What follows is the findings of a consumer survey, details of which appear on Today’s Conveyancer, aimed at the conveyancing profession:-

“A recent survey has revealed that most home buyers rely on recommendations from their estate agents when looking for a conveyancer.

The annual report was carried out by the Property Academy in association with the TM Group and more than 4700 consumers across England and Wales took part.

The findings showed that 68% of home buyers would ask for advice from their estate agent when choosing a conveyancer, with 46% making their choice based on an estate agents recommendation, a 5% increase from last year’s survey.

Surprisingly, the results also demonstrated that home movers were less concerned with finding a firm with the cheapest fees and more tuned into how much communication a conveyancer would offer, with only 18% of home-movers making a choice based on low fees, whereas 38% wanted a conveyancer to keep in touch once a week.

Customer retention fell by 4% from last year’s survey with the data also showing that customer retention is falling, with only 31 % of home movers returning to a previous conveyancer, down 4% from the previous year’s findings and that online searches only accounted for 7% of conveyancer selection.

The Home Moving Trends survey did show that an overwhelming majority of 78% of consumers said they would return to a previous conveyancer, with positive remarks about the service they had received centering on the words professional, efficient, helpful, friendly and thorough.”

Alison Mason of Ridley & Hall Solicitors comments:-

It is interesting looking at the statistics that of those surveyed the percentage of people who would not recommend their conveyancer was similar to the percentage of people whose choice was made by reference to the cheapest price and on the face of it there would appear to be a correlation between the two.

Those in the profession who pride themselves on a good, professional and efficient service will always have stories of their conveyancing nightmares sometimes arising purely out of unqualified or inexperienced personnel acting for the other party and delays occasioned are not always necessarily arising out of title issues.  We at Ridley & Hall do consider our conveyancing costs to be competitive and take into account the experience of our fee earners and the service we provide and which is expected by our clients but for those seeking to choose a conveyancer on the lowest price alone, there is sometimes truth in the statement “You get what you pay for”.

As with selecting any tradesman to undertake work in your home, it is preferable if possible to choose your conveyancer on an independent recommendation perhaps of friends or family who might have moved in recent history and who might have been impressed with the service they received.  Choice of conveyancer can make a difference to how your matter progresses and a good conveyancer can certainly alleviate some of the stress associated with one of the most stressful events of your life.

Those wishing to buy or sell property, or indeed anybody wishing to remortgage property, are invited to contact Alison Mason, Adam Fletcher or Mark Thornton either by phone, on 01484 538421, or by e-mail, to discuss your conveyancing needs.  We do pride ourselves on repeat instructions which, in our minds, speaks for itself.