News brought to you by the Today’s Conveyancer editorial team.
Simply Conveyancing has announced the acquisition of Peterborough-based Pirie Palmann as part of an ambitious growth drive that it says will see it become one of the largest and most experienced conveyancing practices in the
Latest Bank of England reports show that mortgage and savings rates remain at rock bottom, with some savings rates at record lows. The Bank of England has reported that average savings rates have dropped to
A South London law firm, Topstone Solicitors Limited, and its director Silas Ogbonna have been fined for failing to complete proper due diligence checks on two property deals. Sanctions were imposed by the SRA following
One of the Midlands leading independent law firms has appointed a new CEO to help it capitalise on a record year of performance. Talbots Law, which employs more than 280 people across its six offices
Flintshire in Wales is set to undergo a review of current council tax premiums for second home owners that have been in place since 2017, reports suggest. The news comes following mounting concerns across staycation
The Conveyancing Association, the leading trade body in the conveyancing industry, restarted its real live event calendar at RSA House, London on the 9th September, The CA Policy and Strategy board met in the morning
Conveyancers up and down cheered a sigh of relief as the stamp duty holiday concluded on Thursday at midnight. A few sore heads on Friday may have dealt with end of the week completions but
Legal mental health charity LawCare has today released the findings of its research study Life in the Law. The research into wellbeing in the profession captured data between October 2020 and January 2021 from over
A new report from Hamptons predicts that more homes are expected to be sold across 2021 than in any other year since 2007. The forecast is based on figures that show a strong first half-year
The SRA has reprimanded and fined a solicitor who inadvertently helped a client to commit theft. The incident, which took place at the North East firm SJ Palin & Co Solicitors, caused the SRA to
Findings from a new report commissioned by UK Finance reveal that 52% of new mortgage lending is going to borrowers who will not have paid off their home loan before their 65th birthday. Longer mortgage
Research has identified that homebuyers have saved as much as £6bn on SDLT, with nearly half a million transactions completing between July 2020 and 30th June 2021, when phase 2 of the tapered end to
Solicitors in England and Wales will celebrate Black History Month by embracing the ‘Proud to Be’ theme, which encourages Black people to celebrate and share the pride they have in their heritage and culture. Law
X-Press Legal Services has become a member of The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) Executive team and will join other Executive members in shaping the direction and future of the Council. James Sherwood-Rogers, CoPSO
Chief executive of the Law Society of England and Wales Paul Tennant will be leaving the organisation at the end of the year. He will join the Abbeyfield Family and take up a new role
The Government has announced an additional £300 million in funding for the Housing Growth Partnership (HGP) which aims to build 10,000 new homes by 2025. Formed in 2016, HGP announced yesterday that a new £300
Employers in the legal sector have been provided with guidance by the Law Society and Cardiff University, outlining the reasonable adjustments firms and organisations could make to help them recruit and employ disabled staff. It
Coadjute, the real-time network that connects the property market, has announced plans to enable retail banks in the UK to issue a mortgage stablecoin on their network, working in partnership with global technology firm R3.
Following some expectations that there could have been a rise in interest rates, the Bank of England’s decision to hold the base interest rate at a record-low of 0.1 per cent has been welcomed as
Thursday 30th September sees the final day on which the Stamp Duty Land Tax relief is applicable. Relieved conveyancers up and down the country will be able to breathe a sigh of relief as the
The scale of criminal activity which leads to financial loss has been laid bare by UK Finance’s half year fraud update. In total £753.9 million was stolen through fraud, an increase of 30 per cent
Draft legislation has been published for a new tax that will be levied on large developers’ profits from buying and selling land with planning applications, to contribute to the government’s cladding remediation costs. Rishi Sunak
Meetings between the Government and regulators are set to discuss potential changes to the current redress structure, if the performance of Legal Ombudsman services does not improve. The LSB will hear initial feedback on whether
The overall value of UK housing stock has risen from £5.67trn to £6.42trn over the last year, with private property wealth reaching a new high of £4.87trn according to figures released by the Equity Release
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has won a further grant from the latest round of Regulators Pioneer Fund (RPF) to help connect those using new legal technologies with those who need their services. The award
The average time it takes to sell a property has climbed to 320 days according to the latest data release from the estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk. GetAgent.co.uk keeps a comprehensive record of transaction times
The importance of digital connectivity for the future of conveyancing The property market is a diverse ecosystem of multiple professions operating independently. Estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage brokers and lenders provide individual services throughout a property
A landmark survey into the experiences of LGBT+ lawyers and LGBT+ equality in the profession conducted by the Law Society of England and Wales has identified significant progress, but more is needed. “In the last
The National Paralegal Awards, hosted by the PPR is taking place on Thursday 23rd September 2021. This event is a virtual award show and is free to attend by registering here This year there are
The newly appointed Secretary of State for the newly created Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, has been tasked with solving the cladding scandal, latest reports suggest. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has
An Industry Working Group of experts has been formed to improve standards, reliability and security in electronic signatures. The Ministry of Justice has published details of a newly-formed Industry Working Group of experts that aims
The fall in construction output below the pre-pandemic level in February 2020 is a wakeup call that the construction industry is struggling according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). The comments come in response