches. Better still, engage with your agent introducers and encourage more to get vendors to get the order placed when going to the market.
If ever there was a time for more up front data, this is it.
Daniel
You appear to risk giving clients the impression that conveyancers are telling them to bark themselves while paying a dog to bark