As we drift towards the property world’s favourite festival, it’s worth reflecting on the changes we’ve seen since last year when buyers were demanding exchange in three weeks so they could be “in by Christmas”. After all, who wouldn’t want to move in on the 23rd December so teenage children can sulk about a lack of WIFI or having Christmas dinner at the local Harvester because the “new” oven didn’t work?
2023 will not go down in history as the year of radical changes to the way that property is bought and sold. Despite the promised crash in prices never materialising, along with the “black swan event” of mortgaged home owners being forced out by rate rises, volume-wise, the market just bumped along the bottom. Which meant that investment in change was never going to be high on anyone’s agenda and we’re seeing signs that the Kool-Aid buzz from technology vendors is starting to lose its sparkle.
Given this lack of change, the Conveyancing Fairy didn’t have an awful lot of new ideas to work with and we finish the year with roughly the same speed of transactions, the same frustrations and the same finger-pointing as we started with.
It was supposed to be so different – all we needed to do was share data with everyone, as sharing is caring, after all, and this would enable us to walk, blinking, into a bright new dawn of a rejuvenated house buying and selling process.
Clearly that’s not happened.
So sharing isn’t caring?
There’s nothing wrong with the idea that if more information was available to everyone during the process, then this should make things better. The problem is no-one can agree what information should be shared, when, and with whom. Let’s face it, if you can’t define the problem then it’s pretty tricky to come up with a solution.
There have been reports that ordering the searches on the day a property is marketed can reduce transaction times. Given the average search return time is under 10 days ( yes, we know there are outliers but they’re a minority, by definition ) this doesn’t equate to a huge hill of beans, so what other factor is this influencing?
Then there is the worrying argument that by sharing information up front, buyers can make a more “informed” decision. That word should chill the hearts of those who earn commission selling properties, because it’s never going to be positive is it? Can anyone actually see the scenario where a prospective homebuyer says, “I hated the flat because it backed straight onto the District Line, but since I downloaded the five year gas boiler warranty from the YourFabNewHome online portal, I’ll offer £10K over the asking price.” Can anyone remember the last time a piece of information materialised during a transaction that was actually good news?
The home buying process mainly involves the management of risk, most of which is legal in nature. Yes, there are issues such as the removal of wooden floors, missing window guarantees or disappearing fridge freezers, and while these do take up time, there are the minority of cases. In our experience, it’s problems with ownership, leases, management companies and boundary disputes where time is spent. However, there’d be precious few agents promoting the idea that explaining to a first-time buyer ( and their patronising, over-bearing and know-it-all, dad, obviously ) that before making an offer, you should be aware that the co-freeholder moved to Vietnam years ago and no-one has heard from him since. Which is going to make buying the flat a bit of a struggle as the two lawyers argue about who is going to pay for the missing freeholder indemnity insurance.
What information should be shared?
It isn’t to say that it’s not useful to share information, but only with people who actually understand the implications involved. An agent will know, because, unlike the buyer, they’ve seen this all before, that defective leases can usually be fixed with a deed of variation; overdue service charges can be addressed by retentions and that Gas Safe certificates can be obtained pretty quickly.
Sharing information with everyone involved in a deal is not necessarily in everyone’s best interests. The seller who has lost his job and so needs to get rid of the property quickly, won’t be grateful for the buyer being given the details of a 10 year old neighbour dispute, where both parties have since kissed and made up.
The irony is, of course, that among the most common feedback we receive from buyers is that they don’t understand the legal wording and they don’t WANT to understand it. After all, that’s what they pay us for, and would we please stop getting in the way of them moving in by Christmas – they’ve ordered the turkey crown and can’t wait to use that new oven.
Peter Ambrose is the CEO of The Partnership and Legalito – specialising in the delivery of conveyancing software and services
2023 isn’t over yet Peter, still time for some changes to be introduced. I know you are a great advocate of tech, maybe we will hear or see sonething radical at today’s Digital Conveyancing Summit?
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that sounds thrilling
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Not particularly Jan, but a good number of participants are trying to improve things.
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Why are searches taking 6 weeks and why are solicitors waiting , when buyers often don’t care about the results?
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I agree! Must be that Covid thing.
Problem, typically, is that the lenders require these. Although… in those halcyon days of 2021 lenders did start accepting insurance… interesting huh?
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(1) Searches don’t generally take six weeks (maybe two if you’re unlucky);
(2) Solicitors wait because they care about their clients not just the pay-day, because they have a duty of care and because they have no desire to be sued whether or not the client read the Searches and/or Property Report;
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Of course they don’t care if the search is clear, but when it isn’t!
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I’ve recently resumed attending the HBSG meetings after a 2-year sabbatical where tracking changes and innovations was someone else’s responsibility. These changes, set to impact both agency and conveyancing next Monday, come with an 18-month window for implementation.
Over the past 8 weeks, I’ve been identifying the innovators striving for progress and those clinging to the status quo or pushing for their version of change.
One initiative involved monitoring the shifts that began in agency 16 months ago. If we were to display properties with Part A material information compliance in a binary yes-no format, only 5 out of every 100 properties would make it to the portals. It’s evident that 18 months won’t suffice for all stakeholders to comply with the impending legislative changes, especially with some attempting to derail the commendable efforts of others.
The solution isn’t a blanket sharing of everything with everyone, and I question where that assessment originated. The real requirement is to share the right information with the right people at the right time—an achievable goal at present. Innovative agents are already at the forefront, doing what’s necessary. So, while it might be tempting to dismiss progress, rest assured that positive strides are being made by dedicated individuals.
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Peter, the whole point about the buyer paying for searches at the point of sale is nothing to do with searches. It is the fact they pay £300 towards the sale. This then raises the commitment level without the need for a costly and misunderstood reservation agreement.
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Completely agree Tim – hence my overly cryptic comment about other factors at play!
I always thought that one of the best things about HIPS was seller commitment ….
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