When we established PSG Cornwall in 2004 I met with our first client the late, great John Meteyard from Thurstan Hoskin solicitors. He suggested it would be difficult to change the habits of Cornish property professionals who were used to doing things their way. But looking back now, almost 20 years later, I know John would have been pleasantly surprised at how open to change and how keen to embrace innovation solicitors and agents in this county have been. With upcoming changes to the property market putting more responsibility on the seller it is useful to reflect on how Cornish property professionals have led the market in many ways:
- In response to the 2007 Home Information Pack (HIP) legislation, as a partnership of local solicitors, estate agents and search provider, we created a product which truly delivered improved transparency, highlighted property problems early, reduced abortive sales and shortened time to completion. Although HIPs were suspended in 2010, some of the principles remain in place today, with agents ordering title information to confirm property ownership and boundaries, and many still reflect on the benefits of providing upfront property information;
- In 2010, a group of Cornish solicitors created The Key Network to streamline the legal process, minimising the number queries between solicitors and reducing the time to completion (https://businesscornwall.co.uk/latest-news/2010/06/key-solicitors-joins-forces/). This award-winning initiative continued until the principle was adopted nationwide with the launching of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Protocol;
- It was widely recognised that there is great value in establishing a forum for property people in Cornwall to network and share best practice. The Association of Cornish Property Professionals (TACPP) was formed in 2013 and has (aside from a break during the COVID pandemic) continued to thrive since then.
As a provider of services to Cornish property professionals, we have grown as our solicitor clients adopted the innovation in local searches, environmental searches, and due diligence reports. We now supply over 70% of the property searches in Cornwall. Alongside this, we now work with around 70 estate and letting agent branches, developers and landlords, providing Energy Performance Certificates, floorplans and identity checks. This growth has not be possible without our partners in Cornwall including Cornwall Consultants, Westcountry Mines, Crofty Consultancy, Dowling Dodd and our network of energy assessors and nationally Groundsure, Landmark and Dye and Durham and many more. Overall, we are now involved in two out of every three property transactions in Cornwall.
As the property market changes once again to provide more information upfront, Cornish agents and solicitors are embracing that change once again. We at YourHomeReport are looking forward to seeing how all this develops!