News focus: Conveyancing Association calls on members to help meet net zero targets

Climate-related issues may be valid considerations in determining whether to act for a particular conveyancing client, an association whose members conduct a quarter of all property transactions and 70% of all remortgage transactions told conveyancers this week. A fresh set of member pledges from the Conveyancing Association joins existing pledges on quality of service, client satisfaction, efficient processes, title and registration, combating fraud, mutual support, and working towards a trusted community of conveyancers.

However the new pledges may be in for a rough ride from parts of the profession; especially the first, concerning the government’s commitment to reach ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050. ‘Members will take proactive steps to encourage clients to identify how they can improve the impact of their property on the environment to meet the government’s net zero targets,’ the pledge states.

According to the pledge, members should deploy up-to-date methodologies to reduce their climate impact. They should encourage clients to check material information and, for those who need a mortgage, to obtain a decision-in-principle before viewings to avoid travelling to a property that turns out to be inappropriate. Conveyancers should also consider whether to refuse instructions from clients, the pledge states.

Critics will say the pledge is virtue-signalling. However, the Law Society’s National Property Law conference heard last year that some mortgage lenders – rightly or wrongly – see conveyancers as their in-house legal team who need to explain climate change risks.

Climate change remains firmly on the Law Society’s agenda. The first plenary discussion at this year’s property conference, taking place on Tuesday, will explore climate change risks and understanding how Chancery Lane’s landmark climate change guidance impacts conveyancers.

A session later in the day will discuss the implications of minimum energy efficiency standards in the light of potentially stricter sub-standard EPC ratings later this decade, green lease drafting, and the new green lease toolkit currently being reviewed by the Better Buildings Partnership.

The Conveyancing Association’s second new pledge concerns digital data storage.

‘Members will take steps to enable property data to be delivered and stored digitally to enable future digital interaction with the property throughout its life cycle,’ the pledge states. A firm should endeavour to provide clients with a link to a digital storage area or a digital Property Logbook to enable them to interact with their property details digitally when considering alterations, refinancing, retrofits or sales.

The quality of service pledge has been updated so members focus on reviewing a seller client’s title and highlight issues that may affect it, or highlight legal issues that may affect a buyer client’s intended use and enjoyment of the property.

The title and registration pledge has been updated so members ask HM Land Registry for an expedited registration of title if delay would cause hardship.

The pledges were updated in light of the Conveyancing Association’s recently published ‘future digital conveyancing protocol’. That protocol, the association stressed, should be read in conjunction with the Law Society’s conveyancing protocol.

'[New pledges aim to] engender a culture of fairness around the work [conveyancing firms] themselves carry out, and how they can prove this not just to clients but all stakeholders within the process'

Beth Rudolf , Conveyancing Association

The Conveyancing Association’s protocol was designed to pre-empt digital ID (legislation on which is working its way through parliament), digital signatures (which HM Land Registry is piloting), and the next set of National Trading Standards guidance on material information.

Recommendations include establishing whether the seller or buyer client has access to a smartphone to be able to sign digitally and be identified digitally. By adopting the future digital conveyancing protocol, conveyancers also commit to adopting the Conveyancing Association’s ‘technical protocol’ which, among other things, requires conveyancers to establish source of funds early.

Beth Rudolf, the association’s director of delivery, said the pledges would support firms to ‘engender a culture of fairness around the work they themselves carry out, and how they can prove this not just to clients but all stakeholders within the process’.

These stakeholders are many and varied. The 13 founding members of the newly created Digital Property Market Steering Group, which held its first major conference last month, comprise representative bodies and regulators for conveyancers, property agents, lenders, chartered surveyors, property search organisations and HM Land Registry.

The agenda for next week’s Law Society conference shows the challenges confronting conveyancers in a fast-changing landscape. Other sessions will look at the latest government proposals for the property market and conveyancing, leasehold and rental sector reforms, staff retention, commercial property issues, anti-money laundering duties and the Building Safety Act 2022. HM Land Registry will also update conveyancers on progress in restoring the timeliness of its own post-completion services.

Conveyancing updates are coming thick and fast. Keeping up presents its own challenge.

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