866% mortgage anyone?
Six solicitors who committed possibly one of the largest mortgage frauds ever carried out in the UK have now gone on trial at Southwark Crown Court. The jury have heard how the fraud was committed by conning banks and building societies into lending almost £50 million for properties that were only worth an estimated £6 […]
Is this the start of recovery for house builders?
The latest NHBC figures for the final quarter of the year have shown that registrations are up 3% on the figures for the same period in 2009, despite the heavy snowfall in December. There is a return of optimism amongst house builders following the consistent number of new home registrations during November 2010 say the […]
Should we name and shame Lawyers over complaints?
As consumers should we be entitled to information pertaining to complaints about service? Take the time to have a look at the following article from Legal Futures regarding the Legal Ombudsman’s discussion paper on its publication policy. http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/oft-and-lsc-join-consumer-groups-in-call-to-name-lawyers-over-complaints Today’s Conveyancer, bringing you the latest conveyancing news and updates.
Do Estate Agency standards need to be revolutionised?
Agent Tracker is the first independent verified review site for estate agents and they say that standards in the industry need to be revolutionised to ensure agents deliver the best possible customer service. An agent that is signed up to Agent Tracker can encourage their customers to leave verified reviews on the site based on […]
GroundSure turns 10
GroundSure has been providing leading environmental intelligence solutions to the UK legal, financial and property markets for 10 years, informing their clients on issues associated with contaminated land, flood risk and planning. GroundSure takes a look back at what has happened since the company was founded. – 2001: GroundSure was created by a group of […]
New measures set to enhance consumer protection in mortgage market
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury has recently announced a package of measures intended to enhance consumer protection in the mortgage market. The new measures will: – Transfer the regulation of new and existing second charge residential mortgages from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), to ensure consistent standards […]
New Conveyancing Quality Scheme members set to raise standards in conveyancing
The new Conveyancing Quality Scheme, according to the Law Society, can play a role in mortgage fraud in England and Wales. The publication of the Nation Fraud Authority’s annual fraud indicator shows the cost of fraud in the UK to be at £38 billion with the mortgage fraud element at £1 Billion. The Law Society, […]
Are Independent estate agents on their way out in 2011?
As a result of a challenging market Countrywide are forecasting the demise of independent estate agencies in 2011. Nigel Stockton, Financial Services Director for Countrywide, recently spoke exclusively to The Negotiator and attributes the decline to yet another year of historically low sales volumes. You can read the full article here: http://www.negotiator-magazine.co.uk/article/countrywide-prepares-for-independent-demise-1636 If independent estate […]
What does it take to be a good locum?
Paul Murden provides locum conveyancing but don’t worry he won’t just “walk away” at the end of an assignment: “People often remark to me that being a locum means that when you finish an assignment you just walk away and forget about it. Nothing could be further from the truth and here’s why: A good […]
How important is a correct file opening procedure?
In the last couple of weeks I have been working with a firm of conveyancers where some things weren’t going as well as they might be. The firm is very proud of its customer service track record and was bitterly disappointed that there was background level of negative comments they were having difficulty eliminating. The […]
GroundSure and The Coal Authority join forces to deliver Enviro All-in-One
Having identified the need for a comprehensive environmental search that would also include a full coal mining report, The Coal Authority, together with GroundSure delivers the Enviro All-in-One. Dr Joe Dearden, Head of Property Search Services at the Coal Authority, said: “the Enviro All-in-One combines The Coal Authority’s CON29M coal and brine mining report* with […]
An enhanced conveyancing service provided by myhomemove
Arguably one of the UK’s largest independent providers of conveyancing, myhomemove, have recently launched what they call a revolutionary new online conveyancing service, e-Way. Myhomemove say that with e-Way they intend to build on their existing conveyancing service by offering a truly unique approach to the conveyancing process, one that makes it both quicker and […]
Online conveyancing firm secure investment from LDC
LDC, part of the Lloyds Banking Group, is backing the expansion of eConveyancer, a provider of software for online conveyancing and home buyer search services, with an injection of development capital. The online conveyancing firm, eConveyancer, was established in 2003 and currently boasts a 2% share of the UK online conveyancing market but has managed […]