Housing

Mortgage offers frequently withdrawn due to ‘lethargic’ conveyancing process - IPAV

Estate agents are calling for urgent reform of the system, which they say has not been improved since 2015

Pat Davitt, IPAV chief: “Conveyancing delays put extra worry and pressure on purchasers and vendors as well as extra rental costs too in many cases at a time when budgets are very tight.” Picture: Fergal Phillips

Estate agents have called for urgent reform of the conveyancing process after a survey found that delays resulted in mortgage loan offers frequently being withdrawn.

The agents surveyed were critical of a “lethargic” conveyancing process - the legal transfer of property title from seller to buyer - which the vast majority said had not improved since an initial survey was conducted in 2015.

The responses were contained in a survey of 534 estate agents, conducted ...