Remortgages only bright spot as number of mortgages tumbles month to month
The number of mortgages taken out by home movers was down 46% month to month, with landlords taking out 64% fewer mortgages in April compared with March. First time buyers also took out fewer mortgages, with 9% fewer month to month. However year on year, the number of mortgages taken out by FTBs in April […]
10 Minutes with Dan Stear on the service from Pali
Pali (Property And Land Information) has been providing solicitors and conveyancers with quality conveyancing searches since 1999. As technology has evolved, so has the service Pali provide and today Pali offer clients an online solution for the ordering and retrieval of not only conveyancing searches but other products required such as Anti-Money Laundering Searches, Indemnity […]
LSB signs off on CLC new indemnity insurance framework
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers new indemnity insurance plans have been approved by the Legal Services Board. The new open market approach will see cover capped at £2 million in aggregate over six years per firm. Firms will be able to apply for cover under the new system from the beginning of next month with […]
Ben Harris of tmgroup using improving technology to improve the customer experience in conveyancing
tmgroup’s recently published Home Moving Trends 2015 report reinforced what many commentators have been saying over how consumers find conveyancer, namely price is not the priority that many in the industry think it is. While not inconsequential to home movers entirely, the price of conveyancing is significantly less important to them than professionals believe, with […]
Land Registry issues updated guidance on evidence of identity for conveyancers
The guidance for conveyancers on evidence of identity for change of name applications has been updated by Land Registry. Section 6.3 on Change of name has been amended to clarify that, where evidence of identity is supplied in respect of a change of name application, Land Registry also need to see evidence in the person’s former […]
June reflections
National Sales Director at Conveyancing Data Services provides a personal overview on June and why he will be voting to remain.
Anderson Rowntree use The Conveyancing Map to explore new market insights
Anderson Rowntree, a leading law firm in West Sussex is using The Conveyancing Map to explore their competitive position in the region and inform their strategic planning. The reports they commissioned provide the elusive empirical base so often missing from the business planning of law firms. “We were amazed at the richness of detail available […]
Safemove Scheme announce Conveyancing Fraud Prevention Summit
BE Consultancy, owners of the Safemove Scheme have announced two conveyancing fraud prevention summits to take place on 28th and 30th of June in London and Nottingham respectively. Both events are free of charge. Speakers include Director of Global Security & Investigations at MoneyGram Keith Sharp, Andy Macdonald (Head of Specialist Investigations at New Scotland […]
New Land Registry House Price Index puts average price up to £209,054
The revamped House Price Index from Land Registry has put the average price of a UK property up 8.2% year on year to £209,054. The statistics also include data on sales volumes for February which put the final number of sales in February at 56,884 for England, 5,507 for Scotland and 2,796 for Wales, rises […]
Know Your Fraud
Trust is given readily when you are dealing with a regular contact day in day out, however when it comes to online activities should this still be handed out so willingly? Sophisticated, and indeed not so sophisticated fraudsters, have no qualms about targeting the multitude of law firms within England & Wales and with higher […]
Law Society sued by training provider over anti-competitive CQS rule
Socrates Training Limited are seeking damages from the Law Society over claims Chancery Lane abused its position in specifying its own anti-money laundering training for the Conveyancing Quality Scheme must come from the Law Society itself. According to the Claim, the Defendant and the Claimant both offer online anti-money laundering (“AML”) training for law firms […]
Search Acumen comments on the UK House Price Index (HPI), April 2016, combining Land Registry and ONS indices
Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments on the UK House Price Index (HPI), April 2016: “The 8% leap in UK-wide prices from April 2015 to 2016 is much higher than the 5% year-on-year leap seen in April 2014-2015, which shows just how much house prices have shot up in the past year, despite the relatively […]
Problems with prescription (Winterburn v Bennett [2016] EWCA Civ 482)
All conveyancers will be aware that an easement can be acquired by prescription i.e. by simply using the ‘right’ over a long period – basically a minimum of 20 years. But as a recent case reminds us the law surrounding prescription is so complex that it isn’t just a case of proving 20 years’ use. […]
“No reason” for Buy to Let volumes to decrease in the long term
After a tumultuous first quarter of the year, Stephen Sandiford of specialist Buy-to-Let lenders Paragon believes there’s no reason for the number of investments in buy-to-let to decrease in the long term. Speaking at the My Home Move conference, he stated he believed the yield from a Buy-to-Let investment still outstripped those an investor might […]
Scam Alert Round up 13th June
Here are the latest scam alerts issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority Documents marked using stamp claiming to be from SJ Solicitors LLP ID in support of the purchase of gold coins has been endorsed with a stamp of “SJ Solicitors” listing an address of 604 Green Lane, Ilford and telephone number 020 6548 3700. […]
Veyo accounts reveal losses of £11 million
Accounts filed at Companies House for the period ending 31st October have revealed the aborted project lost over £11 million. According to the accounts statement for Legal Practice Technologies, the body owned 60% by the Law Society and 40% by Indian tech firm Mastek lost £11,403,865 in this period. The company was owed £61,180 and […]
Conveyancing boom: calls up by 19%
It’s been a busy year for conveyancers with calls up by 19%, according to the latest data from Moneypenny. In a like-for-like study of its legal calls, the UK’s leading telephone answering service analysed the number of enquiries its conveyancers received in January, February, March, April and May. This found a 19% increase when the […]
Pali wins Best Search Provider 2016 in the Technology Innovator Awards!
The 2016 Technology Innovator Awards only reward the very best from across the industry. Technology has completely revolutionised the corporate landscape, providing businesses with a myriad of unique opportunities. From instant communication through to advances in product and service offerings, almost every aspect of the modern business market has been influenced by technology. Therefore this sector has […]
Scott Bozinis of InfoTrack on the differences between Australian and UK law, the changing search market and starting from scratch all over again
Scott Bozinis is CEO of InfoTrack which, ten months ago, entered the UK market with a pedigree as the largest one stop shop for legal services in Australia – and a massive 65% of the market over there. Today’s Conveyancer’s Jane Common caught up with Scott at Legalex to ask how the UK launch is […]
Buyer demand dropping at fastest rate since 2008
The demand from buyers for homes dropped for a second consecutive month, with another 33% of property professionals saying demand is falling compared with last month. According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, demand is now falling aster than any point since the 2008 recession. RICS’s Residential market Survey for May also says that […]
