New working group to undertake conveyancing review

To be chaired by Jill Andrew and Professor Andrew Steven, the Conveyancing Review Working Group brings together representatives from across the legal, property and academic sectors, with the aim of making recommendations for a quicker and more efficient system that benefits both buyers and sellers.

The group, which is due to report by late 2027, will consider evidence from across the sector and challenges within the current system that can contribute to uncertainty and rising costs for buyers and sellers as it develops recommendations for potential improvements to the conveyancing process.

Kirsten Oswald, community safety minister, said: “A well-functioning conveyancing system is a vital part of Scotland’s civil law framework, and one that touches the lives of thousands of people every year.

“I know the late conclusion of missives and increasingly long property chains can cause real frustration for people across Scotland, and I’m pleased that this new working group is bringing together such a wealth of legal, property and academic expertise to address these issues head-on.

“I’d like to welcome Jill Andrew and Professor Andrew Steven as joint chairs, along with all the members of the group, and I look forward to seeing their recommendations for a conveyancing system that works better for everyone involved.”

Jill Andrew is a solicitor specialising in conveyancing and has experience of buying and selling properties throughout Scotland.

She is currently a partner in Murray Beith Murray, having previously held a partner role at Connell & Connell and Coulters and director roles with Burness Paull and Simpson & Marwick; the current chair of the Edinburgh Conveyancing Forum; member of the Law Society of Scotland Property Law Committee; a non-executive director of ESPC, and a postgraduate tutor at the Edinburgh School of Law in conveyancing.

Professor Andrew Steven holds the chair of Property Law at the University of Edinburgh. From 2011 to 2019, he worked at the Scottish Law Commission where he was the Commissioner responsible for property law reform, leading projects on standard securities, title conditions and moveable transactions; was a member of the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on tenement maintenance which reported in 2019 and since 2020 has been a trustee of Under One Roof. In recent years, he has co-written an annual volume on conveyancing.

Other group members include:

• Fiona Alexander - Law Society of Scotland Property Law Committee
• Donna Carson – Law Society of Scotland Professional Practice Committee
• Chris Kerr – Registers of Scotland (RoS)
• Douglas White – Consumer Scotland
• Derek Whitmarsh – UK Finance
• Hazel MacIver - Propertymark
• John MacRae – Aberdeen Solicitors Property Centre (ASPC)
• Debbie McCathie – Gilson Gray
• Cameron Ewer - Savills
• Sandra Reid - Scottish Paralegal Association
• Denis Garrity – Faculty of Advocates
• Lauren Wright – Lauren Wright Solicitors 

Ad hoc members are:

• Jonathan Hunter - Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
• Gary Donaldson – Millar & Bryce
• Andy Scott -Revenue Scotland (LBTT)
• Neil Watt – The Property Institute (TPI) Scotland
• David Raine - Homes for Scotland