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17 January 2019 / Janet Paraskeva
Issue: 7824 / Categories: Features , Profession , Property
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Transforming the home buying process

Dame Janet Paraskeva assesses the potential digital future of the property world

  • Changing client expectation.
  • Digital transformation.

The government is pushing for change to the home buying and selling process against a backdrop of a new wave of IT innovation, artificial intelligence and digitised data.

What we don’t know is exactly what that change will be and when it will really start to be felt. But it will be different from past waves of IT development. They have left the property buying and selling process substantially unchanged, but this next wave will undoubtedly deliver that change. A summary of some of the changes are discussed below.

Better informed choice

A key transformation is the provision of better information to potential clients as they choose their conveyancer.

Along with all the other legal sector regulators and in close coordination with them we have developed new rules and guidance on information that must be made available to consumers as they shop around.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sidley—James Inness

Sidley—James Inness

Partner joins capital markets team in London office

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Firm announces appointment of partner as UK general counsel

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Firm appoints first chief marketing officer to drive growth strategy

NEWS

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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