The conveyancing process remains a largely “analogue process” but progress is being made on digitisation, automation and certainty. The comments were made as part of a “Future of Digital Conveyancing” panel exploring the process of digitising conveyancing at the annual Conveyancing Association Conference held at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester.
A common theme throughout the day, the adoption of technology is firmly on the agenda for many conveyancing firms, with panellists urging the room, and wider conveyancing community, to engage with technology providers and review what options are out there to help practitioners. Not only, suggested the panel, is the slow pace of technology adoption perpetuating the cliché that a property chain will only go as quick as its slowest part, but according to the professional indemnity insurer, it also presents a greater risk from a PII point of view; and when asked if technology adoption would help reduce premiums, the response was yes. It is important to include the firm’s technology journey in the application and renewal to tell the story about efforts to mitigate and manage risk.
Sharing their experience of introducing technology into their business, one panellist at a large regional firm described how it took incremental steps to introduce a range of carefully selected platforms, explaining that their success was based on taking a piecemeal approach, rather than trying to solve all their technology challenges in one go.
One of the challenges for all technology providers and conveyancers is the veracity and ability to interrogate data, to enable informed and accurate decisions. This is a key focus in the property space where just 1% of data connected to the process of moving home is digitised in a standardised format according to Open Property Data Association (OPDA) chair Maria Harris. Currently the work ongoing to digitise local land charges is being delivered in a standardised format but is just one data source amongst a host of others in the home moving process. OPDA are working on standardising the way in which data is held and delivered, to enable all parties to interact with it more effectively.
Technology adoption and data was just one discussion from the day, which brought around 200 conveyancers and industry professionals together to discuss the future of conveyancing. Kicking off the day, keynote speaker Kate Faulkner OBE delivered an insightful summary of the current economic climate, before the first panel discussion on the impact of work being done around digitisation and automation and the impact on the profession today. Delegates then had the option to attend a series of breakout sessions covering the implementation of the material and up front information requirements; digital signatures and source of funds; and workplace issues including menopause, the 4 day working week, adapting businesses and training for Gen Z, and LGBTQ+ considerations in the workplace.
The Association, a membership body representing the interests of conveyancers, has this year released updated guidance to address challenges presented by The Building Safety Act to provide conveyancing firms with details on what the Act and Building Safety Regulations currently contain and what they should consider. It has also updated its Estate Agent Best Practice Guide, detailing how conveyancers and estate agents can improve their communication, incorporating the newly published Material Information requirements, and digital identification and the sharing of ID between parties.
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