tm blog

Where are we now and what will make the biggest difference? Our expert panel discuss the issues in question and what’s being done to make changes to benefit service providers and their customers: 

Automation and client portals – challenges and developments around customer experience - Lauren Stanley, Private Property solicitor, Thrings

Challenges and developments in customer experience generally centre around two things: price transparency and technological advancements (automated systems and client portals). 

With the arrival of alternative business structures and online firms, we are seeing a rise in fixed low pricing and ‘no move no fee’ arrangements. This model naturally lends itself to focusing on volume and profit, to the detriment of service quality. 

Generally, online firms that quote a fixed price will add on extras throughout the transaction. This tends to spark a ‘race to the bottom’ when it comes to conveyancer fees and creates frustration among customers when the approach to pricing isn’t communicated at the start of the transaction. 

The price transparency rules that came into force in November 2018 should go some way to addressing these problems and enhancing the customer experience - although the practical consequences are yet to play out. 

At a minimum, the rules should allow customers to make an informed decision on the basis of costs and will make them aware of any referral fee arrangements. The rules do not, however, help the customer decide on the basis of a firm’s capabilities, processes and ability to provide an excellent service.

Expectations of service levels among consumers are only getting higher. With instant access to information becoming the norm in areas of the services sector, the pressure for conveyancing solicitors to meet consumer expectations is also high. Firms are reviewing their processes and procedures to better meet those expectations. 

Automation in conveyancing has the potential to drive efficiencies by firms on both sides of the transaction. The important thing is to ensure these investments in technology are made to enhance client service, not just reduce costs and expert input. The quality of service and reassurance that come from working directly with qualified and experienced conveyancers is invaluable during, what is often, the most expensive transaction an individual or family will ever undertake. 

More regulation and collaboration to raise standards - Katrine Sporle, Property Ombudsman

The primary focus of the Property Ombudsman is to ensure that consumers do not suffer detriment when receiving services from property agents – be they buying, selling, letting or managing agents.  All of these activities require mandatory redress when undertaken by a property agent.  We also provide redress services to search providers who have signed up with the Property Ombudsman on a voluntary basis.

I wish I could say, hand on heart, that all property agents set out to do the right thing.  Unfortunately, that would not be true, which is why TPO is a staunch supporter of the need for a Regulator and for mandatory professional qualifications.

On the other hand, I am also firmly of the view that the vast majority of property agents do want to do the right thing.  Mistakes occur because there are not clear enough standards and there is no modern digital property database on which to rely.

The industry is working hard to raise standards and TPO is entirely supportive of the moves to make properties not just market ready, but sale ready.  By that we mean that absolutely everything about a property is clearly available from the point a property is marketed – including the local search information that a planning permission has been granted for a chicken farm 250 yards away from the property, for example.

Accurate, reliable, relevant information is needed before a transactional decision is made by a prospective purchaser.  Everyone involved in the sector should collaborate to make that a reality.

Consumer portals would be a welcome addition, but not a substitution for managing client expectations – Eduardo Reyes, The Law Society Gazette

Lawyers already tell me about client expectations that they will communicate with them, update them and take instructions through a platform of their choice. Conveyancing solicitors are having to screen shot messages sent on instant messaging apps to provide the paper trail they need. 

So, if we see a growth in online portals to manage transactions, to which clients can be steered, that will be a welcome change for lawyers, while providing the immediacy clients are expecting. The frustration for regulators though is going to be around price competition - when consumers fail to respond to price competition, and they frequently do 'fail' on this front, the assumption is that competition and the market is not working logically. In reality, consumers choose by location, service, recommendation - feel, even. Regulators in all fields are obtuse on this point, so expect more interference to try and make perfect competition 'happen'. 

Something to watch as any service becomes more automated or 'moves online', is that functions that were helpful to the process, in this case buying and selling property, tend to disappear. Think of online-only estate agents, who do the marketing of properties, but who have dispensed with roles such as 'transaction progressors'. And if you have accessed a service or advice via a chatbot, you will know that getting to the thing you want takes much more of your time as a citizen, consumer or client. That extra time is robots giving us extra things to do. Clients want immediacy and access to information and advice - some technology we are seeing in professional services environments (such as information portals and automated searches) provides that, while other tech does the opposite. In doing so, the latter erodes trust.

