Assignments before completion: why SDLT can become complicated very quickly
Most property transactions follow a familiar route. A buyer contracts to purchase a property and later completes that same acquisition from the seller. SDLT becomes more complicated where the contractual position changes before completion, particularly where rights under the original contract are assigned to another party or a subsale takes place. These arrangements can bring […]
SRA confirms it will pause COLP/COFA separation proposals
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has confirmed it will pause plans to separate the role of Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) from individuals with “unilateral decision making” responsibilities, after push back from across the legal profession. In a statement released today said Aileen Armstrong, SRA executive […]
Solicitor struck off and ordered to pay £18k of costs after ‘dishonest’ conduct
A solicitor has been struck off and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) after acting dishonestly and favouring the best interests of one client over another in two conveyancing matters. In five allegations brought by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the tribunal found that Angela Stanton, while practising as […]
Celebrating the people behind the process – awards early bird entry offer
Conveyancers still have time to take advantage of the early bird entry rate for the British Conveyancing Awards 2027, sponsored by Groundsure. The discounted rate of entry will apply until 18th October after which it reverts to the standard entry rate. Entry entitles firms to enter up to three categories. Organisers Today’s Media, the publishers […]
UPDTATED: ‘Cowboy’ estate agents to be regulated ‘as soon as possible’
A previous version of this story had an image in which two estate agencies could be identified. To be clear, the image was sourced from a licensed third party resource, there is no inference between the headline and the professionalism of these agencies. Today’s Conveyancer has apologised to both agencies for any upset caused. […]
Mid-size firms catch up as digital maturity benchmark reveals extent of technology adoption in conveyancing
A benchmark report outlining the digital maturity of conveyancing departments and firms has been published for the third time, with a near 10% improvement in scores across the sector says its authors. The Digital Conveyancing Maturity Index, published by InfoTrack and launched at the Digital Conveyancing Summit hosted in London, sets out to measure the level […]
Mental health and wellbeing survey aims to benchmark what ‘good’ looks like
With the Conveyancing Foundation’s Wellbeing at Work month now underway, the previewed Wellbeing at Work Excellence Survey is now open, inviting property professionals to share their experiences and help shape the future of workplace wellbeing across the industry. The output of the survey will help benchmark workplace wellbeing across the property industry, identify current practices, […]
LeO responds to research showing AI is used in more than half legal complaints
Research among over 2000 people and the Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO) own case files has revealed the growing influence of AI on complaints with more than half of people who have made, or considered making, a formal complaint about a regulated service in the last year using AI as part of their complaints journey. A newly […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer – Dealing with artificially intelligent enquiries part 2
AI and in particular AI generated enquiries is really starting to bother me. I know I wrote about AI last last week… but bear with me. I had always thought that the TA6 form comprises standard information needed when selling a property, and I always tell my clients that the form has been drafted on […]