The future of conveyancing

John Clay, chairman of the Society of Licensed Conveyancers, says it is short sighted of lenders to reduce their panels and explains how the SLC Quality Assured can help

There is no doubt that the property market has suffered much turmoil over recent years, with transaction levels falling as fast as consumer confidence. However, while the market still remains tentative, with the recent eurozone crisis doing nothing to boost confidence, there are signs that some buyers are returning to the market.

Announced back in November, the government’s new housing strategy has so far received mixed reviews. While some have welcomed plans to drive up lending through its new-build indemnity scheme, others have cast doubt on its feasibility. In my opinion, surely anything that looks to encourage lenders to lend and to help get first-time buyers into the market should be welcomed and I look forward to its introduction in the spring.

In fact, the issue of lending remains a hot topic. While many consumers cite the barriers they face when looking to secure a mortgage, for the conveyancing community it’s getting access to lenders’ panels, which is the issue that continues to drive much discussion and debate – and that’s where we come in.

The society has recently gone through a major re-launch and I believe we are now in a very strong position to help our members navigate both the challenges, as well as the many opportunities that lie ahead.

Lenders’ panels

Back in November we held our first industry conference. Throughout the day there was one question which arose time and time again: how do we get onto and/or stay on lenders’ panels? This question was perhaps not a surprise given the current state of play.

However, while an understandable reaction, I believe that the decision being taken by some lenders to reduce their panels is short sighted and potentially damaging for both the industry and the consumer. Lenders are reducing consumer choice and, perhaps inadvertently, discriminating against smaller firms and individuals, many of whom simply cannot secure the volumes of transactions required by some lenders to remain on their panels.

The Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) has clearly been developed to address some of the issues. However, this scheme does not extend to licensed conveyancers and as such, does not present a universal solution to the challenges currently being faced.

We felt that there was a gap in the market for a universally accepted and recognised standard, designed specifically for licensed conveyancers and as such, we have developed SLC Quality Assured, a new proposition specific to the licensed conveyancing community.

What is SLC Quality Assured?

SLC Quality Assured aims to provide lenders with the reassurance that by using a licensed conveyancer that belongs to this newly proposed panel, they are using a conveyancer that is highly regulated and that every transaction will be checked and monitored throughout the conveyancing process.

As part of this new solution, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) will take on the role of gatekeeper, controlling panel qualification and providing lenders with the added assurance that all SLC panel firms are fully regulated and bound by a rigorous set of criteria.

The scheme will be open to all licensed conveyancers (not just our members). Once accepted onto the scheme, panel firms will be required to register every new transaction with the SLC system. Information on the transaction’s progress will be made available to the lender at critical points throughout the process, as well as to the regulator.

Throughout the process, constant monitoring of the firm managing the transaction will be undertaken by a central operations team, provided by the SLC, alongside monitoring of the ‘other party’ firm, providing further reassurance that any unusual behaviour or activity will be picked up and flagged to all involved.

The new solution, which we have already shared with leading industry bodies, including the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and the Building Societies Association (BSA), as well as some of the big lenders, has so far been received very positively and we are very excited about what it could mean for the industry.

While it’s still early days, we believe that SLC Quality Assured could be a real game changer for the licensed conveyancing profession. We officially unveiled the proposition to attendees at our recent conference and we are now obtaining feedback from our members, as well as the lending community. This feedback will enable us to further shape and develop this proposition into a solution that we hope to launch to the market this year.

ABS – threat or opportunity?

Our new proposition is clearly not the only thing impacting on the industry. The introduction of Alternative Business Structures (ABS) has brought a new dimension to the market. However, far from seeing it as a threat, we are encouraging our members to embrace the change.

I very much doubt that we are going to see the invasion of ‘Tesco law’ as touted by many. The emergence of new firms into the sector, while it will happen, is far more likely to happen at a slow and steady pace. Regardless of any new entrants, we should be looking at the new opportunities it affords – increased competition is a given, but this is likely to drive increased innovation, a good thing for our sector.

There are undoubtedly a number of changes and challenges that lie ahead. However, it is those firms that accept and embrace these changes that could not only survive, but in fact thrive in the year ahead. I look forward to continuing the great work of the SLC, to ensure our members are in the best possible shape to prosper in 2012.