Peter Ambrose

Despite what you might read on LinkedIn or some of the more choice comments on here, when it comes to the homebuying and selling process, there isn’t a secret war being waged by lawyers to delay deals, mess things up and generally upset the public as much as possible.  

That said, as with the Argentina team at the World Cup, it’s always nice to have a pantomime villain at the party.

Indeed, why not blame the lawyers? After all, according to some, they get paid whether or not the deal goes through, so they are clearly getting rich on the misery of the consumer’s dreadful experience. Sadly, given most social media arrows being shot at lawyers are in the direction of those doing panel work, a prerequisite of which is a no-sale, no-fee arrangement, this argument doesn’t really stack up.

But before we let the facts get in the way of a good online beating, it is worth looking at one area where, instead of getting frustrated, lawyers and agents can work together to reduce the delays in the process.

So where ARE the delays in the conveyancing process?

The government announcement of the reintroduction of Home Information Packs (when parliamentary time allows) suggested that a lack of information about the property was the key problem in the process. In reality, of course, if you ask any agent or lawyer today about what holds up most deals – waiting for searches or tracking down FENSA certificates is not high on their list.

From our experience, the most challenging aspect of the transactions is dealing with the concerns, changes of circumstances and information gathering from our clients.  This starts at the very beginning – collecting identification documents, ensuring they complete their forms accurately and putting money on account. Given this is the easiest part of the transaction and we have a fully electronic process, it still takes us on average seven days to onboard a client, which doesn’t bode well for the remainder of the 14 weeks it takes us to get deals though.  

It’s this length of time that gives our clients many opportunities to change properties, lenders or just their mind, and we have to do our best to keep on top of this. Which is challenging at best.

Utter those three little words – then stand back

However, if you want to see what is soaking up time, just whisper three little words to your buyer’s lawyer: “source of wealth”. And then stand back from that blue touchpaper you just lit, because this is the OG of all delays and frustrations. We’ve seen estimates of 20-25% of lawyers’ time being spent on this ill-defined problem, which mainly relies on them marking their own homework.

Not to be confused with its simple country cousin, source of funds, source of wealth involves dealing with people often not actively involved in the deal but just putting money into it. Numerous bank statements, share certificates, wills, lawyers’ letters, ISA statements – you name it, the lawyer has to check it. It causes a huge amount of friction and delay, and unfortunately, due to clients’ frequently changing circumstances, it often needs to be reviewed just before exchange.  

The good news is that, finally, this is an issue where agents and lawyers can work together to reduce the time involved in the transaction. If buyers are told at the outset that their parent, uncle or generous friend who is helping them out financially will need to go through the same checks as themselves and they need to get organised, we could significantly reduce the time that lawyers are spending on collecting this information and speed up transactions.

If most of us agree that lawyers don’t get up in the morning wondering how they can upset their clients, delay deals and generally cause mischief, and look at ways how we can all help, the world of buying property will genuinely become a better place.

 

Peter Ambrose is the owner of The Partnership and Legalito – specialising in the delivery of conveyancing services and software.