Situ stirred things up last week with a report that said conveyancing lawyers are moving too slow to meet increased demand from buyers. A failure to recruit has left many conveyancing departments are understaffed, causing a delay in agreeing completions and heaping frustration upon buyers and sellers, says the property company launched by the leaders of five major agencies in the West Midlands.
And while they may be correct, another reason conveyancing is slow is that a deal gets stopped in its tracks when it’s discovered the buyer’s lawyers aren’t on the lender’s conveyancing panel.
Red light. Do not pass Go.
Agents have told Lexsure that more than 10% of their pipeline is slowed down significantly by the buyer having to appoint new lawyers as they discover that their lawyers are not on the panel (or having another lawyer appointed by the lender check the work with a view to protecting their interest).
This is something estate agents should be checking as early as possible. But until now, it’s been difficult to do.
Watch this space for how Lexsure propose to solve this.
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