Conveyancing portal still set for spring launch

The planned launch around April of the new conveyancing portal Veyo appears to still be on course as its creators begin a public marketing campaign at the opening match of the Six Nations tournament.

Veyo - a joint venture between The Law Society and IT firm Mastek UK - has recently consulted with estate agents. When fully operational, the portal promises to bring together all conveyancing processes, checks and documentation preparation on to one platform.

The managers behind Veyo are suggesting that the current average conveyancing time - 11.3 weeks - could be cut by up to two weeks if parties are on' Veyo and use it to its fullest degree.

Agents and conveyancers using the service will see an on-screen dashboard that will show all active cases and their statuses. Each case will have a dedicated screen showing a detailed overview of each property transaction and the progress towards completion. A calendar will show scheduled tasks, key dates and reminders.

Veyo's online deal room' for each case will allow the two conveyancers acting for the buyer and seller to submit and chase-up documents. There will be an automatic audit of all changes.

Estate agents will be able to use the chain view' for each transaction which will show the exchange/completion status of each property in the chain online, and in detail, if firms on the other transactions have chosen to disclose them to the portal.

Automatic case management' systems will be set by the system, meaning it will identify what the next legal steps are in a chain and who needs to take them. Information will be transparent for conveyancers and their direct clients, but all conveyancers, sellers and buyers elsewhere in the chain will have some level of access to monitor progress elsewhere in the chain whilst still maintaining appropriate levels of confidentiality.