Journalist and managing editor of the Today’s Media publications: Today’s Conveyancer, Today’s Family Lawyer and Today’s Wills and Probate
St Albans and London-based firm SA Law has appointed Catherine Banks as head of residential conveyancing following the retirement of Steve Kenneford, who has stepped down after two decades at the firm. Banks brings extensive
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors UK Residential Survey for June paints a positive picture of demand – although RICS remains cautious despite ‘encouraging’ signs of stabilisation in the market. The monthly sentiment survey of
Conveyancers have been bearing the brunt of the most recent sanctions for AML breaches, with financial penalties totalling £109,500 for breaches related to ‘high-risk’ conveyancing transactions. Although the government has acknowledged the rules are ‘a
The Planning Inspectorate’s new digital appeals service is being rolled out nationally following a successful pilot with five London boroughs. The roll-out will take place in three phases, with all authorities in England joining the
A survey by Compare My Move suggests that up to a fifth of home-buyers have pulled out of their purchase before completion, while half of those questioned said Scottish-style rules would improve the moving experience.
The Halifax has helped 3,000 extra buyers to market thanks to relaxed affordability assessments, with around a third of those now able to access mortgages first-time buyers. ‘The market’s resilience continues to stand out and,
The latest Credit Conditions Survey from the Bank of England shows an increase in demand for secured lending for both house purchase and remortgaging in Q2. Lenders said they expect the demand for remortgaging to
The government has released the latest official statistics related to the diversity of the judiciary, prompting the president of the Law Society of England and Wales to call for ‘significant progress to level the playing
Electronic signatures accepted by HM Land Registry (PG82) Page summary: Information about the types of electronic signature accepted by HM Land Registry (practice guide 82) Change made: Sections 3.1, 3.2, 3.3.1 and 5.2 have been
Millions of leaseholders will receive stronger rights, powers and protections to better challenge ‘extortionate’ service charges under major reforms to the feudal leasehold system announced by the government. The announcement has been hailed as ‘an
A solicitor has been struck off for misconduct related to a transaction for a £6 million property and the management of a £650,000 deposit – breaches which the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said struck ‘at the
Nationwide’s House Price Index for June shows a slight slowing of growth, at 2.1% compared to 3.5% in May. The building society said the dip could be due to weaker demand – but property experts
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s annual AML and sanction data collection will start this week, with firms required to provide information about AML and financial sanctions activity and how it’s managed. All regulated firms must provide
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is once again running its Quarterly Confidence Tracker to gather the views of the profession on the current state of home buying and selling. The regulator says the results
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has shared details of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme announced at the Spending Review last month. The programme aims to deliver 300,000 social and affordable
The Conveyancing Information Executive (CIE) has welcomed conveyancing technology and data company tmGroup as an associate member. The tmGroup will work closely with the CIE – which promotes best practice, transparency and innovation in the
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has published an updated advisory note on compliance with the UK sanctions regime, which it is urging practices and individuals to become familiar with. The sanctions regime concerns restrictive
Propertymark’s latest insight report shows a slight rise in the number of viewings reported by member branches, up to three in May from 2.3 in April. CEO Nathan Emerson called the figures ‘encouraging’ and said
The annual conference of the Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) will take place on 12thNovember at Reach Conference Centre in Derby, followed by a dinner at the city’s Pride Park Stadium (pictured). Kate Faulkner OBE
A survey from HomeOwners Alliance suggests that more than a third of UK homeowners regret buying their home – rising to two thirds of younger buyers. Of the 2,000 UK adults surveyed by the organisation,
Companies in the Movera group are celebrating some significant milestones this month, with one million instructions for Broker Conveyancing, and ONP Solicitors recording 5,000 remortgages in a single day. The national home-moving group is also
Analysis from estate agent platform eXp UK has found strong demand in several ‘thriving’ hyper-local markets, which the company says is bucking the trend seen across the rest of the country. The analysis shows that
Navjit Singh Degun, a property partner at Leeds-based law firm Levi Solicitors, has completed a five-day, 121-mile charity walk from Newcastle to Leeds to raise awareness and funds for a mental health charity aimed at
A new package of reforms to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has been announced by the government today, in a move which marks ‘a significant shift’ in building regulation in response to concern over growing
Data released by the Bank of England shows that mortgage approvals for house purchases increased by 2,4000 to 63,000 in May – the first increase since December 2024. Re-mortgage approvals also increased, up by 6,200
The monthly remortgage snapshot from LMS shows a 12% increase in new instructions in May, which LMS CEO Nick Chadbourne attributes to positive sentiment across the sector. Almost half of remortgagers (45%) increased their total
The legal tech company behind a platform that allows conveyancers to manage the lifecycle of a transaction from one digital dashboard is celebrating its 10-year milestone. InfoTrack UK launched in 2015 and is now used
HMRC’s May transaction data suggests last month’s optimism in the face of a steep decline was justified, with the seasonally adjusted figures showing a 25% rise since April. But while the news has been welcomed
Zoopla’s latest report on the state of the housing market reveals sales activity is running at its fastest rate for four years, with a 6% increase in sales agreed for the month compared to the
The government has acknowledged Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations ‘are seen as a major burden’ to professional business service firms, and has pledged to reform the controversial rules by the end of the year. Writing
Civil servants working for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will start indefinite industrial action today, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has announced. PCS members in 21 offices around the
A post-completion assistant at a Lancashire law firm has been barred from working for a legal firm without the permission of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) after faking signatures on a TR1 form. Gemma Stanton,