The unpredictable spikes and dips in transactional volumes we have witnessed over the past few years make it challenging for conveyancing firms to operate in a stable, efficient, and profitable way – making this lack of stability one of the biggest challenges our industry faces.
We also know that transaction times are ever-increasing – with latest Landmark Information Group data indicating it now takes on average 133 days from instruction to completion.
The responsibilities of property lawyers have continued to become more demanding over the last decade, meaning the amount of work and time per transaction has inevitably increased. Yet this is in complete contrast to what home-movers would have anticipated, they increasingly expect instant results in an online world. The gap between expectation and reality widens with each new requirement placed on the conveyancer and is surely one of the main reasons why the profession reports that keeping customers happy is becoming increasingly difficult.
To be better positioned to deal with these challenges and drive success in 2023 and the years ahead, we need to fully embrace solutions that technology can and will provide going forward. The more we can streamline and automate, the more the property lawyer can focus on the complex legal work and advice that they thrive upon.
Reflecting on 2022: Challenges facing conveyancers
Towards the end of last year, we spoke with senior residential property solicitors and conveyancers to learn more about their views on the industry over the last 12 months. Against the backdrop of a challenging economic climate, and following the attrition that plagued the pandemic years, we found that people-focused issues, such as resourcing and caseload, loomed large for conveyancers.
Also impacting the industry, of course, is the continued talent shortage affecting the conveyancing industry, stretching existing resources to their limit. Many industry professionals that we interviewed (74%) emphasised that recruitment and retention continued to pose a challenge for firms last year. With increasing numbers of conveyancers leaving the profession, finding, training and retaining talent has become a more difficult task.
These pressures contribute to the rise in transaction times, and as an industry that has traditionally relied heavily on manual processes – particularly for managing and interpreting multiple complex data points – conveyancing delay factors continue to see rising scrutiny.
Whilst there are various reasons, across the industry, why transaction times are increasing, all businesses can take responsibility for improving their own processes and systems to increase efficiency.
When asking residential conveyancers what was the biggest causes of transaction delays in 2022, there were multiple factors cited. The most common were waiting for mortgage offers, high case volumes relative to resourcing, waiting for certain searches to be returned, chain instability and delays in non-conveyancing areas of the process.
A relatively low number of property law professionals cited onboarding processes or verifying and receiving funds as roadblocks. This leads us to believe that these transaction milestones are working relatively well – and are likely supported by the right processes and technology.
While some causes of delays are beyond conveyancers’ control, resourcing, and recruitment, as well as establishing more seamless connections with other conveyancers, lenders, and estate agents, are most likely the best areas for action in the year to come.
What’s ahead for residential conveyancing?
Against this backdrop of lengthening transactions and demands on resourcing, conveyancers would do well to consider where they can ease this pressure cooker to some degree in 2023.
When speaking to conveyancers about their main concerns for the future and the factors that are likely to have the biggest impact on how firms operate this year, 74% of industry professionals cited external influences (economic climate, interest rates and cost of living). As these are common issues that will impact all firms equally, there’s a clear opportunity for firms to use digital transformation as a differentiator in terms of service and quality of proposition. As we know, the pandemic demonstrated the value of investing in digitisation – and in the face of these externalities, more automation and better use of data are likely to play a crucial role in evolving business strategies.
Digital transformation as a concept may feel challenging for many firms – there will be concerns about the interruption to business as usual, cultural change, and perceived risks – but the journey to digital transformation looks more like a marathon than a sprint, and can thus be subtle and incremental. Each step should bring value and staff will become accustomed to speeding up delays and reducing pressure as incremental improvements prove themselves.
Of the many necessary processes and steps involved in conveyancing, those that can be automated – or at the very least, intelligently assisted by plug-and-play tools that harness AI and machine learning – can make a huge difference when the time-and-effort impact is considered across the entire firm’s caseload.
According to the conveyancers we spoke to, future success and profitability of firms in the coming years will be largely determined by the use of automation of administrative tasks, which can leave teams time to focus on legal services and client engagement.
Due diligence continues to be a focal area when reducing delays, and it is essential that residential conveyancers have high quality data in the right format and as early in the process as is possible. The entire property chain will benefit if environmental risks, constraints, planning, and local information are addressed swiftly – with 51% of conveyancers confirming that having this information upfront speeds up their transactions, and 43% saying it could improve profitability and success.
As we look to see whether transaction times stabilise and start to shorten this year, or if, on the contrary, they become longer in the short-term as buyer demand increases – following a fall in house prices and a return of mortgage products to the market – it will be crucial to look at the extent that digitalised processes can impact not only transaction speed and certainty, but also conveyancer workloads and performance.
Rob Gurney, Managing Director, Ochresoft, a Landmark Information Group Business
Landmark conducted 103 interviews with senior level professionals in residential property solicitors or conveyancing in the UK in Q3 2022. Findings and more information can be found in our ‘Residential conveyancing and home mover experience 2022’ report. Download here.
