Survey: conveyancers more worried by lenders than ABSs


Property: compliance becoming a bigger burden

Lender panels, rather than alternative business structures (ABSs), are the main threat to conveyancing businesses, new research has found.

Some 27% of 320 senior solicitors and licensed conveyancers polled by search company SearchFlow expect the main threat to the industry in the next year to come from lenders’ panel selection decisions.

Despite initial fears regarding the introduction of ABSs, only 13% of firms felt they were a significant threat to their business. A weak property market and the increasing cost of insurance were both bigger concerns. The finding comes shortly after conveyancing ABS In-Deed threw in the towel.

This also fed into a fall in interest in seeking ABS status. Just 11% said they would consider becoming an ABS – down from 21% last year – while a quarter of firms said they will not consider it. However, the proportion of firms undecided about their future has increased significantly, from 36% saying they did not know whether they would become an ABS in 2012 to 63% in 2013.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of firms said that increased legal practice compliance has led to a rise in the amount of work their businesses need to do in order to maintain standards. Only a fifth (22%) have bolstered resource in order to meet the increased requirements.

The sample also reported a 15% increase in the amount of conveyancing work they had undertaken over the last year, even though the volume of house sales over the same period dropped by 3%.

Marshall King, chief executive of SearchFlow, said: “The fact that firms are not yet taking on resource indicates that the recovery is still seen as fragile. The combination of the rise in workload and increased compliance requirements mean firms need to ensure their processes and procedures are as streamlined and efficient as possible.

“The fact that panel selection and market weakness is top of mind for many solicitor firms probably indicates that security of incoming business remains the overall top concern – which reinforces the lack of clear confidence in the market recovery.”

Tags:




Leave a Comment

By clicking Submit you consent to Legal Futures storing your personal data and confirm you have read our Privacy Policy and section 5 of our Terms & Conditions which deals with user-generated content. All comments will be moderated before posting.

Required fields are marked *
Email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Blog


Civil enforcement – progress at last with CJC report

‘When do I get my money?’ is a question that litigators acting for successful parties are used to fielding. The value of judgments is of course in the recovery made.


Paralegals: Progression and recognition are key to retaining talent

Many lawyers could not do their jobs without the support of paralegals and for law firms to remain competitive, paralegals need to be central to their business.


PII excess: a growing risk for consultant solicitors

As more solicitors choose to work as consultants, a concerning contractual trend has emerged – the passing of professional indemnity insurance excess liabilities onto consultants.


Loading animation