Increasing Conveyancing Efficiency with Yourkeys

Posted by Yourkeys on 9th July 2021 -

The conveyancing process is an essential part of buying a home. It’s also one of the longest, taking an average of six to eight weeks for all the checks and balances to come back.

The conveyancing process can sometimes seem opaque and confusing, especially for first-time buyers, however it’s often the interaction between multiple stakeholders that makes achieving transparency difficult.

This is where Yourkeys can help. Our platform has been designed to align workflows between all the parties, remove duplication and deliver real-time updates on each transaction. Here we look at some of the common issues facing developers, conveyancers, and home buyers as a result of the conveyancing process, and how Yourkeys helps to overcome these.

What is conveyancing and why does it take so long? 

Conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of a property from one person to another. The conveyancing process is designed to ensure that the buyer secures title to the land together with all the rights that run with the land, being notified of any restrictions in advance of purchase. It is therefore essential that the process is thorough and conducted by a qualified solicitor. For developers and buyers alike, an experienced conveyancer with specialist new build property experience can help to save time. But even then, the process can take longer than you might think.

What is the impact of an unwieldy conveyancing process?

If the conveyancing process is not carefully managed, developers may find that their buyers may become frustrated and may drop out of the sale altogether. It’s important that they are kept informed of progress and assured that their sale is moving forward. With an average time to exchange of 8-10 weeks for what is most likely the biggest purchase they will make in their life, it’s not surprising that buyers can get cold feet. 

Buyers kept in the dark will tend to chase more frequently for updates, which means developers can spend huge amounts of time chasing the other stakeholders in the process to keep their buyers happy. Across a development, this time adds up significantly and prevents staff from engaging in more value-adding activity such as selling new plots.

Many conveyancers have embraced digital technologies to share information with their clients, including document stores and bespoke workflows. However, the real benefits are realised when this digital journey includes all the stakeholders in the process.

Achieving transparency and efficiency

House builders using Yourkeys already benefit from enhanced efficiency and buyer communications. By using an integrated conveyancer as part of this process these benefits are increased even further. Yourkeys integrates into the conveyancer’s own Case Management System to allow both upfront information and milestone update to be shared with all the stakeholders in the transaction.  All parties can see in real-time what progress has been made, what remains to be done and who needs to do it. As conveyancers are progressing their cases as usual on their own systems, there is no need for them to manually log updates for them to be visible to all.

So rather than wading through individual files, house builders can see at a glance where any issues lie, forecast their plot exchanges and completions with confidence and focus staff time on what really matters.