Swiitch is really committed to ensuring everyone in the team has access to the right training and development. We currently have 16 staff studying towards the CLC qualification: 10 studying Level 6 to become a Licensed Conveyancer, and a further six staff studying Level 4 where they will become a Conveyancing Technician and can then choose to go on to Level 6.

It’s a great course. As well as being highly practical and relevant, it’s also cost effective.

We fully fund the course and offer five days paid study leave as well as leave for exams. There’s also a Whatsapp group for students to share experiences and we overlay their studies with various lunchtime training sessions on a wide range of topics. It’s within all our interests that they pass!

It’s heartening to see how colleagues grow in confidence and knowledge as they progress through the levels, and at Swiitch we work hard to ensure that we give them work that is relevant to where they are in their studies. For example, on Level 6 where Landlord & Tenant is being studied, we will ensure their caseload contains leasehold work so that we can bring their studies to life.

As an employer I can see the many benefits of the course, even from Level 4 you start to see an increase in colleagues’ levels of legal understanding as they’re asking fewer questions. By Level 6 students start to realise what a big topic conveyancing law is but in doing so start to demonstrate a level of confidence. This is where I see people really starting to apply what they are learning into the workplace.

I’m particularly pleased about the opportunity the qualification has given to some of our most experienced people who have never had any formal qualification to back up their experience. The qualification provides them with the recognition they deserve. Further, investing in and recognising people in this way is a great retention tool.

As careers go, it’s disappointing that conveyancing doesn’t get as much spotlight as other areas such as litigation or banking. Yet, with our TV screens littered with property programmes it really frustrates me that they rarely talk about the conveyancing process. It’s fundamental to the successful buying and selling of houses but never gets more than a passing mention. I’d like to see that change.

I could wax lyrical about the benefits of a career in conveyancing. I am someone who doesn’t like to do repetitive tasks and find that in conveyancing, no two days are the same. You never know what is at the end of the phone or an email, every day is a school day! I also enjoy how the work overlaps with so many other areas of law, such of powers of attorney when dealing with vulnerable clients, probate, planning, and contract law. You draw knowledge from so many different areas and apply it to your daily work.

The post-pandemic challenges faced by the conveyancing market are well-documented and now we’re in a situation where the market has slowed, but in my 24-years of experience, it always bounces back and adapts.

While conveyancing has generally become much more tech-savvy post-pandemic, I think it will be important for the market to streamline its approach to artificial intelligence. There are lots of products out there, but I sense hesitancy because of a lack of uniformity. I suspect over the course of the next 5-10 years we’ll see e-conveyancing made compulsory and the drive for upfront information will become paramount. While the Land Registry’s plans to transfer the Local Land Charges Register to a centralised system will be a game changer and should speed things up for conveyancers and
consumers alike.