Essentially, conveyancing is the legal process of buying and selling property.

Not a supermarket meal deal, or a multi pack of tea towels – property. In the vast majority of cases, this is the largest financial transaction any of us will make in our lives. 

There’s the old adage of “you can have cheap, or you can have great. You can’t have both.” This applies to the conveyancing process more than anywhere else. 

So why would anyone scrimp on the service or products available, just to save, essentially, a few quid? Surely every person who is buying a home wants to make sure that the process will be dealt with in an efficient and professional manner, with all risks meticulously investigated and commented upon by qualified personnel? 

My thoughts? A complete lack of education for people buying property. 

Something I’ve learnt while working in the property industry, is that finding a good Conveyancing Solicitor is vital in ensuring a smooth, communicative and risk-free transaction. The words “but surely they all do the same thing?” can be heard ringing around estate agents and high streets the length and breadth of the country. As consumers and as members of the general public, I don’t believe that we are educated in the work that actually goes into the legal process of conveyancing, and as a knock-on effect we don’t understand that choosing the very best to undertake the legal proceedings on our property purchase is essential. Do you want a hassle free, thorough investigation into this massive financial outlay? Do you want to be walked through the process and updated every step of the way? Then don’t just choose the cheapest and hope for the best. Speak to friends and family for recommendations, look at Google reviews to see what’s been said about different firms, and get clear on what questions to ask them because, at the end of the day, if you’re only willing to pay peanuts, you’ll get monkeys. 

The same ethos should apply when purchasing environmental reports. Here at Groundsure, we pride ourselves in offering the best products and services on the market (obviously a biased view but one I staunchly stand by!). This is backed up by the excellent work done by our dedicated Customer Service Team and our in house, qualified, Environmental Consultants. Our consultants are happy to take calls from members of the general public who have purchased our reports and run through the details with them; saving conveyancers some precious time. Artificial Intelligence is creeping it’s way into our market and this should be embraced as a major step for the future of conveyancing, but the human touch  will always have a massive part to play in the process, as in life. People buy from people and excellent customer service, gaining trust and building relationships with our clients, is vital. 

Our business is underpinned by our Historical Land Use Database – 1.5m scanned and digitised Historical Maps dating back to 1842. Over 27,000 individual industrial features have been recognised, polygonised and individually risk ranked, resulting in the most accurate outcomes and less reports coming back as Action Required. The detail our reports go into is massively important in making sure property purchasers aren’t at risk of inheriting Contaminated Land, meaning they must pay out thousands of pounds in remediation costs.

More education is also needed in the reports on offer to people buying a home. I always say that the first report I would buy when purchasing a property, is a Planning report. I want an indication if there are any large-scale developments happening nearby that might hamper my enjoyment of the property. Does that field over the road have planning permission for a supermarket? Is there a massive residential development going up in this pretty village I want to live in? If I want to extend my property in the future, how likely am I to get permission based on other applications in the area? The Planning report compiles lots of information into one easy to navigate place, and can be helpful in indicating what future changes might occur.

The Planning application data can also be found in our all in one, Residential report – Groundsure Avista. Avista incorporates 7 searches in one, which negates the need to purchase any ancillary Searches. Contaminated Land, Flood, Ground Stability, Energy Infrastructure, Transportation, Radon and Planning Applications are all covered in this one report. It’s written in plain English and only includes relevant details of risks actually associated with a property, saving everyone time and keeping transactions moving. 

Find out more about Avista, the clearest and most comprehensive residential report on the market.