Consumers are pressing the conveyancing sector for new technology that will give them better access to information, but according to a survey of conveyancers, only a small fraction of conveyancing firms are dedicated to innovation.
Meanwhile, a leading property services business claimed conveyancers were “very close” to implementing technology which would bring transparency to the property market – and allow home-movers to clearly see what stage they were up to in the transaction process.
Conveyancing software business InfoTrack commissioned a survey of 178 legal professionals which revealed that experts agreed that new technology helped them to stay competitive within the market but only 3% said their firms had resource dedicated to research and development or innovation.
50% of the respondents said decisions were “ad hoc” as to whether or not their firms adopted new technology.
34% alleged firms should be constantly discovering and trialling new technology in order to be effective and efficient in order to meet consumer demands.
Previous research from InfoTrack had found that there is a huge demand among home-movers for the adoption of technology by their conveyancers to improve digital communication and access to real-time information about their transaction.
The same was concluded in a report by tmgroup, a leading provider of search and other services to conveyancers.
The report which was written by tmgroup’s chief executive Joe Pepper, said the market was“very close to being able to work within a digital framework”, such as ‘digital vaults’ in which “relevant information and data relating to a transaction is stored and securely made available to each authorised party”.
He continued: “Integration with case management systems could also help to ensure that all parties are able to see where each professional is in the process, and communicate directly with the other professionals involved in the transaction.
“The consumer could then be kept up-to-date through a website or mobile app, prompting them to complete their own tasks, and providing an audit trail to avoid the potential different parties blaming each other for a lack of progression.”
He further added: “For everyone connected in the chain, these changes cannot come quickly enough, as poor communication is routinely blamed by all parties involved for property transactions falling through.
“It is not surprising, considering that much of the property transaction is shared across disparate emails and telephone conversations, which can result in delays and confusion.”
Mr Pepper said lenders and surveyors were already using “decision-making engines” to make risk-based decisions rapidly.
Proptech continues to be a growing industry and is certainly opening up legal service providers’ eyes to the huge benefits of using the latest innovative technology to improve the house moving process and create better transparency for the consumer.
As a conveyancer, are you open to new technology within the house moving process? why do you think there is a reluctance to adopt innovation?
