Cordelia's comments were published in the Law Society's Property in Practice magazine on 26 June 2025, and can be seen here.
Cordelia Smith, Associate in our Residential Property department, discusses the growing push to speed up home transactions through digitisation, expressing caution about the assumption that faster is always better.
While efficiency is important, Cordelia emphasises that buying a home is often the most significant and complex purchase a person will make. Clients must fully understand what they’re committing to something that can’t always be rushed without compromising clarity and informed decision-making.
She warns that a digitised, ‘hands-off’ process risks reducing valuable interactions between conveyancers and clients. These conversations often provide space for clients to ask questions many of which are far from trivial and for lawyers to ensure their clients truly grasp the implications of their purchase. Whether it’s a first-time buyer navigating leasehold obligations or a couple moving to the countryside unaware of the realities of a private road, these important nuances can be lost in a purely digital process.
Cordelia acknowledges that many common delays such as slow local searches or mortgage offers are well known and often avoidable. However, she argues that the most effective improvement would be for estate agents to require sellers to instruct solicitors before listing a property. While there is certainly room for greater efficiency, she remains sceptical that digitisation alone is the solution, instead advocating for earlier legal engagement and better-informed clients.
Read the full article on the Law Society's Property in Practice magazine website [subscription required].