Leasehold Reforms To Shake Up Sector
This morning the Law Commission will publish reforms regarding the leasehold sector. The reforms will alter the way estate agents describe, manage and sell leasehold properties. The Commission’s report separates and deals with key areas of property ownership. In the section covering leasehold enfranchisement, the right to manage and commonhold, outlines the reforms that could […]
Legal Assistant Banned For Dishonesty
A legal assistant has been banned from working in the legal profession, after it emerged he lied about passing his exams. Benjamin Lewis Clark wanted his law firm to pay for the course fees due to having financial problems. But when his dishonesty was discovered, Mr Clark agreed with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to […]
eSignatures Can Help Modernise Conveyancing
Last week, we shared the news that Mike Harlow, the Deputy Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Land Registrar announcing in his blog that HM Land Registry will soon be introducing electronic signatures. The legal sector can be seen as archaic as most of it is still conducted on paper, and it seems to be difficult […]
The CLC Discuss The Future Of Conveyancing
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has released a discussion paper with the aim to highlight areas that need to be addressed by regulators and stakeholders in a bid to influence and develop conveyancing in the future. Janet Paraskeva, Chair of the CLC, said in her foreword: “It is an exciting time to be involved […]
The Access Group Acquires DPS Software
The Access Group (Access), today announced the acquisition of DPS Software (DPS), a UK leader in SaaS based Practice Management software for Legal Practices and In-House Legal departments, with a focus on firms with between 10 and 200 employees. The addition of DPS, follows shortly after the groups’ acquisition of Eclipse and will deliver a […]
Moneypenny Launches Covid-19 Screening Bot For Law Firms
A new online Self-screening Bot has been launched to help law firms manage clients’ safety more easily, before any face-to-face meetings take place. Launched by leading outsourced communication provider Moneypenny, the bot has three core functions, all of which can be customised easily. Firstly, it captures contact details securely in one place to enable track […]
Challenges To Collaboration In The Residential Property Sector
Managing Director at mio Emma Vigus talks to Chris Harris about the challenges to collaboration in the residential property sector, how organisations can come together to work more effectively, and discusses the success she’s had within popular networking group Women in Residential Property. Emma said: “Collaboration is a bit of a buzzword in the residential […]
David Hollingworth Shares His Views On Mortgages Post Lockdown
Since the re-opening of the English housing market on 13 May, there has been a surge in activity in the market with buyers and sellers both chomping at the bit to change their property after being cooped up for so long. David Hollingworth, Associate Director at L&C Mortgages took some time to speak to me […]
CGT Review Could Be Disastrous For The Housing Market
A review into the Capital Gains (CGT) regime has been requested by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, causing worry in the property industry. In his letter to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), Mr Sunak requested that a review be undertaken to “identify and offer advise about opportunities to simplify the taxation” as […]
Recruitment And The Legal Sector Following A Pandemic
Now that the coronavirus pandemic seems to be on the backfoot, and the Government are attempting to kick start the UK economy, we wanted to take a look at what effect the pandemic has had on the legal job market. Previously, we’ve spoken to Realm Recruit who revealed that the pandemic had seemingly woken up […]
Positivity In The Sector Returning
After three months of near stasis, the market has exploded. In fact, we at ASAP have just had our busiest month ever with new instructions. July is on track to deliver likewise. How much of this is pent up demand remains to be seen but, anecdotally, estate agents are telling us that there is renewed […]
The Community Infrastructure Levy Update
Stuart Tym, Planning Lawyer (Senior Associate Solicitor) at Irwin Mitchell LLP took the time to share his thoughts with Today’s Conveyancer regarding the amendment made to the Community Infrastructure Levy. The Community Infrastructure Levy (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 had made their way to Parliament, with the draft published on 30 June 2020. They were proposed […]
“5 Years of Innovation in the next 18 months” – Part 4
In this last part of the series, I’m going to talk a little about the Cashroom, what we’re doing to change things up and innovate in the post COVID environment. First, a quick recap on where we are, and how the lockdown affected us. We decided to “lockdown” about a week before the official announcement. […]
SDLT Holiday Has Invigorated Property Market
Following the SDLT holiday announcement last week, there has been a surge in sales of high valued property, as people are set to make big savings. Analysis conducted by property portal Rightmove, has made comparisons between home-hunters enquiring about properties both the week before the announcement and the week after. They saw that the biggest […]
Feel Good Friday – Scanlans & Castleforge Partners
There has been lots of positive things happening across the sector this week, so we wanted to share these good vibes with you as part of our ‘Feel Good Friday’ news items. Here is a little snap shot of what’s been going on. Scanlans duo gain Chartered Surveyor Status Two of Scanlans’ brightest young stars […]
Webinar: Understanding Environmental Risks Associated With Agricultural Transactions
For anyone about to embark on a purchase of agricultural land and buildings, Landmark Information is hosting a free seminar on Wednesday 22nd July that provides guidance to purchasers, rural land agents and conveyancers on the range of environmental risks that should be taken into consideration, prior to legal completion. Purchasing land, whether for continued […]
Managing The Professional Indemnity Market
The renewal of the professional indemnity insurance (PII) policy has often been a time-consuming and difficult experience for solicitor firms of all sizes. The PII market for Law firms is ever changing, with the withdrawal of several insurers from the market in the last 12 months, leading to an uncertain and turbulent landscape for the […]
Flexible Working: Why It Matters (And It’s Not About Covid-19)
Published by the Daily Mail, the paper that hired Katie Hopkins, we have an article by Dr Eliza Filby. I am not going to question Dr Filby’s integrity nor spend any time questioning her motives for writing such a biased, short sighted, misconceived piece other than to say it smells very much like she owns […]
Don’t Lose Personal The Touch
Housebuyers still want the personal touch despite the move to remote digital property deals, says Adkirk Law. Linda Kirk, Director of Conveyancing at Adkirk Law, is a firm believer in this. She explained: “The market in the region and further afield is busy with some deals still being completed from pre-lockdown and pent-up demand, but […]
Alexa Skills App Expands PLS Solicitors Technology
Data from Strategy Analytics show that over 1-in-5 UK households have a smart speaker. That translates into 5.8 million households and a reach of over 10 million users. With this in mind, PLS have decided to expand their processes and utilise this technology to improve the client journey further. askPLS is PLS Solicitors’ new and intelligent […]
