Speeding up the conveyancing process

News at Household | 29/01/2014


Beth Rudolf, Director of DC Law talks about the work she has been doing with the industry to speed up the conveyancing process.

“Over the last six months we have been busy working with major industry bodies on two initiatives designed to improve the conveyancing process across the industry. These changes will benefit our agents, conveyancers and their customers.

The first initiative which was launched on 10 October by all major trade bodies including The Conveyancing Association, Law Society and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) introduced a new approved set of enquiries for leasehold properties which are designed to save five to 10 working days in the conveyancing of every leasehold property.

In the past, buyers and sellers of leasehold properties have experienced added complications and expensive delays because of differing information requirements from both the buyer’s and seller’s conveyancers meaning the landlord or managing agent has to deal with a different set of enquiries every time a leasehold property is sold.

With almost five million leasehold titles registered in England & Wales, this new form will have wide reaching benefits. It is likely there will be one leasehold property somewhere in every chain of transactions.

The second initiative which was launched 5 December, has involved us working with the Conveyancing Association. We’ve produced an agreed protocol to deliver a common sense conveyancing approach and speed up transaction times by up to five working days.”

Jonathan Smithers, Deputy Vice President of The Law Society said: “Having a standardised format will be advantageous to sellers, buyers, solicitors and conveyancers dealing with leasehold property. It will not only bring clarity to the part of the procedure that deals with obtaining necessary leasehold information but may also clarify some issues relating to time and cost. It will also mean that everyone becomes familiar with one form, inevitably making the process more cohesive.”