Taking a break in the mortgage and property market is almost impossible given the continued focus on what has recently happened, and what might be coming over the course of the next few months and the rest of 2015. For instance, we had not even reached New Year’s Eve before the Nationwide House Price Index was released and a debate was beginning over the projected ‘slow down’ in UK house prices although rather interestingly, prices still rose (just) through December and the annual increase was not far off double figures.
Plus of course we had the stamp duty changes announced at the start of December in the Autumn Statement and there is much conjecture about how big (or little) its impact will be on housing market activity. Certainly, from a conveyancing point of view, the changes undoubtedly put pressure on the large number of solicitor firms active in conveyancing.
To my mind, as has been the case for some time, it was the large volume operators who coped best with the changes having the necessary resources and experience to be able to change systems and processes quickly. Given that many purchasers of big-ticket properties could well have saved many thousands of pounds under the old slab system, it was unsurprising that there was a rush to exchange before midnight on 3 December. It was a case of ‘good luck’ to those who were using smaller, ‘dabbler’ firms as I suspect the chances of pushing through these deals were slim in the extreme. For those using the specialist conveyancers the chances of achieving a good result were much higher.
In a way, this example should give you a very clear understanding of what is at stake when a broker either does not get involved with the conveyancing process, or allows the client to choose their family firm, or recommends a business which is simply not able to work at this level. It is not so much a recipe for disaster as a recipe for serious delay, and in the case of those who might have wanted to beat the stamp duty change deadline, it would have left the client seriously out of pocket.
However, in this day and age, there is absolutely no reason why any broker should not be involved in the conveyancing decision and, indeed, as clients expect a much more rounded service from their advisers, it will be a widely expected part of the proposition rather than a simple add-on. Much like advisers (we would hope) are routinely covering off the insurance and protection needs of their clients, there should also be a commitment to delivering conveyancing advice and recommendations. With online distribution platforms like Broker Conveyancing making it incredibly easy, there really is no excuse.
So, given this is the time of year for making New Year’s Resolutions, why not resolve to focus on those quick, easy wins which could add so much more to your business income over the course of 2015? Let this year not only be about the mortgage advice, but let it be about insurance, protection, conveyancing, legal services, wills and any other product/service need which your clients have. The difference this could make may surprise even the most ardent cross-sale nay-sayer and, come this time next year, I guarantee that the greater effort and resource you put into these areas will have been worth it and be shown very clearly on the balance sheet.
Happy new year and let’s make it a very prosperous 2015.
Harpal Singh is managing director of BrokerConveyancing.co.uk