Industry leaders gathered at the Birmingham Conference & Events Centre (BCEC) on the 17th October for the third in a series of Levelling Up Conveyancing Forums aimed at addressing key issues within the conveyancing sector.
The event forms part of a wider initiative spearheaded by Kevin Tunnicliffe, CEO of property and legal specialists, Sort Group.
This latest forum saw leading players in the industry take part in another open and productive discussion on the challenges currently facing the sector and how collaboration within the industry can improve the experience for the law firm, intermediary and client.
The first action point emerging from the June forum was the creation of a comprehensive ‘escalation’ system between law firms to speed up property transactions that have become stuck. Those signed up to the scheme noted an improvement in firm, broker and agent collaboration and friendlier cooperation.
Detailed discussions also took place on critical topics such as collaborative working, reducing case handler abuse, methods of speeding up time to completion, reducing workloads and increasing fees and current recruitment challenges.
Attendees included Keith Ahmed (Sort Group), Rhodri Howells (Sort Legal), Tammy Jones (Birchall Blackburn), Mark Slade and Matt Slader (Fidler & Pepper), Kevin Smith (Simplify Group), Martin Hoare (Gorvins), Martin Crighton (Right Choice Conveyancing), Lee Richie (Optimus), Gary Tyman (Gilson HPL), Mike Holden (Landmark) and Tom Barker (Gordons).
Speaking about the event, Kevin Tunnicliffe, CEO of Sort Group, said:
“It’s encouraging to see how much progress has been made since we launched the forums back in January. The initiative is really gaining momentum and feedback from the escalation system is a great example of how industry collaboration can lead to practical improvements.
“Moving our forums to different venues across the UK is enabling us to engage with a wider range of professionals and facilitate honest conversations around current challenges and potential industry-wide solutions.
“We are committed to continuing these conversations and working towards creating a more efficient and cohesive conveyancing sector.”
Planning for the next Levelling up Conveyancing forum in the new year has begun, and further information will be shared in due course, says the company. The plan for the future is to open the conversations wider in order to take powerful action on the challenges impacting the industry.
One Response
Getting rid of chains-as is the norm in other countries-would speed up the process; not referring clients to inefficient conveyancing businesses would speed up the process; not listing a property in hope and instead complying with Material Information and Sellers having the property Title and any legal issues sorted before listing would speed up the process; the end of Standard Enquiries would speed up the process; full surveys disclosed to potential buyers would speed up the process and a more efficient mortgage approval process would speed up the process.