Launch of “alternative” chamber model to better-serve conveyancers
One of London’s longest-standing tax barristers has launched a “work from anywhere” (WFA) chambers – offering an alternative to the traditional chambers model – which is said to reduce end-client fees and wait times for conveyancers who require specialist advice. Patrick Cannon, who was called to the Bar in 2003 and authors Tolley’s Stamp Taxes […]
Vendor-driven due diligence reports
The Conveyancing Information Executive have shared their views on vendor-driven due diligence reports. As leading suppliers of property due-diligence searches to the UK conveyancing market, Conveyancing Information Executive (CIE) members shared their unique insight with market stakeholders throughout 2020. One of the most discussed areas focused on the mutual goal of speeding up housing transactions. […]
Property professionals struggling behind the scenes of a buoyant market
The findings of the new ‘Thriving in a Pandemic’ report, recently published by tmgroup and mio, have highlighted that the market has not been able to cope with the sheer volume of transactions brought on by the post-lockdown and Stamp Duty holiday surge. Despite creating unprecedented demand for property services, and helping the industry to […]
Entries are now open for the British Conveyancing Awards
We are excited to announce that the entries for the British Conveyancing Awards are now open! The exclusive awards seek to discover and recognise outstanding achievements, highlights progressions and champions innovations amongst firms and individual private professionals across the Conveyancing sector. As a way to celebrate the opening of the entries, Today’s Conveyacer are pleased […]
Updated practice guides
HMLR have updated their Execution of deeds (PG8), practice guide. Page summary: Advice on the execution of deeds that are to be submitted to HM Land Registry (practice guide 8). Change made: Section 10 has been expanded slightly to clarify the position in respect of counterparts. Section 12 has been amended to confirm that a deed […]
CLC’s first Compliance Risk Agenda highlights compliance priorities
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has published its first Compliance Risk Agenda to highlight issues that the firms and individuals it regulates need to be mindful of to ensure that they do not find themselves out of compliance. It details issues that CLC staff have encountered during their monitoring and inspection work, from those […]
Extension to SDLT….really?
Following on from the news reported in the Daily Telegraph over the weekend regarding a potential short-term extension to the stamp duty land tax holiday (SDLT), has sent ripples through the industry. We took to Twitter to see whether our followers thought the extension was a good or bad idea, and truth be told we couldn’t […]
Help to Buy deadline date has been extended
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme has been extended to 31 May. The deadline was changed due to the impact of the pandemic on the housebuilding industry. Covid-19 has disrupted the time it takes developers to build houses, coupled with conveyancing transactions being slow over the past few months. The two months’ extension will […]
Is the property market in an extended lockdown too?
In 2020, life as we knew it was turned upside down as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world. There were major changes in every aspect of daily life including work patterns, shopping habits, schooling, socialising and travel. The property market was also hit as the first lockdown meant that no house viewings or surveys could […]
British Conveyancing Awards set to honour sector
Today’s Conveyancer is proud to introduce the British Conveyancing Awards 2021, which is coming to a screen near you on Tuesday 25 May 2021! 2020 was an unprecedented time for the property sector, and we would like to give something back to our legal community and celebrate the achievements of those in the sector who have […]
No let up for law firms from the regulators
Partners and managers at law firms face a constantly shifting regulatory picture from the regulators as Covid-19 continues to make its presence felt both professionally and personally. With 212 pages of new guidance on AML from LSAG recently released and a series of high profile fines and stories of non-compliance hitting the press in the […]
Land Registry advises conveyancers on how to solve requisition problems
Every day HM Land Registry receives around 18,000 applications to update the register. The majority of these applications are submitted correctly with all the necessary information included for our land registration experts to complete the requested change. However, for one in five applications – over three and a half thousand applications every day – some […]
Outsourcing – The Underestimated Business Model in Conveyancing
Outsourcing is a business model that has shown its worth especially during the coronavirus pandemic, especially in conveyancing firms/departments where good quality work has been delivered by outsourced companies. This article aims to dispel some of the myths surrounding outsourcing and why in today’s climate, where conveyancing is such an aggressive market to profit from, […]
Is there a need for Reservation Agreements?
With the stamp duty holiday deadline looming in just over 6 weeks time, the pressure is mounting on the residential property market, causing logjams and delays in conveyancing transactions, so, should reservation agreements be introduced? Back in the 2019 the proposed implementation of reservation agreements was high on the Governments agenda in a bid to […]
Government maps out future use of digital identities
The Government has today published new plans which will govern the use of digital identities and revolutionise conveyancing transactions when proving identity. The Government’s new draft rules is to help build trust in the use of digital identities without the need for physical documents. The aim is to make it quicker and easier for people […]
Can Reservation Agreements Help in this Unprecedented Conveyancing Market?
Conveyancers are currently working in the eye of the storm. They are facing unprecedented volumes of work due to the SDLT ‘holiday’ combined with the pressures and uncertainty of working in a market which is restricted by a lockdown. A huge challenge which conveyancers and their clients are now facing is the significant delays to […]
Founder of The Bold Legal Group takes a light hearted look at lockdown
I live in Torquay and am lucky enough to live very close to the sea, the town centre and the railway station. Until the first lockdown I was happy working from home and sharing an office with my wife. She wasn’t quite so happy with that arrangement; I have no idea why. When lockdown arrived, […]
SDLT hope on the horizon?
Reports from a national newspaper over the weekend have suggested that there could be a glimmer of hope for buyers and sellers in relation to the ever nearing stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday deadline on 31 March 2021. The Daily Telegraph has quoted an unnamed government source, who describes the Chancellor possibly extending the deadline […]
Construction industry remains resilient amid pandemic disruption
• New private housing output up 6.7% over the last quarter1 Andy Sommerville, Director at Search Acumen, says: “These latest figures show the construction industry is one of the most resilient sectors of the UK economy. “The uptick in private housing output over the last quarter has been partly driven by housebuilders responding to elevated […]
What you need to know about the new Insurance Distribution Directive
There is an ever-increasing need for insurance products in conveyancing and this need should be considered as managing risk and not just as selling products. Search and indemnity insurance is bought by conveyancers on behalf of their clients and with the new Insurance Distribution Directive (EU legislation that sets regulatory requirements for firms designing and […]