There has been a renewed surge in demand in the property market due to the Stamp Duty holiday deadline extension which is placing a huge strain on all UK conveyancing firms.
The extension of the holiday deadline by three months does deliver much needed reprieve to UK conveyancers and clients, but it ultimately does not address the inevitable bottleneck of sales that conveyancers will have to manage before the end of June.
While the current SDLT holiday deadline is 30 June, the 0% SDLT threshold will temporarily rise to £250,000 until the end of September, before dropping to the standard threshold of £125,000. Basically, this means the workloads of all conveyancing firms is likely to remain high.
Typically, delays in the conveyancing process are caused further down the property chain, usually when waiting for information from other parties involved in the transaction. The impact of lockdown and the surge in demand has meant increased delays in the chain than in normal pre pandemic times (particularly delays in conducting or obtaining searches and councils dealing with long pipelines with staff shortages). Most of these delays will be out of a Conveyancing firms’ control and Conveyancers will be as frustrated as the client trying to progress matters.
It is important that we inform you and that you understand that we are only as fast as the slowest in the chain or third party such as Local Authority/Lender.
What is LPL doing to combat delays for clients?
- We have and continue to adopt even more efficient technological and operational processes to speed up transaction progress. LPL were an industry leader, even before the pandemic, in digital processes operating a flexible remote working model, so were ready to hit the ground running when the pandemic started in 2020.
- Our conveyancers are dedicated and are working round the clock to progress transactions ahead of the SDLT ending.
- We have increased our staff and conveyancing teams by 50% during the past 12 months to meet demand.
- A new and continually expanding Client Services Team is in place to deal with client queries and updates, freeing up conveyancers to focus on legal advice and progressing transactions.
- We try to set realistic timeframes and help our clients see that certain deadlines simply cannot be fulfilled if there are delays out of our control.
The time taken from receipt/issue of contracts to completion (excluding post completion) is 16-20 weeks national average, LPL’s is 10-12 weeks!
How can our clients help speed up the transaction process?
- Please check the Hoowla portal for updates before calling or emailing, answering queries takes your conveyancer away from focussing on the legal aspects of your transaction. We will update Hoowla or contact you if there is something to update you on or something you need to action.
- Please contact our client services team on 0333 305 1012, they are more accessible and will ensure that calls are dealt with efficiently.
- Please be patient…we are working round the clock to get you moved on time and meet SDLT.
- Please be as clear as possible when sending instructions to your Conveyancer.
- Fill in forms promptly and accurately. The quicker you can respond to requests for information from your conveyancer, the quicker they can move on to the next stage of the process. It is also important to complete forms as carefully and accurately as possible in order to avoid mistakes that will then use up valuable time being identified and rectified.
Our service levels for responding to calls and emails may temporarily be affected due to the current unprecedented demand. Rest assured we are working hard to complete matters for you and will reply at the earliest.
We thank you for your patience and understanding throughout this period.
Client Portal login / Hoowla :
https://app.hoowla.com/app/login.php?id=1221132d8390ea66832cf2eabd8eb668
Client services :
Tel: 0333 305 1012
