The vast majority of conveyancers would advise up-and-coming lawyers against entering the profession, fresh research shows.
The survey, carried out by Today’s Conveyancer, highlighted issues facing frontline conveyancers, attracting more than 200 responses from industry professionals.
Of those that took part in the study, 84% said they would not encourage aspiring lawyers to enter the conveyancing profession?
Building Safety Act, extra responsibilities, Land Registry delays, anti-money laundering and compliance issues, low fees and standards, were identified among the primary issues facing conveyancers.
Poor guidance from industry bodies, including the Law Society and Council of Licensed Conveyancers, were also identified as a problem.
Survey highlights:
What do you currently see as the key issues facing residential conveyancers?
|
Volume of enquiries |
72 |
|
|
Standard of enquiries |
97 |
|
|
Low fees |
117 |
|
|
Lack of upfront information |
49 |
|
|
Recruitment difficulties |
64 |
|
|
Lack of digitalisation |
28 |
|
|
PII cost |
88 |
|
|
Building Safety Act 2022 (and subsequent issues) |
159 |
|
|
Land Registry delays |
128 |
|
|
Communication with clients / agents |
56 |
|
|
Referral fees |
86 |
|
|
Lenders’ panel requirements |
83 |
|
|
Working from home |
14 |
|
|
Length & vulnerability of chains |
46 |
|
|
AML / compliance burden |
123 |
|
|
Lack of direction from the Law Society / CLC |
93 |
|
|
Climate change burden |
54 |
|
|
Execution of documents |
15 |
|
|
Lack of clarity from clients about what they want, and when |
25 |
|
|
Conveyancers instructed too late |
35 |
|
|
The onboarding process |
23 |
|
|
‘Mission creep’ – ever-increasing responsibility |
145 |
|
|
Standards of conveyancing and other conveyancers |
105 |
|
|
Other |
13 |
|
If you were an aspiring lawyer today, would you look to enter the conveyancing profession?
Which of the following organisations do you feel effectively represent the intentions and views of residential conveyancers? Please tick all that apply.
|
The Law Society of England and Wales |
34 |
|
|
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers |
42 |
|
|
The Conveyancing Association |
57 |
|
|
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers |
29 |
|
|
The Bold Legal Group |
137 |
|
|
HM Land Registry |
10 |
|
|
The Home Buying & Selling Group |
3 |
|
|
The Digital Property Market Steering Group |
4 |
|
To what extent do you think the Digital Property Market Steering Group will impact the practice of residential conveyancers in the foreseeable future?
|
Very significantly |
7 |
|
|
Significantly |
14 |
|
|
Not sure |
89 |
|
|
Slightly |
19 |
|
|
Not at all |
31 |
|
|
I don’t know what it is |
42 |
|
The vast majority of conveyancers would advise up-and-coming lawyers against entering the profession, fresh research shows.
Comments (3)
A few questions please Exit Stage Left. Today’s Conveyancer set up the survey, I would be interested to know what answers you think they desired and why?
Who, in your eyes, is the opportunist businessman I wonder?
The survey was carried out firstly because yet another new group has been set up (The Digital Property Market Steering Group) to highlight the issues that are concerning conveyancers. In the order they see them, not the order any of the groups see them.
There seems to be a lot of bitterness and resentment coming from you. Why not take off your cloak of anonymity and try to work with us helpfully and productively than snipe from the shadows?
The Bernie Ecclestone comparison is quite frankly ludicrous, no one involved in conveyancing has anything like the power or control he had in F1.
The problem with these surveys is that usually they are set up by the people creating them in such a way that they receive the answers they desire. In some respects this was no different due to the involvement of an opportunist businessman seeking to publicise further his own agenda. By leaving one alternative out of a list of options at one important question he was able to manipulate a scenario that suited him, so we have to take “the results” with a huge pinch of salt.
Although I would certainly agree that Conveyancing is not a profession today I am comfortable being associated with, in part that is because of the vested interests playing silly games like this survey, but also because it lacks leadership, foresight and professionalism. It is all very tiresome. I am sure there will be another survey next week when someone needs to boost their agenda.
Undoubtedly the major conclusion from the survey is that there are too many individuals, trade bodies and quangos trying to jockey for position to get a piece of the conveyancing pie for their own selfish purposes and financial gain. See the mess that is now professional boxing for how that pans out.
Rather than having the future of the profession at heart like those of us who day after day work our hardest for clients (who do not even get a mention or thought in this survey). That is the real tragedy. Given the small minority of professionals who seemed to take part it is reasonable to suggest it doesn’t reflect the profession as a whole. And it clearly does not speak for the majority of us who prefer not to get involved in massaging egos, that should be stressed.
To be fair the other thing the survey suggests is that the Law Society, who should be the sole arbiters of conveyancing in this country without outside interference, need to become involved far, far more. They are letting the agitators, disruptors and money oriented interests have too much of a voice. Though we know that anyway, they themselves should now be contacting their members with a rather more comprehensive, honest survey to find out what needs to be done to secure the future of the profession, as well as taking over the role of the CLC who we know are not fit for purpose (being polite). Replies should be compulsory so they get a rather broader response giving them a greater awareness of what is really happening in the real world. If this survey gives them a kick up the proverbial and shames them into action, then it might just have served a purpose. Otherwise given that any “results” are not a panacea, nor are they going to bring about any changes in conveyancing, this is just another fake news story that is not really telling those of us in the profession what we did not know already. That is that we are unrepresented and fit only to be pushed from pillar to post and seemingly now being directed what to do by unelected and unpopular representatives. It is actually embarrassing to professionals like myself.
It all reminds me of Formula One motor racing, we now even have our very own Bernie Ecclestone it seems. Oh dear I despair. Again.
Why have you used an image of an auctioneer’s gavel for this story?
Lawyers don’t use gavels, UK judges don’t even use gavels, so what is it there to represent?
Okay, these are often used to represent Law but it is an American thing and the only people who use gavels in the UK are auctioneers or actors playing judges in TV dramas who don’t know any better.