Why a personal conveyancing service wins over ‘conveyancing factories’ every time

Buying and selling a home can often, as so many of us know, be a highly stressful experience and much of this can be down to the quality of the conveyancing service which deals with all the many legal aspects of the transaction.

What many people don't always know is that there are different types of conveyancers - from local solicitors with local knowledge and years of experience, like Wards Solicitors, to what's known as conveyancing factories, made up of usually inexperienced juniors who work in large teams with each person in the team responsible for a different part of the process with no named, dedicated lawyer for clients to speak to.

If a problem arises, there isn't the level of experience needed to deal with it which often leads to a lengthy wait until a more senior person is available to advise - hugely frustrating if this holds up your house sale or purchase.

Property expert and TV presenter, Kirstie Allsopp recently highlighted the problem: "These days we rely on cut price conveyancing factories where no-one knows what they're doing and unless a case is perfect, they can't process it. Huge numbers of deals fall through unnecessarily because of this."

Personal service

Here at Wards Solicitors we believe in a conveyancing service which is personal, tailored and efficient.

We handle thousands of conveyances every year and during more than 100 years in practice - and with the origin of our business in conveyancing - have built a reputation not only for reliability but expertise reflected in a consistently high number of personal recommendations and excellent satisfaction levels.

We have a highly qualified and experienced team of conveyancing specialists, who all know their local housing market extremely well and handle the whole process from start to finish, across all 11 of our offices in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset.

Time for change

With more than one million houses bought and sold in the UK every year in the UK, the Government has launched a consultation paper called Improving the Home Buying and Selling Process and has asked for estate agents, solicitors, surveyors and mortgage lenders as well as members of the public to submit their views, either electronically or by email, by 17 December.

It has already asked 2,000 people who have bought or sold a home in the last two years for their views on the current process which has shown that every year an unacceptable number of transactions are falling through at an average cost to the buyer of between £695 and £744 and to the seller of between £582 and £740. This adds up to literally hundreds of millions of pounds in failed transactions and wasted expense.

In his foreword to the paper, Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, writes: "People have been buying and selling their homes for as long as they have been building them. Given this long history, you would expect that by now the home buying and selling process would be smooth and simple.

"But we all know it isn't. Speak to someone who has just bought or sold their home and they will tell you that it took longer than they expected, cost more, and was frustrating and stressful. And it is all too likely that they will tell you that a transaction fell through, and they had to start all over again. It is no wonder that buying and selling a home is rated as one of the most stressful experiences a person will go through.

"It does not have to be this way, and it shouldn't be this way. The Government has committed to reforming the process - to make it cheaper, faster and less stressful. We need your ideas and suggestions to make this promise a reality."

For specialist legal advice on all conveyancing matters, please contact our Conveyancing Team by phone or by calling in to one of Wards Solicitors' 11 local offices.