E-conveyancing: the real deal

A new digital platform will be launched throughout Scotland this spring, designed to speed up the conveyancing process. This online system, Altis, has been developed by ESPC and BDP Estate Agency Software as a “one-stop-shop” for property solicitors, and the Law Society of Scotland has now formed a partnership with the two companies to deliver the system across the whole country.

The agreement with the Society reflects the outcome of the open tender process last spring in which the Society sought a suitable product that would meet the needs of property solicitors.

It will deliver a platform that will support all stages of a property transaction, from missives to registration, via an online platform that solicitors will access using their Law Society of Scotland smartcard.

Solicitors aware of developments south of the border may have read how the e-conveyancing platform called Veyo, in which the Law Society of England & Wales had invested several million pounds, was abandoned late last year when it was concluded that the project was unable to deliver what had been promised and that other services were already coming to market.

However, ESPC and BDP are keen to emphasise that Altis will sit alongside, and not replace, their existing file management software; that solicitor users have been involved throughout its development; it has been tested both online and offline and further developed following positive feedback; and it will shortly be ready to launch.

Key stakeholders including Registers of Scotland, Revenue Scotland and the Council of Mortgage Lenders have also been involved and are supportive of the system.

As well as being designed to be user friendly, it has the ability to improve risk management by ensuring important matters are not overlooked.

Secure and transparent

Altis will provide a secure and transparent environment to store all the information relating to clients and their properties. Cloud based – thus being accessible from anywhere with an internet connection – it will sit at the centre of the conveyancing process, connecting to existing software, search providers, Registers of Scotland and Revenue Scotland.

Paul Hilton, ESPC chief executive, says the platform could potentially change the landscape of the Scottish conveyancing process. “To have the backing of the Society really adds gravitas to what is a comprehensive and highly-developed system,” he comments.

“Altis is different to other e-conveyancing platforms. We’re very aware of what recently happened regarding Veyo; however, while there is a risk to any new venture, Veyo was starting from nothing and required significant development and investment to break into what was, for the developers, a new market.

“Altis is far more advanced in its development. We have a track record of delivering products and services to the legal profession and have recently carried out successful testing with a large number of solicitors around Scotland, to which the feedback has been fantastic. Right from the start, Scottish conveyancers have been involved in the creation of Altis and we believe it is a service that solicitors want.”

BDP, the software company, already had a close working relationship with ESPC through providing its estate agency software. Developing a platform to support the complicated conveyancing process presented new challenges, met, Hilton explains, with input from the profession.

“We couldn’t have built the platform without the help of willing solicitors who were happy to share their thoughts and processes with us. At the same time, we understand that all solicitors work in a different way, so we had to ensure that the platform was flexible enough to allow everyone to work the way they want to, while still guiding them through the process to ensure that key information is not overlooked.”

Accurate and accountable

Jaime Hill, head of business development at Altis, believes that in future, all conveyancing will be carried out electronically. “We are now developing an online service that will help to speed up the conveyancing processes, as well as providing an accurate and fully accountable system, benefiting both solicitors and their clients,” she says. “This is not de-skilling conveyancing; it is our hope for firms using Altis’s high level of automation that it will leave them time to work in the areas where clients most value the personal touch, such as advice on submission of offers and updating them on the process of the sale and purchase.”

Altis will also come with a client log-in, which will allow buyers and sellers access to information relating to their property transaction, helping them to keep up with events. This can be branded to look like their solicitors’ own website and provides an opportunity to promote other services that the firm offers to clients.

Charges are a simple fee per transaction, rather than up-front subscription costs. “We were keen that the platform was accessible to all solicitors in Scotland, so whether you are the biggest or the smallest solicitor firm in Scotland, you will be charged at the same rate,” Hilton confirms.

He adds: “We are delighted with the positive response from our members, who are keen to be involved with the final development stages and to go on to use the system as part of their daily business process.

“Our commitment to improving the efficiency of the conveyancing process extends beyond our ESPC membership and we look forward to working with the SPCs and conveyancers across Scotland to allow them to benefit from this intuitive online system.”

Lorna Jack, chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland, comments: “We can see huge potential benefits in having an e-conveyancing platform and we know there is appetite for this among the profession.

“Recent legislation allowing solicitors to use electronic signatures on documents, alongside the rollout of the Society’s digital smartcard, which all solicitors will have in the next few months, means there is an opportunity to introduce an online service which will help to speed up conveyancing processes as well as providing an accurate and fully accountable system, benefiting both solicitors and their clients. We are looking forward to working with Altis in the final development stages of this new service for our membership.”

“It is evident that there is a growing interest in digital conveyancing within the solicitor community and beyond. Changes to the regulatory landscape and the way conveyancers transact business, such as the adoption of standard missives, make it safe to say that we are entering an era of change for conveyancing in Scotland.”

“These are exciting times for Scotland’s conveyancers. After many years of relative stagnation, we have seen some procedural changes in recent years. Altis embraces all of these changes and incorporates them in an extremely user friendly and efficient e-conveyancing system.”

“I have been involved in the demo and trialling of the e-conveyancing project, and as a solicitor involved in property work for the last 35 years, I am very excited about the potential of the system.”