The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has released a discussion paper with the aim to highlight areas that need to be addressed by regulators and stakeholders in a bid to influence and develop conveyancing in the future.
Janet Paraskeva, Chair of the CLC, said in her foreword:
“It is an exciting time to be involved in the property sector as technology rapidly replaces the old ways of operating. We are probably just a few short years away from a fully digital conveyancing system that promises a faster transaction and better experience for all those involved.
“Digitialisation will open up a range of opportunities for improving the home buying and selling experience for consumers. But it will not come without risk, and this paper explores how the conveyancing market is already changing and could be radically reshaped in the years to come. This change points to questions for the CLC as the specialist regulator and for conveyancers as they develop their businesses.
While there are many areas of the law where there is little public pressure for reform, that is not the case for property and efforts to speed up the process are already underway.”
She added:
“Our aim is to help licensed conveyancers and others think about the impact of these changes on their businesses.”
In the paper, there are many issues that the CLC wish to discuss. They have also outlined any issues they think will affect the sector.
Some of the issues up for discussion are:
- Conveyancing will be a fully electronic process by 2030
- Money and financial information will move around quickly and securely
- It’s all about the data
- The conveyancer’s role is going to change
- The shape of the conveyancing market will change
- Regulators will need to be flexible to keep up
It is noted in the paper that:
“Legal services are increasingly being judged against a range of other digital service providers that are much more advanced, and this will become increasingly problematic for law firms.”
The CLC has come up with some answers and some ideas of how conveyancing will change in the next ten years. A full version of the discussion paper is here.
What do you think the next 10 years holds for conveyancing?
