Landmark Information Group has partnered with Yooseful Technology to host and integrate the Yooseful electronic 'offers' system, which will enable solicitors to send and receive offers for residential properties in Scotland.  Landmark and Yooseful will also work in collaboration on an electronic missives solution that will allow solicitors managing Scottish property transactions to electronically exchange conveyancing deeds and missives, which will be authenticated using a secure electronic signature once enabling legislation has been enacted.

Following the publication of the Scottish Law Commission's Report on Land Registration (Scot Law Com No 222, 2010), a Bill is expected to be presented to Parliament later this year.  Once this legislation has been passed and appropriate regulations are in place, it will be possible for all conveyancing documents to be legally binding in an electronic form.   This will be a major step towards full electronic conveyancing and will create significant efficiencies, improve transparency, increase security and reduce costs involved when posting, faxing or emailing legal documentation.

The partnership creates a robust alliance between two distinguished businesses who each have extensive experience in the property transaction and conveyancing sectors across the UK.  The collaboration utilises Landmark's specialism in delivering property-related environmental, flood and planning risk assessments to solicitors across the UK; Landmark's Quest business division, which has a 30-year heritage in delivering software tools to streamline the property transaction process, including Home Report production; and Yooseful's expertise in providing web-based platforms for solicitors to send/receive offers for residential property in Scotland.

James Sherwood-Rogers, Managing Director of Landmark UK Property, Landmark Information Group, said: "We are pleased to partner with Yooseful to host and integrate its offers system, which gives solicitors operating in Scotland the ability to send and receive electronic offers via their existing Landmark systems and also through Quest's Home Report software.  In addition, we are working towards an e-missives system when legislation comes into effect that will mean solicitors operating in Scotland will be able to undertake a large proportion of the conveyancing process digitally, thus creating considerable cost and time savings.  This change in legislation will take Scotland very near to full electronic conveyancing and will provide a benchmark for England and Wales to closely review.

Continues Sherwood-Rogers: "Both Landmark and our Quest business division have market-leading, proven tools and services that are already delivering efficiencies of this nature to a large proportion of solicitors, lenders and surveyors across the UK.  The partnership with Yooseful provides our conveyancing clients in Scotland with a new, integrated and highly beneficial electronic offers service that they can take advantage of to make themselves more efficient and minimise risk."

Paul Logan, Managing Director of Yooseful Technology said: "Yooseful Technology has worked closely with solicitors in Scotland to modernise and improve the property buying process. We have developed software that is tailored to the industry and easy to use. We are already delivering cost and time savings to large and small firms across Scotland, with a variety of packages designed to provide a solution to each individual firm's needs. We are delighted to be partnering with Landmark Information Group. This partnership and the upcoming legislation change will make for bigger savings and faster transactions for Yooseful's customers."