OLC appoint new Chief Ombudsman and Chief Operating Officer
The Office for Legal Complaints is pleased to announce the appointments of Paul McFadden as Chief Ombudsman and Sandra Strinati as Chief Operating Officer of the Legal Ombudsman. Elisabeth Davies, Chair of OLC, said: “Paul and Sandra are joining the Legal Ombudsman at a critically important time, for staff and customers, and for recovering and […]
Conveyancing Scheme blocks entry to non-solicitor law firms
The Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), a recognised quality standard for residential conveyancing practices, has been described as a “market barrier” by The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx). CILEx have told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it blocks entry to non-solicitor law firms and said it was “at least questionable” whether […]
LawTech, ethics and the rule of law discussion paper calls on the profession
Against the backdrop of Legal Geek’s annual virtual conference, the Law Society of England and Wales this week launched its LawTech, Ethics and the Rule of Law discussion paper, which seeks views on the ethical considerations solicitors and firms have in designing or procuring LawTech solutions. In the face of the disruption caused by Covid-19, […]
The challenges around home working for Conveyancers
Since the arrival of Covid-19 and lockdown there has been a lot of discussion and articles about home working. Much of this has focused on home working from the viewpoint of the individual – should I use Teams or Zoom, isn’t it nice not having to commute and travel, how do I avoid embarrassing distractions […]
Should SDLT be scrapped? Holiday showing positive results
Research commissioned by estate agency Benham and Reeves, has revealed that 20,238 property transactions have been made since the announcement of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Of the 20,238 transactions, 85% were below the £500,000 SDLT threshold, and have a sold value of £6.7bn. Without the holiday, based on […]
Conveyancing Information Executive gains a significant Associate Member
The Conveyancing Information Executive (CIE) is pleased to announce that PinPoint Information has become an Associate Member of the trade body organisation. PinPoint Information is an established market-leading supplier of due diligence reports to property professionals. Its portfolio includes PinPoint Coal mining searches and PinPoint Chancel, which is a chancel repair liability search report. The […]
Do not penalise solicitors because of financial crime
Plans to hit the legal profession with a levy, when they are already devoting resources to preventing the system from being abused by money launderers, have prompted solicitors’ leaders to warn of an unjustified negative impact on the sector. In particular, the Law Society of England and Wales warned in its response to a government […]
CoPSO urges Conveyancers to order searches as early as possible
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has today urged all conveyancers to work closely with their search provider to avoid any unnecessary delays in processing purchase transactions. With lead times to access data at many local authorities increasing by the day, the importance of ordering searches in a very timely fashion cannot be overstated. […]
AML gaps highlighted in UWO case
At the end of last week, we brought you the news that a Leeds businessman had to surrender close to £10m worth of property as a result of an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO). This case has highlighted some glaring gaps in the money-laundering due diligence measures that some firms and companies carry out with regards […]
Property market beginning to settle – YPST
The latest figures from the Yomdel Propety Sentiment Tracker (YPST) has revealled that the property market is heading back towards normal levels for the seasonal time of year. The booming UK residential property market recorded another significant drop in new enquiries to estate agents in the past week, indicating that while activity overall remains well […]
CMA review: CILEx calls for regulatory change
The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) has called for changes to the legal regulatory framework to accommodate the growth of emerging lawtech solutions and the increasing use of remotely accessed legal services. It says that the impact of Covid-19 has accelerated consumer demand, particularly in private client and conveyancing work. This is set to […]
Bold Legal Group respond to proposed Conveyancing Standards Bill
The reported “Conveyancing Standards Bill,” a Private Member’s proposal brought before Parliament by MP for Dudley North, Marco Longhi, has prompted a lively response from Bold Legal Group Members. The proposed Bill, which according to Mr Longhi would aim to: “Protect people who wish to buy a house, sometimes their first home, from being exposed […]
Three tier Covid restrictions system announced by PM
Boris Johnson has addressed both Parliament and the nation today as he’s outlined his latest measures in a bid to simplify and standardize the rules regarding the Coronavirus restrictions implemented in England. The cases of coronavirus has quadrupled in the past four weeks, and the Prime Minister wants to do all he can to protect […]
Search Acumen comments on Conveyancing Standards Bill
Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments: “The proposed Conveyancing Standards Bill has the right message when it comes to ensuring consumer protection for people making possibly the single most important investment of their lives. Whilst property lawyers play a significant role, the responsibility should be shared with developers and local planning authority. “There is […]
Conveyancing vacancies exceed 900
Since the re-opening of the property market in May, no-one could have predicted the way the housing market exploded, with demand rising at an exponential pace. Pent-up demand and the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday were said to be the main contributing factors as all areas of the housing transaction pipeline came under strain […]
Tackling the Digital Identity Challenge
A new group aimed at tackling Digital Identity has been formed to address the need for an industry wide approach to the question of an assured digital identity verification. The Digital Identity Group, met for the first on the 1st October. The meeting, chaired by Stuart Young from Etive set the objectives: “Digital identity was […]
Covid-19 creating the biggest paradigm shift in UK property
The Covid-19 pandemic is creating the biggest paradigm shift in the UK property sector since the arrival of the internet yet, after the initial shock of lockdown back in March, the return to work in May has seen large parts of the industry simply revert to the way things were before. In my opinion this […]
Latest updates for conveyancers on Local Authority turnaround times
The largest local search data company in the UK, OneSearch Direct, keeps conveyancers abreast of Local Authority turnaround times. Following the opening of the property market back in May, the pent-up demand and Stamp Duty Land Tax Holiday caused a huge strain on the sector, causing increasing delays at various points in the buying and […]
Pandemic impacts on conveyancers’ mental health
Today’s Conveyancer wanted to mark and recognise World Mental Health Day today (10th October) to raise awareness of the importance of good mental health and well-being in the conveyancing sector and legal industry as a whole. Mental health has been endemic in the legal profession for some time, and the well-being of practitioners is especially […]
UWO: £10m worth of property ‘given up’
A Leeds businessman had to surrender apartments and homes valued at almost £10m to the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO). It is believed that Mansoor ‘Manni’ Mahmood Hussain, 40, a suspected money-launderer acted for numerous criminals including gangsters, murderers and a drug traffickers. Posing as a legitimate businessman […]
