 A few cautious whispers emerging from the housing market have given the conveyancing sector its first good news in the last year. Many analysts had been predicting for the last few weeks that the nadir in house sales had already been reached and there were even tentative hopes of a market recovery. Conveyancers across the land will be hoping that these predictions come to pass after a tough year, which has seen small firms in particular badly hit by the slowdown.
The unwillingness, or inability, of banks to return to their lending practices of before the credit-crunch has meant that for thousands of solicitors the conveyancing sector has become an increasingly hostile environment. Redundancies have been occurring across the country and many of the small family run firms, particularly in Scotland, have found it difficult to make ends meet.
Solicitors removed from lender's panel
Scottish solicitors have not only felt the full force of the decline in house sales but last month an added worry was heaped on their plates with the decision by Abbey to remove thousands of legal practitioners from their approved lending panel.
Abbey said that 7000 lawyers would be removed from their list for not bringing them an adequate amount of business and many in the sector worry that this would only be the beginning of lenders tightening their requirements.
"The letter came out of the blue and is pretty worrying for small outfits like ours. Conveyancing is the bread and butter of the half of all solicitors firms in Scotland that are sole practitioners. The last few years have demonstrated that where one bank goes, the others follow. I fear that if Abbey successfully removes sole practitioners from their panel, other banks will follow suit." Said lawyer Bruce De Wert.
Good news?
Over the last few months representatives of the estate agency sector have noted that the number of house enquiries had continued to rise although the actual sales figures remained low but recent analysis has suggested that it is possible that sales may begin to rise once again.
Although most experts were quick to stress the relatively small nature of any market improvement, the fact that there is potential for increases is certainly good news for conveyancers. According to figures from the Bank of England mortgage approval jumped to 37,0000 in February, which was up 6000 from the previous month. Mortgage approvals have traditionally been seen as a relatively reliable indicator of short-term trends in the market.
"The evidence suggests activity is picking up - though some reports are overdone. The recovery is minuscule compared to the drop," said Ed Stansfield.
The catastrophic decline in sales over the last six months of 2008 and early in this year had a dramatic effect on the industry and many remain sceptical of the small signs of hope.
"People are desperately looking for some "green shoots" but we are in the very cautious camp - it is all from a very low base. There are some indicators showing a slightly more positive picture - but we would want to see months of this before being certain of a turn in the market," said Sue Anderson from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
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