SRA reports ‘continued improvement’ on AML measures
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) says the number of firms found to be non-compliant over anti-money laundering (AML) fell almost 10% this year. The independent regulatory body for solicitors found 78% of firms were either compliant or partially compliant, with the proportion of non-compliant firms falling from 32.4% last year to 21.9% this year. Of […]
What do conveyancers want from the Autumn budget?
Calls for reform or abolition of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and for tax policies to be “stabilised” have been among the hopes voiced by property experts ahead of the Autumn on Wednesday 28th October. Speaking to Today’s Conveyancer, commentators added progress on home buying and selling reforms and more clarity on the Your First […]
COLP/COFA separation could have had ‘unintentional consequences’ as SRA outlines next steps
The Solicitors Regulations Authority has confirmed it will “work with stakeholders, including through working groups” to identify alternatives to the proposals to separate compliance officer roles from those with unilateral decision making. Last month the SRA said it would “pause” those plans after it faced backlash from the profession. Now the regulator says it acknowledged […]
Autumn Budget preview: Red tape overhaul and Your First Home thresholds
Efforts to save as much as £800 million by stripping back outdated paperwork, unnecessary form filling, and extending suspensions on tariffs for business have been announced by the government. Included amongst the plans is a commitment to streamlining the home-buying and selling process, “saving businesses in the transaction chain £116 million a year.” With the […]
Additional enquiries on upfront information falls, Landmark survey suggests
The number of conveyancing cases requiring additional enquiries due to missing or inaccurate upfront information has fallen considerably over the past two years, new research suggests. Drawing on the experiences of 500 home movers and 250 property professionals, including estate agents, conveyancers and mortgage lenders, Landmark’s new report, Property Transaction Reform: What the Market Wants […]
Temperature check of conveyancers finds consumer confidence down by half since January
A temperature check of consumer sentiment suggests home buyers confidence is around half what it was at the start of the year according to the latest industry sentiment tracker from the conveyancing regulator the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). The regulator’s latest survey identified confidence amongst buyers and sellers continues to hover between 12-15%, less […]
What a difference a year makes…
As the saying so nearly goes, what a difference a year makes. Ben Robinson and Rob Gurney of Landmark join podcast host David Opie to reflect on the last 12 months in the property market and to look at the latest property trends data. The property market has swayed from being one favourable to sellers, […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer – Placing the client at the heart of digitalisation
I read reports regularly about proposed digitalisation of the home moving process and I am all in favour of progress because let’s be honest, we no longer use quill pens and have clerks hunched over desks in attics (well not as far as I have ever heard!). However, the thought of AI, integrations, open property […]
Confessions of a cyber conveyancer: AI – are lawyers the boiling frog in all of this?
Ask anyone doing conveyancing how they are feeling, and you’ll get a familiar response. It’ll start with a sigh and then they’ll explain how they’re fed up with clients using ChatGPT to raise enquiries or write complaints, by being bombarded by people telling them AI can do their job or that the alleged rush of […]