The record number of transactions caused by the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday brought unprecedented pressure on the house buying and selling process, resulting in frustration and delays. Although some of these delays were due to external factors such as searches and mortgages, it was the inefficiency of the conveyancing process overall that caused most of the problems.
Within that process, the most difficult part is where the buyer’s lawyer asks questions about the property which must be answered by the seller’s lawyer and their client. There is no standard way of handling this manual “enquiry stage” which causes confusion for everyone involved with clients and agents often in the dark over progress. As part of their drive to improve technology use across the industry, The Partnership, a specialist property law firm with offices in Guildford and London, have today launched Enquiry Explorer which revolutionises how clients, agents, and lawyers raise, track, update and answer conveyancing enquiries.
Digitising the conveyancing process – one step at a time
Until the 1970’s, most information in the financial sector was interpreted and transferred manually which caused mistakes and delays. This was addressed by the introduction of “Straight Through Processing (STP)” which ensured that data was only entered once and reused through the process. The Partnership is spearheading similar changes to conveyancing and the release of Enquiry Explorer cements their thought leadership in the market.
Available through The Partnership’s online portal, Enquiry Explorer gives sellers access to the questions being asked so they can answer them directly and see the responses given by their lawyers. Buyers can ask questions themselves and track their progress, including who is currently working on them. By enabling clients to give this information directly, rekeying is eliminated which also drastically reduces the time and mistakes involved.
Peter Ambrose, Managing Director of the Partnership explains the significance of this launch; “Enquiry handling is THE black-hole of conveyancing. The process is totally opaque – clients and agents don’t know what’s going on and it’s extremely painful for lawyers. Solving this problem of revealing hidden information has only been made possible by our years of experience in capturing enquiries electronically. For the first time ever, Enquiry Explorer allows everyone to obtain up to date progress of the most confusing part of conveyancing. I am particularly excited about the release in September of a version for estate agents, mortgage brokers, and lawyers.
The Partnership is a leading independent legal provider focussing on the first-time buyer market in London and the southeast. The multi-award-winning company is widely recognised as the thought leader in technology innovation and its modern approach to service, security, and legal expertise. For more information go to www.thepartnershiplimited.com.