Veyo, the comprehensive conveyancing portal, is being rolled out across England and Wales from today. But Crawford, chief executive of conveyancer myhomemove, said the technology doesn't take into account what the end customer wants from the house buying process.
Speaking at his firm's annual conference last week Crawford identified three key trends in the market which he said conveyancers must respond to: restless transparency, the multiscreen world, and the new friends and family.
He said: "Customers want greater transparency – and for us that means enabling them to check the progress of their case from offer to completion, reassuring themselves that their expectations will be met.
"Some lawyers might describe that as unreasonable. Well we need to get used to it. It's the new normal and these are our customers of today."
Veyo, the joint venture between the Law Society and Mastek, brings together electronically all the processes, checks and documentation prepared and undertaken by solicitors and licensed conveyancers in the sale and purchase of residential properties.
The first users will be those firms who have already placed orders, thereafter the firms who have registered interest and then the remainder of the market.
Providing a full audit trail, and operating within a secure "trusted community" of users, Veyo allows professionals to communicate with each other, home movers and other key stakeholders, to satisfy obligations more efficiently and to facilitate the conveyance of residential property through established practice protocols.
In doing so, Veyo claims the portal ensures greater efficiency for conveyancers, provides a significant reduction to business costs in terms of time spent on each transaction, and improves client service.
Desmond Hudson, chairman of Veyo, said: “This initial go-live of Veyo marks the start of an exciting revolution in the conveyancing market. As an industry-first it’s crucial that we roll the product out strategically and our regional, targeted approach ensures that we can build a solid foundation in which the Veyo community can grow.
"With the home-buying process due to become much more efficient, secure and transparent, and over 1,800 conveyancing firms in England and Wales having registered interest in using Veyo already, the company is set to transform the whole market.”
Designed with industry-wide adoption in mind, a critical element of the product is that it is an inclusive service for the whole market, from volume conveyancers to sole practitioners. Conveyancers will be able to utilise the portal to conduct residential conveyancing work for only £20 per transaction. There is also an administration charge of £50 per user per year.