A week might be a long time in politics, but a year in conveyancing passes in the twinkling of an eye….  Richard Hinton, The Conveyancing Map

How slowly the wheels turn! The Price & Transparency regulations were introduced in December 2018 to a conveyancing industry at best unconvinced of their benefits. This lack of conviction that seems to have been shared to an extent by the Law Society, has in my view, left the initiative struggling to achieve its aims.

The sponsors of price and service transparency long for a better-informed decision by clients but conveyancing practitioners have either metaphorically ticked what they see as a compliance box and moved on or have simply parked the issue.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is set to review the position shortly and this divergence between compliance and added value for clients will be apparent. The SRA’s own review of a sample of firms in June 2019 found that 25% of firms were fully compliant and a further 58% were partially compliant. 

Our own survey of conveyancing specifically, found only 5% of firms provide a personalised online estimate of fees without the need to supply an email address – the preferred end game for the CMA. At the same time, only 9% of firms promote client reviews collected by an independent third party – another key indicator for the CMA.

These statistics illustrate starkly the dislocation between the two drivers of compliance and client value.

Nor is there any sign that firms are flocking to sign up with comparison sites – probably on the sensible premise that other than price, there’s nothing much to compare anyway, there are no agreed standards or metrics and should they sign up, then no doubt they’ll be charged for the privilege.

Moving this agenda forward, on anything other than an attritional, incremental basis needs a new alignment between the rule makers and the rule takers, and, I’d suggest, more proactive, enabling behaviour from the regulator community that gives the profession the tools and reference points it so desperately needs.

Until then, firms will profess correctly that they’ve done what has been asked of them and clients will be left with only a marginally better understanding of the purchasing decision they’ve made.

Greater transparency brings changes afoot for 2020 and beyond - Rob Hailstone CEO, Bold Legal Group

It’s likely that 2020 will be a slow burn for conveyancers. By that, I mean the year will begin relatively quietly with no new major changes or issues for conveyancers to deal with. However, that shouldn’t allow firms to get lulled into a false sense of security. There are a number of initiatives that are bubbling away under the surface and conveyancers need to keep a watchful eye on them for the impact on them and their clients. They include:

Providing pricing information on websites; Firms should be complying with the Transparency Rules introduced in December 2018. The SRA will be policing them more effectively from now on.

The proposals to educate and regulate estate agents; It will be interesting to see if this initiative results in some Estate Agency businesses becoming more involved in providing conveyancing services and its impact on the market and client service in the future.

A possible Referral Fee ban; Depending on what your referral fee view is, there is a concern on their impact on the current lack of transparency in the transaction and the need for consumer choice.

The emergence of Property Logbooks; Property Logbooks are coming, and not only will they benefit the consumer, they will also benefit the conveyancer. 

Reservation Agreements; The Governments ‘proposed’ pilot, if approved, will take place this year. The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) is commissioning behavioural insight research to help with the design of it, prior to a field trial. This research looks at issues such as how much money each party would have to commit and the circumstances under which they could withdraw from the transaction without losing it.  We are still watching with interest how it will evolve.

The provision of Up-Front Information; The old chestnut! Not quite a full HIP replacement but, in my opinion, getting close to it. It has been proven by some conveyancers and estate agency groups that the provision of Up-Front Information can take weeks off of the home buying and selling process.

On top of these, conveyancers will need to be aware of the upcoming April changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT), get to grips with the new questions on the TA6, become aware of more sophisticated frauds and scams and as always, expect the unexpected. 

The ongoing challenge of managing these issues while still keeping client experience at the forefront of your firm’s obligations will be enough to be going on with for now. 

Get in touch with our marketing team on marketing@tmgroup.co.uk to find out more or if you have any questions

We are now able to email search order confirmations to you rather than just over the phone. If this is a service you’re not familiar with at the moment, contact your Account Manager in the usual way or our Client Services team who will enable it for you.

We understand that fielding queries from data providers on New Build properties can be time consuming and a hassle, which is why we created our New Build Managed Service for both Commercial and Residential clients, to help make things quicker and easier.

Taking your basic instructions, our team will create and map your properties on the tmconvey platform, order your required searches and liaise with data providers to; reduce your incoming call and interruptions, improve your turnaround times and help meet tight developer timeframes. There is also the ability to upload multiple plans per case, which we know is often a requirement with New Build plots.

This service is £9 plus VAT, in addition to the usual search costs

The new decade and a general election victory for the Tories, has brought an end to the uncertainty of political stalemate which has had a major impact on growth in our wider economy since before the 2016 referendum.
But just how much influence does this have on the New Build sector?

Well, a significant amount actually. The sector has been slowly contracting since the country voted to leave the EU in June 2016.    Compared with industry statistics from 2015 from the MHCLG (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government’s) on new dwellings, the 2019 figures suggest a determination to improve but highlights a slowdown in the industry. Statistically, since 2012-13, new build completions have increased by 65% from 118,540 to 195,290 in 2017/18. An additional 25,000 were additional dwelling conversions from retail outlets, as digitisation is leading to a decline in the need for retail space and significant changes in the High Street.

The 2019 figures show determination but also highlight a slowdown in growth compared with the last time the country experienced over 2% growth. From this, it’s fair to say that developer progress was clearly stymied by economic forces. Residential transactions also dropped by a further 2%, their lowest since 2013, to just under 84,490, a 16.5% decline compared to June 2018. Jumping forward to June 2019 and the fall dropped further by almost 10% to just over 25% on the previous year.

The impending fear of Brexit had a considerable impact on import ability and the price of housebuilding materials. Skilled labour forces started to reduce as foreign specialists previously working in the UK started to leave for less uncertain economic climates elsewhere. Investor enquiries dropped and with them so did demand.

But there is hope and a recognised need to change. The Government’s ongoing recognition of the need for reform to the industry is now in its second year of a pledge to deliver 300,000 homes per year by the mid 2020’s. These reforms are also designed to make major improvements to the planning process and attract much needed investment. These developments are analysed further in the latest tmgroup White Paper, Building Together: The collaborative New Dawn of New Build. 

The paper contains robust data from all areas of the sector to consider what could be done to influence the speed of change across the landscape of residential and commercial new build property sectors throughout the next decade and makes for interesting reading.
It also provides evidence from industry insiders that the Government have addressed the need for the homes without the full understanding of the issues hindering new build developments in the UK.

A planned 2% growth in GDP(gross) would be a growth driver in construction output, but the effects of the last 3 years have seen reduced consumer and business confidence year on year fuelled by change and uncertainty. The recent election stimulates the prediction of an end to the Brexit quagmire with growth of 1.4% predicted this year and a slow but steady rise from the lowest point of 1.3% in 2019.

Issues such as under-funding, inconsistency in Local Authority approaches, migration of planning officers from the public to the private sector, a lack of legislative protection, technological disadvantages and time wasting, among others, have all contributed to a fundamental lack of impact in the early stages of change. There is much more radical reform and collaboration from all stakeholders needed to have a major impact in the next phase of progression. This is also needed to encourage the turnaround of waning investor demand with fewer feeling confident enough to enter the market.

Ongoing developments

The Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission was set up to tackle the challenge of poor quality design and build, and in July 2019 began to define proposals around the sustainability and aesthetics of future builds to meet the needs of a growing population. However, a number of central and peripheral factors are affecting the potential for this to happen and require consistent and continued effort to have a more definitive impact.

The New Build environment remains fraught with issues and stakeholders are more guarded than ever to protect their own interests. This is affecting efficiencies, cost and above all, the customer experience. Concerns regarding communication between key parties in the new build process are leading to strained relationships in the sector and a culture built around blame for each other.

Over a third of customers have reported poor treatment and communication and a lack of accountability from developers who pile on the pressure to pay a deposit only to be left unsatisfied with the quality and integrity of the sales information.

