Who are you Ronnie Park, managing director of OneSearch Direct is also a founding executive member of CoPSO, the Council of Property Search Organisations.
What does it say on your business card Managing Director of OneSearch Direct
What is your elevator pitch OneSearch Direct is the largest local authority data search company in the UK we have been providing private searches for more than two decades. Over the years we have invested around £10 million in the volume and integrity of our data set and we have more than 30 Data Curators at our Data Governance Centre and 50 Field Data Researchers permanently employed to ensure information is updated on a daily basis. We are now leading the way as the real-time property data experts' in the field of conveyancing.
What is your property prediction for 2014 In conveyancing, a PDF provides a snapshot of information taken at a single point in time. The moment it is produced, it is out of date; yet this format has been the mainstay of search documentation in property transactions for the past decade. Improving data quality and delivery in the conveyancing process will have enormous benefits. In other sectors leading companies are now employing cloud feeds and XML data to access, interrogate and extract records in a manner than improves information accuracy, and just as important, is instantaneous. Using real-time feeds in this way is transparent and ultimately will speed up property transactions and this is the way the industry is moving in.
How do you feel the internet has changed the role of a traditional high street agent I think the most exciting changes are yet to come: The potential of live data to remove the laborious processes associated with moving information manually' and the inevitable human error' rate that this method attracts is significant. New technologies provide an opportunity for property transactions to become a de-intermediated' process, speeding up the transaction, reducing administration and paralegal time, focussing legal specialist skills and potentially saving clients' money.
What is the most satisfying part of your job Being at the forefront of how technology is used in the industry is fascinating. A tipping Point' to real-time conveyancing is coming soon and we are ready.
Do you think government schemes Help to Buy and Funding for Lending have actually helped First Time Buyers to get on to the property ladder I think there has been a real benefit to FTBs in the new-build sector and increased lending volumes bear this out. The shared equity/shared mortgage aspect of Help To buy has certainly woken up the pre-owned second time buyer segment, which was perceived as a logjam. This in itself may result in a knock-on effect of more property being put on the market leading to lower prices, which ultimately will help FTBs. The jury is still out on this one.
Would you say there is a housing shortage in the UK I have observed the housing shortage at close quarters, as a practising Landscape Architect Town Planner, from the 1980s and having appeared as an expert witness at a multitude of housing related Planning Enquiries. There has always been a housing shortage in the UK, but today is different in that there is a housing crisis in the fastest growing areas such as the south east. Failure to address this will result in severely restricted economic growth or a continued proliferation of ghetto-isation and dormitory living for imported workers into temporary and unfit homes.
Do you think there will be a re-emergence of gazumping this year Around a third of residential property transactions fail to complete. If the property market heats up again, we may well see the return of gazumping'. It is often the local authority searches which can hold up exchange at the last minute resulting in stressful and expensive experiences for clients. It is for this reason we have recently launched our new Assured' complete conveyancing and insurance solution which now protects individuals from financial loss if a residential property transaction falls through for reasons beyond their control. The solution also now enables conveyancing lawyers to order searches early without fear of abortive costs, smoothing the process of property transactions.
Zoopla or Rightmove Zoopla
House or apartment House
City or countryside Both!
Modern and stylish or period and original Modern and stylish
Rent or buy Both
Completion or instruction Completion
Kirstie Allsopp or Phil Spencer Phil Spencer
https://www.onesearchdirect.co.uk/
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