Property firms have been encouraged to take advantage of new developments within the legal sector and diversify into providing legal services and advice – interesting news for both law and property graduate job seekers. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is urging its members to make use of the new Alternative Business Structures (ABSs) that allow organisations other than traditional law firms to provide legal services.
RICS states that this sort of arrangement offers clients wanting to invest or buy property with a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all aspects of the process. In some ways, it would make commercial sense for property firms to seriously consider ABSs. It’s believed that conveyancing – the branch of law concerned with preparing documents to transfer property – will be one of the first areas targeted. Indeed, the first organisation to set up an ABS is Premier Property Lawyers, a subsidiary of conveyancing services provider myhomemove.
What does this mean for graduates looking for jobs? For recent graduates interested in a career as a solicitor, it is possible that, in time, the training contract markets might expand. For aspiring graduate surveyors, this is another example of changes to the industry that you should be aware of.Showing this level of knowledge in your applications and interviews will impress graduate recruiters, who will expect you to have kept abreast of industry events. Another major development for the property industry is the National Planning Policy Framework, which finishes its consultation period on 17 October.
