Vendors and buyers reveal shocking conveyancing ignorance

Despite the legal process of conveyancing being a core part of home buying adn selling, only half of those polled in a new survey said they understood the basics, while 40% did not know what conveyancing is.

The research amongst 2,000 UK adults was conducted by the HomeOwners Alliance, on behalf of National Conveyancing Week (NCW), and sought to highlight the level of consumer understanding of conveyancing and the role of a conveyancer in the home purchase/sale process. It also asked how UK homeowners found their conveyancer, their satisfaction with the service, and what improvements they would like to see to the process.

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring property ownership from one party to another, and all those who have either bought, sold or remortgaged a property will have needed to use the services of a professional conveyancer in order to carry this out.

Low understanding but high satisfaction

Almost half (48%) were unaware the conveyancer acts on behalf of both them and the mortgage lender while 40% thought, incorrectly, the conveyancer checks the structure of the property is sound.

40% thought, incorrectly, the conveyancer checks the structure of the property is sound.”

However, nearly three-quarters said they were satisfied with the service provided by their conveyancer, with 74% of those who had bought a home within the last five years saying they would use the same conveyancing firm again.

In terms of the conveyancing process, 38% said they wanted it to be faster, 31% wanted more frequent communication and one in five wanted a clearer explanation of the legal process and the issues that arose.

Common delays experienced by consumers included delays in the chain, responses from sellers and mortgage lenders as well as legal issues such as a lack of paperwork/guarantees/certifications and permissions.

Knowledge gap

Rob Hailstone, Bold Legal Group

Rob Hailstone, Organiser of National Conveyancing Week, comments: “With only two out of five adults currently knowing what conveyancing is, there has to be a focus on improving the wider consumer understanding of the home buying and selling legal process and the role of the conveyancer, and we have to accept that many people going through this are not clear on what is happening, or how long it might take.

“As you might expect, knowledge of conveyancing amongst those who have already bought a home is higher than amongst non-homeowners, yet there does remain a knowledge gap particularly in terms of who the conveyancer is representing, what services they are providing, and indeed how consumers access the services of specialist conveyancers in the first place.”

He adds: “Overall, we want to educate consumers so they go into this process clear and confident on who to use, the service they are receiving, what they pay for, and to ultimately be satisfied with the end result.”

Paula Higgins, HomeOwners Alliance

Paula Higgins, Chief Executive of HomeOwners Alliance, says: “You can’t buy or sell a home without using a conveyancer and while it’s great to receive good news that the conveyancing service is improving for consumers, more needs to be done to raise awareness of what conveyancers do. I’m particularly alarmed that 40% of people wrongly believe the conveyancer will check the structure of the building. This is the job of the surveyor, not the conveyancer.”