Conveyancing in the Digital Age

We now live in a world where everything revolves around technology, and whilst conveyancing might have been slow to evolve in the digital world, today conveyancing has been revolutionised, allowing the whole process to be handled digitally, whether that’s via email, phone or video calls. The benefit of handling conveyancing digitally means it can be faster and more convenient for all parties.

What has really made a difference is the government’s move to digitise land registration. This should help simplify, speed up and potentially reduce conveyancing fees.

In the past, house moves generated a huge amount of paperwork. Paper documents would need to be submitted to the Land Registry for transfer of ownership to take place. This was slow and costly. Now the transfer of ownership can take place over the internet.

The changes to allow for digital conveyancing came into effect on 6 April 2018 and meant that digital conveyancing documents can be used to transfer ownership of properties in England and Wales. These documents can use e-signatures which allows you to sign them remotely.

Using the internet to submit documents is so much faster (it can be as quick as a day) and means that if there are issues, these can be identified and rectified much faster than when paper documents were required, when the process could take up to a week.

It should be noted that some parts of the conveyancing process, have not kept up with the digital revolution. As a solicitor, I have to deal with many parties for a house sale/purchase. For instance, councils to complete searches, lenders for mortgages and other solicitors. Whilst many are trying to adjust to the digital world councils have not had the budgets to computerise their records. Less digital-savvy clients are reluctant to use electronic media and prefer a paper copy to be posted.  Some lenders will only accept faxed copies of documents, rather than scans.

Along with the benefits of going digital, there are also drawbacks in the form of cyber-attacks. The result is that some parties will be hesitant to making the whole conveyancing process digital.

So whilst the digital age has allowed some of the conveyancing process to become more streamlined, convenient and efficient, there are still areas that need updating. 

Wherever we can, we try to reduce the impact that the legal work has on the environment, generating far less paper documents, sending less physical copies and using electronic means for communication.

If you are moving house and need a conveyancing quote, please get in touch today on 01234 608087.