Conveyancing Association supports improved communication with estate agents

New Guide is first of its kind for property sector
The Conveyancing Association has today launched a new Best Practice Guide to help improve communication between conveyancers and estate agents.

The Guide is the first of its kind for the property sector. It is designed to offer further guidance in helping to speed up transactions and improve services for home buyers and sellers by managing communication throughout the chain.

It sets out a range of recommended practices for conveyancers to support communication with estate agents and give clients greater confidence about the process. While the Guide is not mandatory it is hoped that conveyancers will increasingly take it on board, together with other good practice.

Measures within the Guide include:

• Agreed timings for regular phone calls and updates
• Giving estate agent access to online case tracking
• Monthly predicted exchanges dates

The Guide was developed following the results of a Conveyancing Association poll which found that 47% of buyers felt the parties involved in their sale or purchase could have communicated with each other better. The poll also found that almost two-thirds (64%) of house-buyers experienced problems including delays during their transaction.

It builds on the publication last year of the Association’s ‘Technical Protocol’, designed to make the conveyancing process more efficient by providing licensed conveyancers and solicitors with a single point of reference for best practice – another industry first.

Eddie Goldsmith, Chairman of the Conveyancing Association said: