Only months after the collapse of the Veyo system aimed at creating a conveyancing portal for England and Wales, the Law Society of Scotland has announced a bid to deliver a “one-stop-shop digital platform for property solicitors.”
The society has formed a partnership with the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre and BDP Estate Agency Software, to create an online system, Altis, which is scheduled to go live this spring.
“We can see huge potential benefits in having an e-conveyancing platform and we know there is appetite for this among the profession” according to Lorna Jack, chief executive of the Law Society.
“Recent legislation allowing solicitors to use electronic signatures on documents alongside the rollout of the Law Society 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, benefitting both solicitors and their clients” she says.
Paul Hilton, the ESPC chief executive, says Altis is different to other e-conveyancing platforms.
“The feedback so far from solicitors testing the platform, along with input from other key stakeholders including Registers of Scotland and the Council of Mortgage Lenders has been excellent” he claims.
“The system we have created offers an unrivalled level of capability. Not only has it been carefully designed to be user friendly, it has the ability to greatly improve risk management, assuring all parties of a secure and supported experience” he continues.
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By working with key stakeholders (the CML, Estate Agents and Registers of Scotland) it seems that the Law Society of Scotland is taking a more pragmatic approach to developing an e-conveyancing platform than the approach taken by the Law Society of England & Wales in its failed attempts to develop Veyo. I hope Altis succeeds and delivers the benefits that the parties involved in the property buying and selling process should expect to have in the 21st Century. Whatever the outcome, I doubt that the Law Society of Scotland will repeat what went on recently south of the border and won’t waste upwards of £7m.
I will be watching this closely. Maybe Altis will deliver Veyo what should have delivered.
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