Lincolnshire amongst northern hotspots for buyers moving out of London
Lincoln and other areas in the Midlands and North have been dubbed hotspots for buyers looking to move out of bigger cities such as London, due to the introduction of flexible working by many employers across the country. Working from home has become the new normal for many people in the UK due to Coronavirus […]
Over 5000 new homes to be built on floodplains
A new report published by the think-tank Localis reveals that almost 200 planning permissions have been granted on floodplain land in 2021 so far, for more than 5000 new homes in high-risk local authorities across the UK. The report, titled “Plain Dealing – building for flood resilience“, is calling for Housing Secretary Michael Gove to […]
Electric car chargers to be installed in new homes from 2022
New legislation announced by Boris Johnson will require new homes and buildings, such as supermarkets and workplaces, to install electric vehicle charge points from next year. Under the new regulations up to 145,000 extra charge points will be installed across England every year before 2030 when the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will […]
Access Group acquire Legal Bricks
Access Legal, the Law technology specialist, has announced the acquisition of the Legal Bricks group of companies, a provider of conveyancing searches and property related services to the legal sector. Part of The Access Group, a provider of business software solutions to the mid-market, Access Legal say their latest acquisition strengthens its footprint in the […]
Housing market appears to be cooling
The latest figures released by HMRC appears to show a cooling of the housing market in England and Wales. Transaction figures for October 2021 show provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate of 85,090 home moves, 30% lower than October 2020 and just under half of the September 2021 volumes. September figures were expected to be artificially higher […]
HMRC pockets £4.1bn increase in SDLT receipts
HMRC figures highlight the impact of the SDLT holiday with a £4.1bn increase in Stamp Duty receipts in the six months from April to October 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. And to put the current market in context, when comparing October 2021 and October 2019, receipts are up 25%. But while conveyancers […]
New forms to drive better up front information
Conveyancing trade and industry bodies The Conveyancing Association, The Law Society, CILEX, and the Society of Licenced Conveyancers have thrown their weight behind new versions of LPE1, LPE2 and FME1 forms which are to be launched from 11th January 2022 14 trade and representative bodies, from across the legal, surveying, estate agency and property management […]
Simplify remain tight lipped
UPDATED 22/11/2021 The Council for Licensed Conveyancers have provided a brief update on progress at Simplify since it confirmed on 17th November it had moved to exchange contracts on files that are ready to exchange and complete and started work on new cases nearing exchange. The group has indicated that it is continuing a staged […]
Consultation could pave the way for APP fraud refunds
A consultation from the Payment Systems Regulator could see legislation introduced forcing banks to refund those affected by authorised push payment (APP) fraud. APP fraud is typically perpetrated by criminals impersonating trusted individuals and organisations in order to trick people into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a criminal. The criminals will send […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer; 22nd November 2021
The issue with the Simplify group continued this week. There is still no clarity as to what has happened, but the effect on the lives of many is clear. One only needs to look on Twitter, Trust pilot and a Facebook group which has been set up to see what is happening and importantly, what the […]
British Conveyancing Awards 2022 Categories Released!
This year, Today’s Conveyancer launched The British Conveyancing Awards to recognise the herculean efforts of the conveyancing industry in keeping the housing market moving through 2020 and into 2021. Launched to coincide with the end of the original SLDT holiday, the ceremony in May saw the industry come together to recognise and celebrate the incredible […]
SRA consults on changes to fining powers
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a consultation on its approach to financial penalties for law firms and solicitors with the aim of resolving cases more quickly and reducing the need to refer to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) The consultation will review how the SRA can create more consistency across its regulated entities […]
4 common ways criminals launder money
Money laundering costs the British economy around £37 billion each year. And with the legal sector under increasing scrutiny (and SRA site visits happening right now) it’s something firms should be placing front and centre of their risk planning. A review by the SRA into law firm AML compliance identified the failure to introduce “proper […]
Leapfrogging antiquated processes with technology and an appetite for innovation
The property market has been operating at breakneck speed over the past few months as a combination of Covid-19 dynamics and Stamp Duty holiday incentives have created the perfect storm. For Scott Gair, Partner at Dean Wilson, there has never been a better time to embrace technology and keep one step ahead of the fast […]
InfoTrack triumphs with wins for Product of the Year for eCOS and Supplier of the Year
InfoTrack has won two awards at the 2021 British Legal Technology awards. Taking the win for Product of the Year for their eCOS client onboarding solution, the award recognises innovative new products and solutions which deliver vision, differentiation, practicality, and importance to help evolve technology for the legal sector. eCOS is a powerful digital onboarding […]
Secret tunnels: Doors to a hidden realm
Humans are tunneling animals, we may not think we are but we are. We tunnel deeper, further and wider than any other animal. Furthermore, our tunneling systems are complex and unlike anything else in the world. Historical tunneling networks are all around us, they carry water, vehicles and ourselves. We have dug through mountains, under […]
Flexibility overtakes pay as top priority for practitioners
Flexibility has overtaken pay as the top priority for practitioners entering the jobs market, according to new research by legal recruitment consultancy, Realm Recruit. As part of its annual market research conducted in June 2021, Realm Recruit surveyed more than 100 practitioners on a number of topics, including jobseeker status, employee engagement, wellbeing and pay. […]
Could cyber regulation for IT service providers be introduced?
Third party IT service providers could be required to follow new cyber security rules such as the National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Assessment Framework as part of new proposals to help businesses manage the growing cyber threat. A consultation by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) looked into the security of digital […]
Digitisation firmly on the agenda for government and lenders
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers came together at their first in person conference in 2 years. With a packed schedule, the event brought over 200 conveyancers together at The Riverside Centre in Derby. The day focused on addressing some of the practical challenges facing conveyancers, as well as providing an update on the work being […]
Simplify progress update – exchanges now going ahead
The Council of Licensed Conveyancers has provided an update on the progress at Simplify as it continues its staged recovery from the cyber attack it suffered last week. A statement on the CLC website has been updated to say that no client funds were compromised and that all contracted completion due to take place last […]
