HC Deb 17 February 1984 vol 54 cc347-8W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Attorney-General what plans the Government have for improving the house transfer system in England and Wales.

The Solicitor-General

We have established a committee, chaired by Professor Street of the University of Manchester, with the following terms of reference

  1. "1. To consider what tests or other evidence of competence are needed for non-solicitor conveyancers in order to provide the public with a satisfactory assurance of adequate skill; how any such tests might be administered; and what other requirements should be placed on non-solicitor conveyancers to ensure adequate consumer protection.
  2. 2. To consider the scope for simplifying conveyancing practice and procedure, and any other matters concerning the simplification of house purchase which may be referred to the Committee."

The Lord Chancellor is inviting the following organisations to nominate a representative to serve on the Committee.

  • The Law Society
  • Institute of Legal Executives
  • National Institute of Conveyancing Agents
  • Consumers Association
  • National Consumer Council
  • Building Societies Association
  • British Bankers Association
  • Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
  • National Association of Estate Agents
  • Association of District Councils
  • Association of Metropolitan Authorities
  • A local law society
  • Society for Computers and Law
  • British Insurance Association

We have asked the Committee to report by September on the first limb of its terms of reference, and by the end of the year on the second limb. We hope to bring forward any necessary legislative proposals in the 1984–85 Session.

We will shortly issue a consultation paper on how best to ensure that conflicts of interest and anti-competitive practices do not arise when solicitors employed by banks, building societies and other organisations are permitted to undertake conveyancing for their employers' customers. We hope to bring forward legislation permitting building societies to offer the service next session.

The Government are also concerned about barriers to effective competition between solicitors in private practice. We intend to discuss with the Law Society the scope for amending the solicitors practice rules so that solicitors may advertise their charges for conveyancing work.

We have also decided to institute a wider-ranging review of the house transfer system, designed to identify ways to simplify and speed up the process. The issues will be considered inter-Departmentally with appropriate public consultation perhaps including reference of specific issues to the committee. The review will be completed by the autumn.

Furthermore we intend to speed up the extension of land registration. Additional manpower is to be made available to the land Registry so that compulsory registration will cover areas containing 85 per cent. of the population—as opposed to 73 per cent. at present—by 1987. This is the first extension of compulsory registration (except for former council houses) since 1978.

We expect that computerisation will release manpower within the Land Registry and allow the programme of compulsory registration to be completed within 10 years.

These measures demonstrate the Government's commitment to simplifying house transfer and to competition so that the public can benefit from a quicker and cheaper system.