Month: June 2013

On the back of several months of issues, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is reviewing the risk to clients when a firm’s professional indemnity insurer gets into financial difficulties. Currently, to provide PII an insurer must be authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or be an EEA insurer eligable to write insurance business in […]Read More

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has rejected calls to ban solicitors from offering cash or gift inducements to potential clients. The regulator has said there was no evidence to suggest clients are harmed by law firms offering advance payments for their cases. Claims management companies have been barred from offering inducements by Ministry of Justice rules […]Read More

A new industry-backed levy will enable insurance companies to cover those at the greatest risk of flooding. All UK household insurers will have to pay into this pool, creating a fund that can be used to pay claims for people in high-risk homes. The deal reached between DEFRA and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) […]Read More

The Land Registry has now made historical price paid records available to download for free as part of its open data programme. Developers and businesses will be able to use and reuse one of the world’s largest property datasets, made up of over 17 million residential cash and mortgage sales in England and Wales. The […]Read More

The Law Society has announced that consultation will be open until the 1 August 2013 on proposed amendments to Con29 and Con29O enquiry forms. A mixture of new issues to deal with, such as the Green Deal and assets of community value, combined with recent legislative changes has led to the need for updated forms. […]Read More

Software systems provider ULS group, incorporating eConveyancer, and Legal Eye Limited have announced a new partnership agreement. Alan Young, Head of Sales, ULS Group: “We at ULS Group have always been at the forefront of due diligence and risk management and this is an integral part of our proposition. “Teaming up with Legal Eye furthermore […]Read More

Legal Eye has announced a new Associate, Loschinee Naidoo has joined their team. Ms Naidoo is an experienced Lawyer and Solicitor with more than 10 years legal and compliance experience. She personally founded and managed a successful legal practice in South Africa before working for west end and city law firms in London, where she […]Read More

A 0.3% increase in UK house prices in June has taken the average house price to £168,941. According to the latest Nationwide House Price Index prices are up 1.9% from June 2012. David Pollock, Managing Director at London estate agents Greene & Co., said: “A record property price rise of 5.2% in the second quarter […]Read More

The Land Registry consultation, on a proposal to widen access to their Electronic Document Registration Service (e-DRS), will close on 5 July 2013. The proposed changes would remove the requirement for access to the e-DRS and Information Services to be subject to the full network access agreement. More information about the consultation is available on […]Read More

The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has issued a Guidance Note for members, along with a detailed Q&A on the Green Deal and its practical implications. Since the Government’s Green Deal launch earlier this year it has sparked a number of concerns and questions from conveyancers and consumers alike. The SLC Q&A is designed to […]Read More

A RICS Housing Commission report “More Good Homes and a Better United Kingdom” has been published which sets out a number of key recommendations for the housing market. The proposals include scrapping stamp duty for people over the age of 65 downsizing from a larger property to a smaller one in order to encourage older […]Read More

Last week the Court of Appeal judgement was handed down in the case of Clarke Investments Ltd v Pacific Technologies. The two parties had entered into a contract for the sale of a shop, with two residential flats above it, in Muswell Hill, London. The property had previously been offered for sale at auction on […]Read More

Conveycentric has been notified by the Council of Mortgage Lenders that they intend to publish important amendments to the CML Lender’s Handbook for England and Wales on July 8, 2013.  Members and relevant stakeholders consulted on the changes for the new Part 1 question added as 5.20.4, which were made necessary by the Green Deal. […]Read More

The SRA have responded to the report released today that looked at whether reform to the current system of legal education and training is required. They have said the report will be invaluable in driving the future programme of reforms for the SRA. Charles Plant, Chair of the SRA Board, explained that the SRA’s programme […]Read More

A report has been published today which looks at whether reform to the current system of education and training is required. The Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) research report was commissioned in June 2011 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Bar Standards Board (BSB) and ILEX Professional Standards (IPS). The report recognises that the […]Read More

Remortgaging in May hit £3.9bn, up 17.1% from April and at its highest level since October 2012. According to the latest LMS figures, the remortgaging rate is up 37.2% from January. LMS figures reveal that total gross mortgage lending is also up 21% to £14.7bn. They anticipate a steady upward trend as customers continue to […]Read More

Voting has now opened for an additional category at the LFS Conveyancing Awards. The awards will take place on Thursday 26th September at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The category is  Estate Agents Conveyancing Firm of the year (voted for by estate agents)   Voting will close at the end of July so it gives […]Read More

Since the recession I have noticed Land Registry application figures showing some firms gaining market share more quickly than others. Beaumont Legal in Wakefield is one such firm. Recently Nick Masheder, Head of Conveyancing, Beaumont Legal, was quoted as saying that within the next three years his aspiration is for the firm to become the […]Read More

Shropshire-based PCB Solicitors has honoured 25 years’ service of one of its employees, Alison Haughton. Alison is a Licensed Conveyancer based in the firms Shrewsbury office. She said: “If you’d told me when I started that two week contract I’d still be here 25 years later, I’d have never believed you! “It has been an […]Read More

Kent based firm Fosters Law have announced a number of promotions and new appointments. Louise May from their Sheerness office has been promoted to full-time Conveyancing Executive. Andrea Anniss from the Ramsgate office has been promoted to full-time Conveyancing Executive. Kevin Crow will be starting at the Ramsgate office on 3rd July, taking up the […]Read More