Quality variances have affected the market with the NNHC Satisfaction survey reporting 99% of customers with snagging issues on new properties. Legislation is being called for to regulate snagging surveys and their completion, after a suggestion of reduced motivation to fix issues comes into play once a deal is complete. Almost half of those (42%) reported at least six serious snags with 26% experiencing over 16 or more issues. All leading to a lack of understanding and empathy and perceived imbalance of power away from the consumer.

A drive to recognise the importance of ensuring greater developer accountability and consumer power is needed to improve the public perception of the sector. The industry needs consumers and builders on the same page regarding quality standards and the lack of legislative protection serves to manifest dissatisfaction and disillusionment.

The report finds that the consumer journey needs considerable improvement. Coupled with a review of the sales process to move to become more like the Scottish or Continental systems to prevent the growing number of fall-throughs.
Smaller and mid-range developers need the opportunity to build, to bring more choice into the market. They also need to surround themselves with competent teams covering all aspects of the build from start to finish to equip them with competitive advantage.

Proposed changes

The research shows that customers are changing in their expectations and also their acceptance levels. A unified data source shows that £270m was lost in 2019 due to housing fall-through’s, adding up to a third of all UK housing transactions.
New targets suggesting completing local authority searches within 10 working days are a world away from the current picture. The average search can take up to 9 weeks with the slowest reported at 95 days. Alternatively, some are returned within 2 days, proving the need for a more holistic and standardised system.

Planning reform is urgently needed with a demand for more commercially minded and unbiased assessment of planning applications and more planning officers coming in from outside local government.
Further technological improvements in searches and at the legal stage can speed up the progress on site and retail sales. Better in-house technology could help Local Authorities to speed up planning applications.

Estate agency regulation and qualified entry from a recognised body such as RICS could support the vast number of credible and conscientious contributors to the market and separate them from the cowboys. This will build on the NAEA Propertymark required to raise industry standards and increase the skill set.

Sharing best practice among all parties in the industry will be the greatest help to create progress for all. This is seen as the biggest barrier by industry professionals and consumers and particularly at the small and mid-range end of the market who are less equipped to work as effectively or employ in house specialists like their larger competitors.

Collaboration, communication, consistency, and innovation is essential if all stakeholders are to achieve a streamlined and cohesive sector with harmonious progress. We are moving forward but there is still a long way to go.


For more information and to read the report in full click here.

February 2020 sees the launch of the latest addition to our suite of services; our new Consumer Portal. Designed to streamline and simplify the conveyancing process and offer both increased transparency and an enhanced client experience in property transactions, all through an online gateway.

There were 870,000 property transactions in the UK in 2019, with the average case taking up to 20 weeks to completion, with a high risk attached. The SRA reported that conveyancing received the second largest number of complaints across all legal areas.

Almost 20% of the 7,500 client complaints to the Legal Ombudsman are focused on delays, hidden costs, failure to follow instructions or provide adequate advice or background information by the solicitor. Our Consumer Portal has been designed to support firms with these issues by providing total transparency and enhancing the client experience throughout.

In the recent Frontiers 2020: Legal IT Landscapes survey to over 60 law firms from Legal Practice Management (LPM) Magazine, client-facing technology, including portals, are seen as business critical to achieve competitive advantage, with all firms facing an increasing challenge in effective client communication.

Practice management and client engagement systems are where the majority of firms store their key client data. However, many firms are disadvantaged by having multiple “on-premise” systems that do not integrate efficiently or effectively. To align strategy and innovation, a more holistic approach is needed and systems that do not talk to each other will pose a huge barrier.

The new Consumer Portal is part of the tmconnect platform, currently used by over 250 law firms, which can integrate with your existing practice management system and provides additional advantages, such as:

• Workflow management
• Payment gateways
• Anti Money-Laundering (AML)
• Searches
• Milestone management
• Post completion

The Consumer Portal element comes with a host of features and automated processes designed to address the challenges at the core of the complaint issues and provide a connected property community of law firms, estate agents and lenders.

