Law Society gives in to pressure and delays TA6 implementation

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Jeffery: We will consult in coming weeks

The Law Society has abandoned plans to make use of the controversial new TA6 form compulsory for members of its Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) from Monday week.

Facing a motion of no confidence in its leadership over its approach to conveyancers at a special general meeting, chief executive Ian Jeffery announced today that it was delaying the date by six months to 15 January 2025 and pledged to consult with the profession on the form’s contents.

Earlier this month, the Law Society apologised for not consulting more widely on the new firms but has insisted that the changes will go ahead.

The furore over the forms led the Property Lawyers Action Group to collect the signatures it needed to call the special general meeting.

We reported earlier today that leading digital conveyancing company InfoTrack has promised to give law firm clients the option of using the new or old forms after receiving requests for the first time not to update them.

In a statement today, Mr Jeffery said that, with the home-buying and selling process “undergoing long term change, driven by technological advances and public policy”, the profession “must embrace change”.

A key role of the Law Society was “to support our members through this evolution”, he said, and the updates made to the TA6 form were “intended as a pragmatic response to the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team guidance on material information”.

But he acknowledged that “we have not yet persuaded enough of our colleagues on those particular changes, so we need to do more to communicate with the profession about them.

“Having reflected on the strength of feeling expressed by members on this issue we have this week decided to postpone compulsory implementation of the TA6 Property Information Form (5th edition) (2024) for accredited CQS members for six months while we consult members further.”

This meant CQS members would be compliant if they used either the old or new version until 15 January 2025.

Mr Jeffery added: “In the coming weeks we will consult members further about the content of the TA6 5th edition to ensure we understand the full range of member views.

“In the meantime, we know some members are using the new form or readying themselves to do so, and we would encourage them to continue in that way.”