Conveyancing problems serve as a prominent example of the ‘broken’ and antiquated system of buying a house in England and Wales, according to a report commissioned by major mortgage lender Santander.
Respondents to a survey commissioned by the bank, which has 7% of the UK mortgage market, cited their solicitor being ‘hard to contact’ as one of the elements of the legal system they found challenging. The study - which canvassed 2,363 respondents - found 38% of adults found the legal and conveyancing process difficult. Over half of those who did so (55%) said the process took too long. A similar proportion (54%) said they had to keep chasing people in order to move things along.
Other problems cited included ‘I didn’t know what was happening or when’ (29%), ‘my solicitor was hard to contact’ (23%) and ‘documents were too complicated’ (23%).
The report, ‘Fixing the Broken Chain’, says: ’This perhaps reflects the pressure on the system as it currently operates, with stakeholders from conveyancers to surveyors already operating at maximum capacity, which has been exacerbated by a reduction in the number of conveyancers and firms.’
The study cites Law Society figures showing that the number of conveyancers in England and Wales fell 15% between September 2021 and January 2025.
‘The UK home buying process, particularly in England and Wales, relies on antiquated systems and practices that create inefficiencies and inequities, and this is exacerbating the wider housing crisis’, it adds. ‘The way we buy and sell residential property in England and Wales is based on practices established more than a century ago, formalised in its current structure through the Law of Property Act of 1925. This legislation established the framework for conveyancing, including the use of deeds, contracts of sale, and the registration of land titles, which still underpins the process today.
‘Our research thus far has highlighted that a lot of the stress, whether that is the emotional turmoil or the practicalities for all parties involved, would be solved if only we fixed the transaction process. It is too cumbersome as it stands, and while there is no silver bullet, speeding things along and driving efficiency would go a long way when it comes to getting the housing market moving more rapidly, without significant government outlay.’
The report said something which could speed up the process is the continued digitisation of HM Land Registry, arguing plans to start accepting qualified electronic signatures on documents – removing the need to either scan a signed document to send on or hand-deliver, and the need for third party witnesses - should be implemented across the industry.
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