With consumer expectation of being able to transact immediately and digitally now prevalent in all areas of life, the Consumer Portal includes mobile capability, providing instant remote accessibility for your clients at their convenience. Other features include:

• Increased transparency and clarity on both sides of the property transaction
• Enhanced value-added customer experience and benefits
• “On the move” communication and updates
• Two-way integration with tm client systems and consumers
• Cost and time savings through process automation
• Full regulatory compliance and encrypted document sharing
• A trusted supplier partnership with ongoing support and development benefits

The 2020 Legal IT Landscapes survey goes on to predict that firms who understand the connections between their client systems and the importance of data and its context within the business, will be the ones who gain competitive advantage in the market.

As an ISO27001 accredited supplier, our Consumer Portal offers futureproofing capability with secure and robust client confidentiality included as a standard . Automated “intelligent forms” provide increased efficiency and reduced manual data entry, leaving more opportunity to concentrate on client relationships.

For further information or a demo of the Consumer Portal or other tmgroup services, please contact helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk or call 0800 840 5571 or speak to your local account manager.

Click here to book a demo

Landmark’s flagship flood report with qualified Flood Risk Consultant assesses every high-risk Landmark Flood report

In January 2020, Landmark’s flagship residential flood report, Homecheck Flood, is being relaunched as Landmark Flood. Landmark has been looking for ways to make it easier for conveyancers to provide a complete service for their clients.

Flood risk can be a difficult and complex topic for you to support a home buyer on. A Further Action result can lead to delays in the transaction, as clients struggle to understand the risk they may be taking on. Landmark Flood ensures more Passed reports as their Consultancy team assess every high risk. The Insurability section also provides guidance on determining whether the property is likely to be insurable and affordable. With current environmental concerns, this will enable you to give your clients clear guidance backed up with solid data.

Long term flood risk is a major concern for homebuyers

There are two important elements when it comes to flood risk. The first, and most important, is whether the property is likely to be insurable. The second, more emotive element, is the risk of flooding at the property. While insurance may be available, this does not stop the emotional impact and disruption of a flood event for the homeowner. It makes a huge difference whether the cost of relocation and repairing the property and contents are covered, but flood events can still be devastating for the occupants. 

Every Landmark Flood report gives a professional opinion

A qualified Flood Risk Consultant assesses every high-risk Landmark Flood report. Rather than relying on data alone to inform whether a report has a Further Action outcome, their in-house Consultants assess each high-risk property and make an informed judgment. This reduces the number of false positives that are flagged and means more Passed reports. It gives you peace of mind, knowing the advice you give your clients is backed up by the opinion of a professional.

Relying on an automated report can sometimes lead to delayed transactions. This is due to data having the potential to flag issues at a property that may not truly representative of the overall risk.

Landmark’s Consultancy team have extensive experience in providing pragmatic flood risk assessments and spotting false positives in data. For example, where areas of high risk are confined to low points and aren’t likely to reach the house, or where the resolution of the data is over exaggerating the risk. 

Importantly, their Consultancy team are also on hand to support wherever a true high risk remains.  The team can support your client by explaining the outcome and suggesting the best next steps, meaning a quicker resolution and a smoother transaction.

Landmark Flood delivers all the information conveyancers need

Landmark Flood includes: 

•Consultant assessment on all high-risk sites

•Increased Pass results

•Unique, digital online viewer for on and offsite flooding risk

•Insurability section

•Clear next steps

•Consideration of all key sources of flooding

To find out more about Landmark Flood, please contact your Account Manager

Planning data can cause delays and frustrations

When someone is planning on buying and then renovating their new home, planning data can throw a spanner in the works. Client queries can be time-consuming and costly.

It can be hard to ascertain what exactly your client wants when it comes to planning. They may be unsure themselves or think what they want won’t need permission. In addition, large volumes of data can be confusing for the home buyer and could mean vital information about their purchase is missed. 

How RiskView Residential is being enhanced to solve your planning data problems

RiskView Residential is an all-in-one environmental report that delivers easy-to-interpret data. It covers the key risk areas of contaminated land, flood, ground hazards and energy and infrastructure.

