The English conveyancing system is famously flawed, with an 8-12 week process, 4 weeks longer than in Scotland (MCHLG-2018). 30% of property sales fail before completion (MHCLG-2019) costing UK homebuyers £607m p.a. (Wiggywam-2019). Internationally, despite an overall ranking of 8th, the UK ranks 41st for registering property in the World Bank's Doing Business Index 2020\.
For conveyancers, the complexity and disjointedness of the English system has created a suite of problems which make efficient, transparent navigation of the process challenging. The core issue is that buyers (and lenders) require all necessary information to proceed with their purchase. Currently the core data is generated via questionnaires which sellers complete without support or legal understanding, with errors, gaps or insufficiencies needing slow unpicking as they are discovered across the legal process. This is compounded by time-consuming manualised searches via 3rd parties which further slow proceedings.
The MCHLG 2018 Improving the Home Buying Process review identified how a lack of technology adoption underpins many of these problems. The review noted how paper systems dominate, limiting information checking and embedding duplication of data-requests. The challenge is to address the digital data-security concerns which solicitors cite as underpinning their technological reticence while offering significant accessibility and document consolidation improvements to existing API gateways.
PreConvey are creating the first end-to-end smart conveyancing support platform which reduces conveyancing time by 50% and cost to conveyancers by 70% per case. Underpinned by blockchain encryption it creates secure, shareable homebuying packs with a smart, accessible UX hub.
The system creates next-generation conveyancing packs with information pulled automatically via emerging API repositories and third-party ID/financial checks; clearly highlighted legal concerns (and embedded legal options to address issues, e.g. purchasing indemnities) within a secure environment which will transform the processing rate of property transactions.