CONVEYANCING
Conveyancing challenges
Sheila Manchester spoke to Eddie Goldsmith, Chairman of The Conveyancing Association to find out what 2012 has in store.
W
ith Tesco Law coming into force, lenders reducing their panels and the Law Society launching their
Conveyancing Quality Scheme, the conveyancing world isn’t short of challenges. This is precisely why the Conveyancing Association launched in September 2010 and now represents the majority of the UK’s major conveyancing firms.
SM What do you think will be the main challenges facing the industry this year? EG Right across the industry we will see all types of organisations, from solicitors to estate agents to corporates talking about the full impact of the Legal Services Act and what steps they are taking to take full advantage. Whilst this may raise challenges for some firms, it’s not the only issue facing conveyancers – lenders are already beginning to reduce the number of firms on their panels with HSBC leading the way this year, we are seeing a steady stream of new regulatory and legislative requirements making compliance ever-more challenging and the recent restriction of the solicitors’ PII market has created a perfect storm for change.
SM You mentioned the Legal Services Act – in reality, what impact do you think it will have? EG I think time will tell – whilst we may not see Tesco opening up law firms on every street corner, the Act could well signal the final nail in the coffin for lawyers who dabble in conveyancing or who do not
26 MARCH 2012 PROPERTYdrum
embrace modern technology to enable them to provide the service demanded by lenders. The type of organisations those are now able to offer legal services have vast experience in marketing and have built up an invaluable reputation with their customers. So whilst they may not have the same level of legal experience, there’s nothing stopping them buying that in. But it’s not just conveyancers that will be
impacted by ABSs. Will we see a big supermarket selling houses, conveyancing, mortgages, removal services alongside their current offering of banking, insurance and in-store opticians? Maybe not in the next 6 or 12 months but I think we could be heading in that direction.
SM But will lenders be happy dealing with ‘one stop shops’ when on the whole, they’re used to dealing with specialist law firms? EG Lenders no doubt will be approached by law firms and groups who can offer a ‘one stop shop’. But with mortgage fraud on the rise, they will be faced with questions of how to mitigate this whilst using ABSs to reduce operational costs and drive efficiencies. With this in mind, serious conveyancers can really step up their game and prove their worth.
SM HSBC recently announced a huge reduction in their conveyancing panel – isn’t this bad news for consumers? EG Ultimately it could be good news for consumers as it means that the firms that stay on lenders’ panels will be those who offer high quality standards and a superior
Law Society scheme, the conveyancing world isn’t short of challenges!’
service. Given that we will see more lenders heading in this direction as they try and minimise the risk of fraud, this also needs to act as a wakeup call to serious conveyancers – if they want to continue working with lenders, they will need to demonstrate good compliance, risk management, competence and probity of staff and financial stability.
With Tesco Law and the new
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