The State of the UK conveyancing market 2024
The UK housing market is ever-changing, and the past two years have been challenging. Economic issues like house prices, rising interest rates, and severe transaction declines have impacted the conveyancing market.
The impact on the market in 2023
Falling transaction volumes and interest rates:2023 was a rollercoaster year for conveyancing due to economic complications, which resulted in overall transactions falling by 21%, especially in the greater London region, this being a drop of 22%. In addition, the market faced rising interest rates, which were the highest in 15 years, which left buyers and sellers fearful, and house prices rising on average by 1.48%, particularly in London, with an increase of 3%. The market performance in 2023 was notably affected by economic complications, which left sustained impacts on sellers and buyers.
Remortgaging crisis: In addition to the fall in transactions and interest rates, remortgaging started to become increasingly difficult due to severe delays with the HM land registry and the cost of borrowing from lenders. Evidently, some clients had to wait more than two years to complete the process.
Client impact
The influx in complaints: The implications in the conveyancing market had a notable impact on clients, seen by the increase in complaints to the legal ombudsman, with a record of 2,216 throughout 2023. Clients vocalised that there was slow progress and a lack of updates in the conveyancing process. 78% of those who purchased a house in the past five years felt their experiences could’ve been improved. So, with the commencement 2024, conveyancers should try to enhance the client experience and ensure a decrease in complaints and, overall, a profound client experience.
Reshaping client expectations: Research conducted during National Conveyancing Week revealed that clients’ top requests were faster transaction times, better communication from solicitor to client, and more transparency in the process.
Technology and digital transformation:
Post-completion productivity: While the market experienced challenges, one area that did seem to take off was technology. This created better operational efficiency, which is evident by the time it took to submit AP1 forms, which decreased from 26 days to just 19 days. With the help of AI platforms and electronic submissions, conveyancers have been able to work more efficiently.
With the introduction of online platforms, electronic signatures, automated searches, etc., conveyancers can work more productively, which will also increase client satisfaction.
Challenges for the smaller firms: However, while larger firms can use electronic filing for SDLT and other conveyancing documents, smaller and medium-sized firms struggle with implementing this into their systems due to the costs and expertise required. So, as technology progresses, it seems to be the larger firms that can actually effectively use and afford it that benefit.
Burden of Compliance
Rise in fines and compliance crackdown: Recently, a lot of conveyancing firms have been fined for failing to comply with anti-money laundering compliance, including £9000 lack of client due diligence accepting money from third parties, £15,200 no firm-wide risk assessment in place since 2017 and £15,200 lost due to failure to train staff on AML matters. One of the most pressing challenges is the growth in regulatory bodies like the SRA and Council for Licensed Conveyancers, which means that any lapse can lead to hefty fines and reputational management. This, therefore, makes compliance procedures essential.
HM land registry Backlog: Another ongoing issue with compliance is the backlog with the HM registry. For instance, the delays in processing title registrations have resulted in problems and dissatisfaction for clients, and some transactions have taken more than 2 years to complete. This has ultimately affected both the conveyancer and client relationship and meant there were reforms at the registry to address the backlog.
Our blogs and articles are correct at the time of writing.
These have been created for marketing purposes only and should not be considered as legal advice.
