Veyo, the new conveyancing portal backed by the Law Society and which designed to speed up the house buying process, goes live today and will launch its roll-out across England and Wales.

A joint venture with IT company Mastek (UK), Veyo will allow contracts to be exchanged digitally, while users – including estate agents – will be able to use the ‘chain view’ feature to check progress up and down the line.

Veyo is launching some two months later than the March date originally planned and four years after the Land Registry ditched plans for a similar venture, the disastrous Chain Matrix, after a rumoured spend of £4.6m.

Veyo’s backers, however, believe its time has come.

Veyo will cost conveyancers £50 a year as a subscription plus £20 per housing transaction.

The system is designed to bring together electronically all the processes, checks and documentation prepared and undertaken by solicitors and licensed conveyancers in the sale and purchase of residential properties. It is estimated that using Veyo should speed up the conveyancing process by two weeks or so.

The first users will be those conveyancing firms who have already placed orders, followed by the firms who have registered interest and will then be sold to the remainder of the market.

Veyo says over 1,800 conveyancing firms have registered an interest, along with 80 estate agents. Veyo does not say how many firms have actually registered as early users.

Large firms, such as myhomemove, are unlikely to be among customers, having developed their own online conveyancing systems.

While Veyo has its sceptics, it is designed to bring conveyancing into the 21^st century and to allow smaller high street practitioners to compete with larger rivals.

Providing a full audit trail, and operating within a secure ‘trusted community’ of users, Veyo allows professionals to communicate with each other and with home movers and other key stakeholders better and faster.

Desmond Hudson, chairman of Veyo, said: “This initial go-live of Veyo marks the start of an exciting revolution in the conveyancing market.

“As an industry first it’s crucial that we roll the product out strategically, and our regional, targeted approach ensures that we can build a solid foundation in which the Veyo community can grow.

“With the home-buying process due to become much more efficient, secure and transparent, and over 1,800 conveyancing firms in England and Wales having registered interest in using Veyo already, the company is set to transform the whole market.”