Housebuilder who fraudulently transferred £250,000 of land to his partner sentenced
A Bradford housebuilder who cheated creditors by secretly transferring company land to his partner has been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, at Leeds Crown Court. Ishfaq Hussain moved £250,000 of development land out of a failing company, transferring it to a newly formed company in the name of the mother […]
HMRC releases tax adviser guidance for conveyancers and confirms more updates will follow
HMRC has released its long-awaited guidance for conveyancers on the requirement to register as tax advisers and has confirmed further updates will be added to support applicants with the process. The guide has been issued in two parts: scope and requirement to register and checks against registration conditions. The guidance confirms a conveyancer is likely […]
CLC shares interim referral fee report and calls for ‘hard evidence of how fees are used or abused’
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has published its interim report into the use of referral fees and put forward a series of recommendations to strengthen transparency and consumer protection. The review found that referral arrangements can play a legitimate role in conveyancing and help consumers to access services conveniently, provided they operate clearly, consistently […]
Profile: Angela Hesketh, head of government and public affairs at PEXA
Angela Hesketh is a dual-qualified conveyancer with an extensive understanding of the challenges within residential property law and practice. Transitioning to consultancy, she advised startups on reshaping the industry whilst streamlining conveyancing processes. She has an unrelenting dedication to transformation together with a commitment to a more efficient, transparent, and user-centric property market. Angela sits […]
Homebuyers spend more than £1,800 on ‘hidden’ moving costs, L&G survey reveals
Moving house is more stressful than divorce according to nearly half of respondents to a new survey by Legal & General. The survey also found that buyers said they had spent over £1,800 on ‘hidden’ costs that hadn’t been accounted for. Of the 2,000 UK homeowners surveyed by the financial services provider, 48% said that […]
SearchFlow users gain streamlined access to CLSQ legal indemnity insurance
CLSQ has launched a partnership with SearchFlow, giving SearchFlow users access to CLSQ’s legal indemnity insurance (LII) offering through a dedicated branded route into its PIPA platform. The partnership will provide SearchFlow’s users with access to a white-labelled version of CLSQ’s online LII platform, PIPA, making it easier for firms to obtain quotes and arrange […]
UK Finance will ‘soft launch’ new Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook today
The updated UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook will ‘soft launch’ today (1st June), in what the banking industry body said will be a parallel process with the existing handbook ahead of its formal release on the 29thJune. From today, conveyancers will have advanced access to the new handbook, which will operate from a new platform. […]
Two thirds of CLC members ‘can’t cope with workload’
Research commissioned by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has found two thirds of those questioned “have felt unable to cope with workload at least sometimes,” with 17% saying they can’t cope “frequently”. The Workplace and Diversity Survey 2025 was based on the responses of 733 CLC lawyers and managers, CLC-regulated practices and “others working […]
The view your client fell in love with – does your conveyancing process give them the full picture?
Paul Addison, managing director at location development risk specialists DevAssist, explains why evolving planning policy and legal precedent make detailed search reports a necessity for home buyers. Most homebuyers believe the view they fell in love with will still be there in five years’ time. Increasingly, that assumption is wrong. By the time clients […]
Conveyancers suspected of dishonesty face action by regulators warns HMLR
Conveyancers suspected of dishonesty could face action by regulators, HM Land Registry (HMLR) has warned. In a blog published on the HLMR website, assistant land registrar Serene Rollins said manipulating or re-using signatures, repeated failures to check deeds, and misrepresenting oneself as a legal professional were among the issues that could prompt referral to a […]
They don’t hack in… they log in: Why cyber risk may still be under-estimated in conveyancing
This month, Conveyancing Association director of delivery Beth Rudolf explains why cybercrime leaves every firm exposed and says it’s a risk every member of the team must take seriously. It is always tempting to think cyber-crime and attempts at fraud sits somewhere outside the day-to-day reality of conveyancing, handled by IT teams, insurers or […]
Draft title reports still leave the hardest part with your team. ngine was built to end that
Most title investigation tools hand the hardest part back to the conveyancing team – ngine doesn’t. When title investigations become a bottleneck, the consequences can move quickly through a conveyancing team. Transactions can stall, leaving fee earners to absorb pressure that was never really theirs to carry, and client timelines extend in ways that are […]
Home Affairs committee slams ‘botched’ digital ID progress
The government’s efforts to introduced digital ID checks have been “rushed, poorly thought out and failed to make a convincing case for the introduction of digital ID,” according to a Home Affairs Committee report. Although the committee said it welcomed the decision to drop mandatory use of ID cards, it said it feared much damage […]
Tech round-up: Firms launch compliance, verification, searches and chat tools
With legal technology developing at pace, Today’s Conveyancer brings all the latest innovation together in a regular round up of news, updates and upgrades for conveyancing firms. Here, in the first of what will be a regular look at all the latest tech news and developments that impact conveyancing practice, we share the latest news […]
Next generation of conveyancers graduate from specialist programmes
The next generation of conveyancers have taken part in graduation ceremonies after completing specialist programmes with Simply Conveyancing and Convey Law. Five trainees from Convey Law’s Conveyancing Pathway programme (pictured above) have graduated and will progress to managing their own caseloads within the firm. The Conveyancing Pathway programme delivers a blended learning approach over 12 […]
Profile: Janet Jones, head of residential property at Jackson Lees
Janet Jones is head of residential property at Jackson Lees and has considerable experience dealing with conveyancing transactions. She deals with sales and purchases, ranging from straightforward freehold to more complex leasehold, shared ownership and new-build transactions. She also deals with re-mortgages and transfer of equity matters, as well as probate sales and deputy/lasting powers […]
Next-gen NLIS to deliver wider property data benefit beyond council searches, Land Data says
Land Data, the regulator of official NLIS conveyancing searches, says the technical foundations for the trusted sharing of authoritative land and property data are now in place following completion of the initial build of Next Gen NLIS – the National Land Information Service hub. NLIS was launched in 2001 to provide a single point of […]
Bracknell Forest now able to offer personal searches with council searches to follow
Bracknell Forest Council is able to begin work on the backlog of searches it has received since the implementation of a new IT system rendered their search services inoperable. In an update released last week, the council said it is testing a “workaround” that will allow it to issue personal searches, which had successfully issued […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer – No questions asked?
I have a lovely client. She loves the area where she lives in a rented property. She loves the house she rents. So when a house a few doors up came on the market, she jumped at the opportunity to buy it. The survey revealed some issues with the boiler – not unusual, other than […]
Post completion is entering its most important era – and most firms are not ready
PCC Education Hub’s Priscilla Sinder and Maria Hardy set out recent changes in the post-completion landscape and explain how firms can ensure performance doesn’t just remain solid, but creates opportunities for growth. For years, post‑completion has been treated as the quiet end of the conveyancing process: essential, technical, and largely invisible. But in recent […]