My own impression is that it will take some time for the conveyancing market to get its head around what the first three months of the year delivered. Undoubtedly, this was an incredibly busy period and to say conveyancers were inundated with business seems like something of an understatement.
The latest stats to emerge, from the Search Acumen tracker, show that Q1 transactions broke the 250k mark over a three-month period for the first time since the recession. And, while there will be a slight fall-back there is also the anticipation that those transactions which may not have made it pre-Stamp Duty deadline will also bolster Q2 figures.
But, what has this actually done for the perception of the conveyancing industry and its ability to complete transactions quickly, especially when the pressure is on? I’ve heard it said that the sector may well have made a rod for its own back.
One of the many criticisms hurled at conveyancers focuses on the time that cases take to get through to exchange, and then completion. And yet here we are, with the figures to prove that conveyancers were not just able to cope with this extra workload, albeit with a struggle, but they achieved many cases within, what might be described, as a considerably shortened timeframe.
“Why can’t this happen all the time?” is a question that is likely to be asked a lot. And, I think it’s a fair one to be levelled at the sector. Yes, the deadline meant this was a somewhat extraordinary time but with committed clients, great numbers of transactions were completed. Why should this be a one-off?
What was also interesting about the Search Acumen stats as well – and perhaps provides a partial answer to the question of dealing with the increased business – are the figures for the number of active conveyancing firms over the same Q1 period. Those who have followed the sector for a number of years will know that the active number of firms have been dropping, and not only this, but the larger firms have been taking an increasing share of the work.
We ostensibly have gone from a situation where thousands upon thousands of firms were effectively carrying out a minimal number of cases – slowly over time the numbers have begun to fall, although we’re still over 4,000 active. However, in the first quarter of this year – in terms of a year-on-year number – active firms actually increased from 4,177 in Q1 2015 to 4,278 in Q1 this year.
It may not seem like a huge jump – indeed just 2% – however it’s clear that some firms, who were not likely to be troubling the top 100, saw Q1’s major increase in activity as an opportunity to carry out much more work than they would normally have done. This increase in supply – although not particularly large – did undoubtedly help out the sector and, I suspect in some small sense, was able to take on some of the increase in work load.
The extent to which this will be something of a one-off remains to be seen though. My overall view is that the number of active conveyancing firms will continue to dwindle over time and it would not surprise me if we go below 4,000 by the end of the year. The bigger specialist, 24/7 operators who are equipped to handle large numbers of cases will (I think) continue to dominate, especially if we see a growing number of advisers providing advice and recommendations in this area.
So, while Q1 was something of an anomaly, one does wonder how it might be perceived by the house-purchasing consumer, and also industry stakeholders, who might hope these activity levels and turn-around times can be maintained.
The good news is that the spotlight on conveyancing has perhaps never been so bright and the industry has a chance to put forward its own views and its own solutions to the perpetual struggles that can often dog the process. Understandably, the government remains focused on developing quicker, more efficient conveyancing and I believe the industry is in a strong place to lead the way in showing how this might be possible.
Harpal Singh is managing director of BrokerConveyancing.co.uk