Rallying cry for profession to work together from new steering group

A new steering group to lead the implementation of digitalisation in conveyancing formally launched today (12th September) in London. The Digital Property Market Steering Group welcomed delegates from across the property sector to the Leonardo Royal Hotel to discuss the vision and ambition of the new group whose purpose is to effect change across consumer experience, data, security and speed of property transactions. 

Opening the event Kate Faulkner OBE, Chair of the HBSG and Mike Harlow, HMLR’s Deputy Chief Executive spoke about the desire of the DPMSG to bring the property community together, and unite it behind the common goal of improving the process of transacting property. Critically, the steering group will work across residential and commercial transactions, catalysing progress on four key tenets of certainty for property transactions suggested Harlow: What do we need to know about the property; who am I dealing with; compliance with agreed terms; and updates on progress.

In their opening remarks both Faulkner and Harlow alluded to the need for digitalisation across the community; that conveyancing remains largely paper based for many firms and “we must evolve the conversation to digitalise the property transaction and wider market” said Faulkner.

Digitalisation would enable a single source of truth with access for all parties, creating certainty added Harlow, replacing the blame game with confidence and certainty. HM Land Registry (HMLR) would play a leading part in what happens next, but reassured delegates it would not be at the expense of dealing with the current delays, describing both avenues of equal importance to the registry.

Asserting his ambition for HMLR’s involvement Harlow said the registry would

• Support the wider acceptance, and implementation, of up front information
• Work toward the creation of common standards and connectivity for all systems and supporting adoption; in collaboration with the Open Property Data Association.
• Increase the confidence of all involved in who they are dealing with through innovation like the Safe Harbour Scheme
• Support and contribute to research and development, including artificial intelligence
• Listen and promise to engage with all parties.

Speakers reiterated the progress made already; the wider adoption of technology to facilitate home working during the reopening of the property market during the pandemic, digital ID and signatures, property logbooks, pre-sale property packs and the Property Data Trust Framework to name some of the innovation.

MP Rachel MacLean, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, spoke about the importance of a vibrant property market to economic success and gave assurances that the government is behind efforts to improve the process and create “an industry that is fit for the future;” but fell short of calls to implement legislative change and mandation of up front information. Jonathan Clifton, housing deputy director at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said that it was important to “acknowledge where we are in this stage of the parliament” and that legislative time was short; adding that mandation would not be the first choice of government when it came to implementing up front information. And during one panel session Stephen Ward, Director of Strategy & External Relations at the conveyancing regulator Council for Licensed Conveyancers said that it would be “disappointing” if mandation was necessary given that much of the ability to deliver up front information was in the hands of the industry right now.

One thing is clear; change will not happen overnight. In a prescient comment from the day, Andrew Knight Global Data and Tech Lead at The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggested that the next part of the journey may feel “like we’re trying to change the jet engine in mid-flight.”

The founding members of the DPMSG are

• Law Society
• Conveyancing Association (CA)
• Council for Licensed Conveyancers
• The Society of Licensed Conveyancers
• Solicitors Regulation Authority
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX)
• CILEx Regulation
• Council of Property Search Organisations
• Propertymark
• Building Societies Association
• UK Finance
• HM Land Registry