This blog post is by John King, Business Development Director, Registers of Scotland

I am helping my father-in-law sell his house; my first direct exposure to the property market in 15 years. The changes in that time are immense; communications with the solicitor, surveyor and estate agent are digital so not only was getting the house to market quick but the ease and speed of communication has meant we feel much more involved in the sale, and that reflects really well on our solicitor. For the potential buyer, they have all the key information on the house available at the click of a button; so there’s fewer obvious time-wasting viewers for us to contend with. All in all, a very 21st century experience using technology to help the client and the customer.

Sadly, the digital front of house begins to fade once the mechanics of the actual conveyancing process get underway. As more paper processes are encountered, so the pace slows and the tensions in the system come to the fore. But the signs are positive that this is about to change; for there is a real desire from the Law Society, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and ourselves to work together to improve the experience. We’ve been meeting up for a number of months, with one aspect of our initial focus being on how we can engage digitally to improve the discharge process.

Within RoS, we are mindful that our focus is not solely on new digital channels; our existing channels – advance notices, notification, eforms and the like – should improve to meet changing customer needs and so we will continue to enhance them.

To do this successfully requires collaboration. We recently invited customers to let us know if they would be willing to help inform and shape current and future digital channels. We’ve had a strong response so far and would welcome others getting in touch. So if you have an interest in improving the interaction between RoS and our customers, please let us know by signing up to our user experience panel.

And in the meantime, if anyone is interested in a property in South Queensferry…