The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has welcomed the government’s proposed e-conveyancing legislation but has raised concerns over security and the readiness of people to switch to paperless transactions.
In a public reply to the government’s consultation paper, the RICS said: “We regard the development of e-conveyancing as an important step forward in bringing the property market up to date with modern market practices.”
The institution believes that e-conveyancing would have “huge beneficial potential” for the property industry, making transactions both quicker and easier to execute.
However, the RICS highlighted has concerns: “Central to the success of the e-conveyancing initiative will be the measures taken to ensure security and authenticity of e-conveyance documentation. As noted above, without confidence in these the market will simply not adapt to the paperless transaction.
“The government should be wary of over-optimistic assessments of the extent to which individuals and businesses will take advantage of e-conveyancing.”
The RICS also urges the government to test its proposals thoroughly: “In view of the importance of achieving confidence in e-conveyancing, RICS suggests the establishment of a number of pilot areas with which to test the governments proposals.”
References: EGi News 29/06/01
