According to a poll of 250 mortgage brokers undertaken by Groundsure, more than half said that conveyancers had not been “unfairly maligned” by the mortgage industry press during that time.
Just under a quarter, 22 per cent, said that conveyancers were unfairly treated by the press.
The majority, 92 per cent, of brokers agreed that conveyancers were a vital part of the mortgage process.
Around six per cent disagreed and the remainder were unsure.
The polling added that over half, 54 per cent, of brokers said that conveyancers had a tough time in 2022, and 47 per cent agreed conveyancers had “extra responsibility” to check more things in a property transaction.
Around a third, 32 per cent, disagreed that they had more responsibility, and 22 per cent were insure.
‘Celebrate conveyancers as property superheroes’
Malcolm Smith, Groundsure’s chief operating officer, said “Conveyancers continue to work tirelessly for their clients, undertaking greater responsibilities on behalf of lenders — all the while facing attacks in the media.
“It’s nice that other branches of the property industry are capable of looking back at 2022 and releasing that conveyancers might not have deserved the monstering they received. Far from the villains of the piece, we should be celebrating the conveyancers as property superheroes.”
He said that the polling suggested some “residual friction” in the industry left over from the “febrile days of the pandemic property boom”.
“That’s a shame as conveyancers were tackling huge volumes of cases at the time, and deserved some sympathy from their fellow mortgage professionals,” Smith added.
He continued: “It’s clear that the different parties across the transaction need to understand each others’ pressures and especially the degree of scrutiny and due diligence that conveyancers have to sign off. We are playing our part to make this easier on environmental and climate risks as each party increasingly focuses on this as new guidance emerges.”
