What our lender survey tells us about speeding up property transactions – Rudolf

That has always been the purpose of our annual Lender Collaboration Survey. It is not designed to produce a league table or criticise individual organisations. Instead, it provides lenders with honest feedback from conveyancers about where relationships are working well and where there is still room for improvement.

The survey has become an important part of our engagement with lenders because it has always led to positive conversations and tangible improvements. By sharing constructive feedback and examples of good practice, we have been able to work collaboratively to improve communication, resolve common issues and remove unnecessary friction from the transaction process.

This year’s results continue that conversation and, importantly, highlight a number of themes that should matter just as much to mortgage advisers as they do to conveyancers and lenders.

Delays affect everyone involved in the transaction

Mortgage advisers may not always see the discussions taking place between conveyancers and lenders, but they will certainly experience the consequences when those discussions take time to resolve.

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Our survey found more than half of respondents said post-offer queries typically delay transactions by a week or more, while a further third said they regularly add several days to the process. That means almost nine in 10 firms are experiencing delays that could affect completion times, client expectations and the overall home moving experience.

When a conveyancer is waiting for clarification from a lender, the adviser is often waiting alongside them. The borrower is left wondering why progress appears to have stalled, while estate agents and others within the chain are also affected. Improving this part of the process would therefore benefit every participant.

Clearer guidance would prevent unnecessary queries

Perhaps the most striking finding from the survey was that two-thirds of respondents identified interpretation of the UK Finance or Building Societies Association (BSA) Handbook as the most common reason for raising post-offer queries.

That should not be interpreted as criticism of the handbook itself, but it does suggest there is an opportunity to make guidance clearer and more consistent. If experienced conveyancers regularly need to seek clarification before they can proceed, then there is every chance the wording can be refined to provide greater certainty from the outset.

In particular, members identified recurring areas of uncertainty around issues such as rent charges, mortgage protection clauses and gifted deposits. Working with UK Finance to provide clearer, less ambiguous guidance on these common scenarios would reduce unnecessary referrals, give conveyancers greater confidence to proceed and allow lenders to focus their resources on genuinely exceptional cases rather than routine queries.

Small operational changes could make a big difference

The survey also identified several practical improvements that members believe could have an immediate impact.

Respondents consistently called for faster responses to post-offer enquiries, greater use of email and secure digital communication, wider adoption of common portals and, perhaps most notably, the retirement of fax as a communication method.

Members also highlighted the value of all lenders adopting a common referral platform, such as Lender Exchange or LMS, to create greater consistency and reduce unnecessary duplication across the market.

These are not ambitious technology projects requiring years of development. They are practical operational improvements that could be implemented far more quickly and that would help reduce unnecessary administration for lenders, conveyancers and advisers alike.

Equally important is improving response times, avoiding lengthy periods waiting for an initial reply and reducing the cycle where firms are simply referred back to the handbook rather than being given a clear answer to the question they have raised.

At a time when the government’s Home Buying and Selling Reform Roadmap is rightly focusing on digital transformation across the property market, these are exactly the kinds of improvements that can complement wider reform and deliver benefits in the shorter term.

Building on good practice together

The survey also demonstrates there is already plenty of good practice across the lending community. Several lenders continue to receive consistently strong feedback from our members, showing responsive communication, clear decision-making and efficient processes are entirely achievable.

Our objective now should be to ensure more lenders benefit from those examples. That is why we intend to take these findings back to the industry and explore opportunities for collaborative workshops where lenders and conveyancers can discuss the common themes, share best practice and identify practical improvements together.

An equally important part of that conversation is ensuring lenders are able to provide timely, consistent and definitive decisions when issues are referred to them, rather than returning responsibility to the conveyancer without a clear steer. Greater consistency in decision-making would remove uncertainty for everyone involved and help transactions progress more efficiently.

If we are serious about delivering faster, more efficient property transactions, then improving collaboration between lenders and conveyancers remains one of the simplest and most effective places to start.