From January 3rd 2020, RiskView Residential will include planning applications and planning constraints data. 

By including planning in with RiskView, Landmark has focused on efficiency by removing easily solved client queries. 

Landmark has enhanced their simple to use, dynamic online viewer. Your client can use the new date filter to evaluate what’s important to them. You might be surprised that out of hundreds of planning applications, your client is only interested in a few. Now they can save time and quickly focus on what matters most.

Within the report, the number of pages in RiskView has been kept to a minimum – placing the large, home-buyer centric data in the online viewer. This ensures you don’t have to review or print dozens of pages unnecessarily.

Information in a click

The RiskView online viewer has also been enhanced to include (where possible) a clickable weblink for recent planning applications. 

Together, RiskView’s new features reduce the time it takes to evaluate planning data and the number of enquiries by removing the complexity and volume of the data presented.

Planning constraints data is also included, providing invaluable insight for your home-buyer client to determine if nearby constraints are likely to have an impact on future plans or marketability. Using the online viewer, home buyers can see if planning has been refused in the area. They can also see if any recent applications could (in their opinion) have an impact on the location.

By arming homeowners with this data, you are helping them choose their future home, with real, factual information.

Together, RiskView’s timesaving features add value to your service. You are also reducing the time spent dealing with planning related enquiries. 

Providing complete environmental due diligence with professional opinion in one report, RiskView is the market leading choice in client care.

RiskView with planning includes:

•Planning applications as standard

•Planning application summary on one page in the report

•Online viewer designed to reduce time spent on planning queries

•Unique dynamic date filter

•Planning application clickable links

•Planning constraints

To find out more about how RiskView Residential can save you time, please contact our Client Services Team on 0800 840 5571 or helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk

Landmark’s RiskView Residential Report with Planning – Coming Jan 2020

Landmark’s RiskView Residential Report will include planning applications and planning constraints data. By including planning in with RiskView, Landmark is looking to drive efficiency by addressing easily solved client queries that arise around planning. 

Their online viewer will have a new date filter, include a weblink for recent planning applications, and continue to highlight the homebuyer-centric data that matters, reducing the time needed to evaluate a now more streamlined data set

Providing environmental due diligence with professional opinion in one report, RiskView comprises:

• Planning applications as standard
• Planning application summary on one page in the report
• Online viewer designed to reduce time spent on planning queries
• Unique dynamic date filter
• Planning application clickable links
• Planning constraints

Groundsure’s Mine Entry Report (MER) – Now free!

In September Groundsure launched its follow-up report to the Groundsure CON29M Official Coal Mining Search:  where mine entries (shafts and adits) are identified within 20m of a property, the CON29M recommends that they are investigated further through this interpretative report.

As of now, the follow-up can be ordered from tmconvey at no additional cost.

It may be free but it’s still invaluable. The MER provides an assessment of the ground movement risk associated with mine entries, provided by an experienced and qualified consultant from Mining Searches UK using a variety of data sources. 

It includes:

• A clear statement of risk associated with mine entries within 20m of the property 
• Further details provided on each mine entry
• The calculated impacted area - the zone of influence - for each mine entry 
• Where appropriate, connecting underground roadways are included
• An OS MasterMap site plan displaying the zone of influence of each mine entry 
• Guidance on next steps in the event of subsidence damage 

If you have any questions, please get in touch with your Account Manager or our friendly Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk

A very recent addition to tmconvey but worth an early reminder. You can now print out a list of the search alerts for a case – previously lists were just displayed but your feedback has told us that this often resulted in users having to take screen shots if they wanted to pass the information on to a solicitor. So much quicker and easier now!

Setting a default plan is one of those tiny bits of functionality that deal with the big annoyance of being asked repeatedly about something!  

If both plans are left as ‘Set as default’ when ordering searches you will always be asked to select which plan, which we appreciate can become frustrating. But if you mark one as Default, then it will be associated automatically. No more asking.

Even better, if you already have searches in draft you will get the option below for even greater convenience.