Wright: True collaboration could be the answer
PEXA, the Australian conveyancing technology giant now operating in the UK, has launched an initiative in West Yorkshire to redesign the home-buying and selling process.
UK chief operating officer Simon Wright said the pilot could “prove that true collaboration between all the component parts of the industry can solve the back-end inefficiencies for conveyancers once and for all”.
Fifteen firms in the region involved in the conveyancing process had come together to form the Future Property Transactions Group (FPTG).
Among them are five law firms – including virtual firm Arch Law – two estate agents, lenders such as Leeds Building Society and Legal & General, the Mortgage Advice Bureau, the Leeds-based West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and the Open Property Data Association.
Mr Wright said the FPTG had a “good mix” of organisations and “the right people around the table”. He continued: “I don’t think many people would disagree that the residential property process is slow and inefficient. There is a real and compelling need for change.
“We want to bring together all the key players in a property transaction. It is for us to design a process that will deliver a more efficient, effective and better consumer outcome.”
The initial meeting of the FPTG took place at Leeds Digital Festival last month and the plan is to report results at next year’s festival. The group will be meeting later this month to “shape the pilot”.
Despite the existence of a government-backed Home Buying and Selling Council, Mr Wright said he believed Yorkshire had “the appetite and ambition to drive innovation forward and be the first region to prove that true collaboration between all the component parts of the industry can solve the back-end inefficiencies for conveyancers once and for all”.
As “a vibrant tech and professional services hub”, the region had “all the expertise in property, legal, banking and technology to make this a reality” and a “tighter regional group” could better control what it delivered.
“It is much easier for a group of businesses and local government officials to drive change when they are all fighting for the same end goal – success for Yorkshire – than it is for a national group to try and tie in the wishes and objectives of the whole country, especially if each region is pushing for something different.”
Mr Wright went on: “We have no preconceived ideas of what the answers might be. We will be putting transactions we select through an improved experience, measuring outcomes and documenting impacts and how we could improve the process.
“We can’t become a talking shop. We want to make a tangible difference.”
PEXA (Property Exchange Australia) has grown its presence in the UK since arriving here in 2022, launching later that year a remortgage platform in England and Wales and buying law firm Optima Legal, which specialised in remortgages, from listed company Capita.
This was followed last year by the acquisition of listed property company Smoove for £31m.
Taking the views of two estate agents out of a pool of 16,000 might not yield a significant return, and I am puzzled on the Yorkshire centric approach. Then again what do I know about the digital transformation of realestate!