Conveyancing Association outlines plans for homemover portal

The Conveyancing Association has published its White Paper on ‘Modernising the Home Moving Process’ in which it claims that "we do not have a home moving process which is fit for purpose" and outlines how a future, more certain and transparent process could operate.

Related topics:  Finance News
Rozi Jones
14th November 2016
Eddie Goldsmith NEW
"The CA decided to embark on a project to identify why these delays occur, how the process works in other countries, and by undertaking research and talking to as many stakeholders as possible"

The CA's main vision is the delivery of a ‘home mover’s online portal’ - a secure portal for all communication between every stakeholder in the home moving process. This, the CA says, would help protect the conveyancer, estate agent, mortgage adviser, lender and home mover from the threat of fraud and redirection of client funds.

The online portal would cover all necessary forms, client identification, mortgage details, searches, co-ordination of dates, plus it would keep track of all requirements and ensure each stakeholder can update and amend quickly and effectively in order to achieve the completion end goal.

The White Paper focuses particularly on the benefits to be gained from creating greater certainty far earlier in the home moving process. It suggests a number of ways in which this can be achieved including:

- Centralising the identity verification of the parties to reduce the risk of fraud and money laundering.
- Collating the Property Information and Title Information on the marketing of a property.
- Requiring a legal commitment on offer to reduce transaction failures.
- Requiring completion monies to be sent through the day before completion.
- Amending the Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act 2002 to resolve the unreasonable cost and delay now associated with the leasehold sales process.
- Providing a reliable lending decision-in-principle based on a ‘hard’ credit report without impacting on the applicant’s credit score.
- Reviewing the CML Handbook to remove "anomalies and ambiguous entries" which generate post-valuation enquiries.

Eddie Goldsmith, Chairman of The Conveyancing Association and Partner at Goldsmith Williams, said: “Working within this industry, I believe we’re all aware that at present we do not have a home moving process which is fit for purpose. Since the beginning of the recovery of the property market, conveyancing times have steadily increased from eight weeks – from offer to completion – up to the latest estimate, which places transaction times at 13 weeks. For leasehold transactions the length of time is often greater. It is against this backdrop that the CA decided to embark on a project to identify why these delays occur, how the process works in other countries, and by undertaking research and talking to as many stakeholders as possible, to identify potential solutions which can get us to a far better place for all concerned.

“In doing this, we haven’t set specific parameters on the type of new process we want to see. We freely admit there is a huge ambition to much of the White Paper, particularly around the need for greater digitisation and a joined-up technology hub through which all aspects of the process are accessed. However, there are also a number of potential ‘quick win’ solutions identified within the Paper which, with the right head wind, could be achieved. We recognise this is not going to be delivered overnight however neither are these flights of fancy that haven’t been achieved ever before. The solutions we propose are readily being used in other jurisdictions and it is our belief that by working together we can help deliver them into the process here, providing significant benefits.”

Beth Rudolf, Director of Delivery at The Conveyancing Association and author of the White Paper, added: “In carrying out the research for this White Paper, it became obvious that we should not be constrained in terms of our ultimate ‘wish list’ for the home moving process. It may make some of our suggested solutions seems like fantasy however we can see the evidence from other countries that by working together, these can be delivered. To be able to remove delays from the process, changes need to occur across the industry to remove the constraints and deliver the certainty which home movers need to enjoy a positive moving experience.

“Our vision of how the future looks recognises that the industry needs access to a consistent level of digitised conveyancing, enabling the delivery of data packets and the interrogation of data, plus the need to create the beginnings of artificial intelligence. This seems like a huge step forward from where we are now – and it is – but the technology already exists and we now need to bring this together in order to make this happen."

More like this
Latest from Property Reporter
Latest from Protection Reporter
CLOSE
Subscribe
to our newsletter

Join a community of over 30,000 intermediaries and keep up-to-date with industry news and upcoming events via our newsletter.