I read reports regularly about proposed digitalisation of the home moving process and I am all in favour of progress because let’s be honest, we no longer use quill pens and have clerks hunched over desks in attics (well not as far as I have ever heard!).
However, the thought of AI, integrations, open property data and and other technology makes me feel like that teenager again, studying for O-levels and not really understanding what is expected of me.
The thing about solicitors and conveyancers is that we adapt as and when needed. We no longer have to complete AP1 forms by hand and send them to the Land Registry with supporting documents and wait for a blue bound document back for us to send to the lender to show that we have registered their charge. We are all used to uploading documents through the Land Registry portal and waiting for them to update the register and then email us to tell us it has been done. How magical is that for an old stuffy conveyancer like me?!
We no longer have to request mortgage monies by sending the certificate of title in the post, waiting for the mortgage cheque to arrive three to five days before completion and then going to the bank to pay the monies into our client account.
We adapt. We do what is needed of us and we use the systems at our disposal, many of which have evolved over time but do help us in our day to day role.
But it is increasingly important for us to be aware that there is so much more coming down the road, indeed hurtling towards us. We need to be ready to adapt to what is coming. But can I make a request of technology providers. Please bear in mind that we deal with people. People who are incredibly stressed and going through a major life change by moving house. This is not something that tech understands the way that we do. Tech does not have the ability to console a client when a chain collapses, guide a buyer when a survey report looks worse in black and white than they had ever imagined, or reassure a seller when they are told that a Deed of Variation for their lease is needed.
We do all of this and more on a daily basis whilst using the tech to make parts of our working lives easier.
There will be those who say the tech means that we can take on more clients , I do not think that is necessarily the answer. Indeed in my experience clients actually need more hand holding now than they did in the past. They are far more used to Amazon-style delivery than they are moving house.
We all need to talk to each other more. Not only talk to the clients, but to each other and to reassure each other that what we experience on a daily basis with the stress of the work we do is not just isolated in one firm. We all have these experiences on a daily basis at work and we need to support each other more and talk to each other. Join together with local conveyancers and talk about what really matters to us; not necessarily the tsunami of digitisation but the stress of too many emails and unnecessary enquiries…
The diary of the high street conveyancer will return after a short holiday…
This column is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. The views expressed are those of the author and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
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