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I am really quite irritated by assumptions that the conveyancing system is broken. It is not broken, it works just fine. If you want to give examples, with my current workload, the longest outstanding matter is where someone in the chain lied about (a) not needing a mortgage and (b) not having a related purchase, causing a huge amount of delay. We've been ready to exchange for a month but can do nothing at the moment.

From my experience, estate agents always specify the length of term left on a lease in the sales particulars, and I am currently dealing with a matter where the parties knew from the outset the lease is short and we are liaising with the landlord to extend it, as part of the conveyancing. Should it be a surprise to the Ministry that in fact estate agents and conveyancers just want to see their matters progress quickly and smoothly? What do they think we want?

The other point I wish to make is that conveyancers are being continually burdened with changes to the system. It was reported in the gazette only yesterday how we are all (apparently) rubbish at catching money laundering (a job we do not get paid for). Another example: I chased up a firm yesterday for a contract pack, they have not issued it as their clients have not yet dealt with their ID checks. That is hardly the conveyancer's fault (indeed the conveyancer hadn't been informed there two sellers of the property, they had only been instructed by one of them).

And whilst I'm on my high horse, I had to spend an hour in an internal meeting yesterday discussing 'transparency requirements'. I have no problem in principle with what the regulations are trying to achieve, but please remember the continual issue of new regulations takes time for us to work out and process, and is another burden to firms. Another good example here is how complicated SDLT has become on residential matters. Also, the continual updating and changing of the CML handbook.


All conveyancers I know work hard to do the best job they can do, and it is not an easy job to do. We work hard and the wages are average at best. Cut us some slack.