THE newly formed National Conveyancing Task Force (CTF) is calling on Local Law Societies across England and Wales to take urgent action over government proposals to overhaul the home-buying and selling process.

The CTF - a collaboration of practising solicitors and conveyancing professionals - has been established to coordinate a national, evidence-based response to the government’s Home Buying and Selling Reform Consultation.

Among the proposals outlined in a consultation by the government, which is set.to run until December 2025, is a proposal for the digitalisation of some of the tasks undertaken during a house buying process, with particular emphasis on what it calls the ‘modernisation’ of the verification if identity and the sharing of data.

It is these proposals that the CTF says it has concerns about, issuing a warning over what it sees as major flaws in the plan related to the security of information which would be used as part of the government’s digital plans.

With Britain’s homes representing around 60 to 70 per cent of the nation’s total wealth, the National Conveyancing Task Force says that it is warning that current reforms risk placing that value into a digital infrastructure that recent events have already proven unsafe.

While the Task Force says it supports innovation but has aired fears amid a warning that the pace of digitalisation - particularly in identity verification and data sharing - has outstripped the checks, balances and cyber-security safeguards needed to protect the public.

Task Force members warn that the proposed reforms go far beyond procedural improvement, representing a potential existential threat to many small and regional law firms.

“For the first time in decades, the structure, scope and accountability of conveyancing are being reshaped under the influence of regulators, lenders and technology companies, with minimal practitioner oversight,” said Stephen Larcombe, spokesperson for the CTF.

He added: “These proposals risk transferring responsibility away from qualified, regulated professionals and into the hands of commercial operators with little accountability. The public must understand what is really at stake - this isn’t about speed; it’s about integrity.”

The government consultation raises 26 questions covering every stage of the home-buying and selling process - from “upfront information” to digital property logbooks and the use of artificial intelligence in conveyancing.

The CTF has written to all Local Law Societies, inviting them to engage with the consultation and circulate the CTF’s online survey to their conveyancing members. The survey mirrors the government’s consultation questions and will form the basis of a collective, profession-led response to ensure practising solicitors’ views are properly represented.

“This is a pivotal moment for the profession,” Mr Larcombe added. “If Local Law Societies and practising solicitors don’t engage now, decisions will be made without us- and about us.

“The CTF is not anti-reform. We simply insist that reform strengthens, rather than undermines, public trust and professional independence.”

The Task Force is also preparing briefing notes for MPs and key stakeholders, warning that unchecked digitisation of the property process could erode consumer protection and destabilise one of the cornerstones of English law.