Enlightenment, please!

I'm surprised the staff carrying out conveyancing and other fairly routine legal work are being furloughed.
Why can't people carry on with that type of job from home?
Some of my family are doing similar jobs from home, working longer hours without all the travelling and in fact getting more routine 'paperwork' done.

I hope they will soon be back to work and your conveyancing goes through soon. It must be very frustrating for you.

When is it safe to hug my grandchildren

My daughter is Head of HR for a big legal firm and most things have been done from staff homeworking but she is in the middle of getting them back to the office unless working from home is feasible.
We are in the middle of a house move to and our conveyancers have been working from home and they keep us up to date with an on line checklist that tells us how far into the process we are and what is still outstanding. Lots of conveyancing firms are totally on line now.

Thank you so much for all your answers - but I have to admit they made me quite envious and tearful. My stand-in conveyancer obviously hasn't read this post because he still doesn't keep me up to date with progress.
At the age of 72, I am doing this move on my own and all I've received is a somewhat 'superior' email about when I should give notice on the flat I'm currently renting, and that he really can't speculate on an exchange/completion date. It certainly didn't contain any encouraging words.

You're a buyer's dream and a conveyancer's ideal client if you're renting.

Don't be fobbed off, keep persevering. You're the client, you're helping to pay his salary and keep the firm going at this difficult time and he has no right to be superior with you.

The squeaky gate gets piled first. Get on the phone and pester them to death.

oiled

My mother is in sheltered accommodation. The warden/manager is working from home as she suffers from asthma. For three months she hasn’t been on the premises apart from late evenings to push notices through the doors of the 39 flats. If residents have an urgent problem i.e. a leak or something they have to ring her mobile. This is fine for some, but not my 98 year old mum as she doesn’t hear well on the ‘phone. She is used to popping in to see the warden in her office. She (or a replacement) needs to return as, to my mind this is not the sort of job you can do from home. Often, the warden is the only person some of the residents see so it’s a social lifeline as well.

If the warden feels she is unable to return then I feel that she should be transferred to an office job within the organisation and a replacement should be found who would be based on the premises.

Sorry - slightly off topic, but I suppose my point is that there are some jobs that you can’t do from home.

There are many jobs you can't do from home, but conveyancing is not one of them. Of course, documents need to be signed but there is always good old Royal Mail or they could use a courier.

freeandeasy so sorry to hear your mums not getting the support she really needs perhaps you should ask who’s in charge when the boss is unavailable it is inevitable the boss is possible shielding as she should due to her personal circumstances

I agree with pp, keep ringing and nagging! While you sit quietly and patiently the conveyance person will leave you at the bottom of the pile. Best of luck.

Sorry everyone this isn’t meant for this thread but circumstances are changing for me I’m getting a cleaner at last can you tell me kind gransnetters does she have to wear a mask or facecovering indoors

In yours, yes, she should wear one to protect you.

Do you know, I was certain of the answer, but now I'm questioning it.

No mine doesn’t. I think she’d get quite hot if she did so, but I open the windows and go out for the two hours that she is in my house. She has worked for me for a while and I trust her completely, and she would tell me if she was at all unwell.

If you are at home it’s probably best not to be in the same room as your cleaner, whilst they are working. I also have hand sanitiser readily available for mine to use.