CLC response to LSB’s Litigation and Advocacy decision
The Legal Services Board’s (LSB) decision not to approve the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ (CLC) application to regulate both litigation and advocacy services must have been very disappointing but they remain upbeat about future approval. While the LSB have rejected the current application they have given CLC some positive feedback as to how a future […]
June Mulroy appointed as CLC’s interim Chief Executive
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has appointed June Mulroy as interim Chief Executive. Working in both private and public sectors, Mulroy’s experience has largely been in financial services and includes stints with Coopers (PwC) and KPMG. Mulroy was also interim Chief Accountant for Paris based UNESCO before taking up her role as Executive Director […]
SLC new lender panel proposition survey results released
Yesterday I attended the Society for Licensed Conveyancers final regional meeting to present their findings on how to deal with conveyancing risk for lenders. About 25 licensed conveyancers attended the meeting most of whom recognised the need to change their methods of work to build trust with lenders to allow them to stay on lender […]
Hometrack research shows Olympics has not resulted in higher residential property values
New research by Hometrack reveals that the Olympics have yet to have an effect on residential property values in Stratford, the area adjacent to the Olympic site. Measuring using a £ per square foot (£psf) basis, residential property values for the postcode E15 which covers Stratford have been 35% less than Greater London. This is […]
Nationwide defends lending panel review
Yesterday we reported on the Law Society update about changes to Nationwide’s lender panel. The Building Society has informed the Law Society that it will be suspending those firms that have performed less than four transactions for Nationwide in the last year, subject to an appeals process that has been put in place by Nationwide. […]
Royal mail price increase could hurt small law firms
Royal Mail’s Regulator has recently allowed Royal Mail to set their own prices for first-class and business mail. This has seen an increase of 30 per cent on first-class mail and 39 per cent on second-class mail, these changes will take effect from the end of April. Many firms may have already decided not to […]
Hometrack Monthly National Housing Survey show prices rise for first time in 20 months
The Hometrack Monthly National Housing Survey was released yesterday and the data shows a 0.2% increase in the monthly average house price. This is the first increase for 20 months. The average time that a property spends on the market has also dropped from 9.9 weeks in February to 9.7 weeks. The percentage of […]
Nationwide releases its first quarterly report of 2012, showing house price growth slowing
Nationwide released its House Price Index report for the first quarter of 2012 last week. It shows that seven of the thirteen regions of the UK recorded house price growth, with London the area with the highest rises. The average price of a property in the UK for Q1 was £162,722. This is an annual […]
Des Hudson writes letter to Head of Lending at HSBC
Des Hudson, Law Society Chief Executive, has written a letter to HSBC’s Head of Lending, following a discussion on BBC Moneybox, offering the same, or comparable, panel management service. Dear Martijn Conveyancing Panel Arrangements During our BBC Moneybox discussions last weekend on the subject of HSBC’s panel arrangements, I mentioned another bank’s decision to employ […]
Head of Lending at HSBC responds to Law Society offer
The response letter to Des Hudson, Chief Executive of the Law Society, from Head of Lending at HSBC, Martin van der Heijden, does not appear to address any of the points mentioned in the original letter, although it does set out quite clearly the criteria for becoming an HSBC panel member. With the customer in […]
SRA warning over Velocity Law Firm or Velocity Law Firm Ltd
The SRA have published the following warning to Solicitors: “Information received by the SRA indicates that an office may be operating as Velocity Law Firm or Velocity Law Firm Ltd from 201 Coventry Road, Birmingham, B10 0RA (telephone numbers 0121 4480818 and 0121 4480848). Other information received links this address with the firm of Parmars […]
SRA in bid to increase fines for misconduct
Neil Rose at Legal Futures exclusively revealed the news that the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have put plans in place that will see them increase their power when it comes to fining law firms. What could this new power mean for law firms? You can read the full story over at Legal Futures. Today’s Conveyancer, […]
Optima Legal to handle fees free transactional for Yorkshire Building Society
Yorkshire Building Society have chosen Optima Legal to power their new product range of legal fee assistance, with various fixed rate products on offer for a 2 year fixed deal. The offering also includes 3, 4 and 5 year fixed rates. Speaking on behalf of Optima Legal, David Duckworth commented: “We are delighted to have […]
TMSecure and CaseID offer process for managing conveyancing instructions and panels
TMSecure and CaseID offer process for managing conveyancing instructions and panels TMSecureâ„¢ has joined forces with CaseID to provide lenders with a comprehensive solution for managing open panels. During 2010 lenders were exposed to an estimated £1 billion mortgage fraud. While individual lenders battled with this issue in isolation, there has not been, until now, […]
Nationwide sees house prices fall by 1% in March
The Nationwide House Price Index has revealed that in March the average price of a UK house rose from £162,712 to £163,327. When these figures are seasonally adjusted, this represents a 1% fall from February. This is a 0.9% drop compared to March 2011. Robert Gardner, Chief Economist at Nationwide commented: “A slowdown was to […]
Building Societies Association data shows yearly rise in mortgage lending
Data released by the Building Societies Association (BSA) shows that lending has increased, indicating a healthy start for the market in 2012. Gross lending by building societies and mutual lenders was £1,908 million in February 2012. This is a rise of 28% compared to February 2011 (£1,486 million). This is also a slight rise on […]
CML figures show gross mortgage lending unchanged in February
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has released data for February 2012. It shows that gross lending figures were very similar to those for January. Gross mortgage lending in February was an estimated £10.7 billion. This is an increase from January when the figure was £10.65 billion, and a 14% rise when compared to February […]
Nationwide to suspend legal firms from panel
The Law Society reports that Nationwide is to suspend law firms from their lending panel, based on how many transactions the firm have carried out in the last 12 months. Firms will shortly be receiving a letter advising them that their firm will be suspended if they have carried out fewer than 4 transactions for […]
Lawyers failing the Deaf
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to issue new guidelines to solicitors and law firms, ensuring that they are “Deaf aware”, according to Legal Futures. Research has been carried out, on behalf of the SRA, Legal Services Panel and Action on Hearing Loss, by the Deaf Studies Trust. The findings make it clear that people […]
British Banking Association data shows drop in mortgage approvals
The British Banking Association (BBA) has released data for February 2012. Gross mortgage lending by banks in February was £7.9 billion. This is a drop of 1.9% compared with February 2011. It is also a fall from January when the figure was £8.1 billion. The number of mortgage approvals in February was 65,737. […]
