Yomdel Sentiment Survey Released
Yomdel has reported in their latest sentiment tracker that their enquiry levels remain high at 64% above average, as estate agents scramble to meet demand as vendor, buyer and landlord enquiries remain at record levels. Despite a dip in new enquiries as a result of the pandemic, overall the levels remained at more than 60% […]
New Code Of Practise Set To Raise Standards And Trust In The Industry
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and The Property Ombudsman have set up a group that will write a new estate agency Code of Practice which should be ready by the end of the year. The group, led by Labour peer Baroness Dianne Hayter, which includes representatives from ARLA, NAEA, Propertymark and Trading Standards, will […]
CLC Seeks Responses To Their Consultation On Licence and Practice Fee Arrangements
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has published a consultation on their annual review of Licence and Practice Fee Arrangements. The consultation paper notes the reduction in Practice Fee three times since 2016 that has resulted in a cumulative decrease of 42%. This has been achieved by reducing the regulatory burden despite a significant proportion […]
Law Society Need Your Input On MOU
The Law Society is running a survey and is calling on all CQS members for their input to help change the conveyancing process. The Law Society sent a message to members, which read: “Some industry groups representing significant numbers of conveyancers – solicitors and others – are advocating the use of a new Memorandum of […]
New Technology To Thrust Property Deals Into the Digital Age
A brand new digital, end-to-end property completion platform, which will see a dramatic reduction in the time spent processing sales, is poised to launch in the UK. WeCOMPLETE is the first software of its kind to co-ordinate the work of both legal teams and estate agents, and the only product capable of streamlining the completion […]
CLC Introduces New Codes To Improve Compliance And Consumer Protection
The revised accounts code that expressly allows regulated practices to deal more easily with aged balances up to £50 and to use third-party managed accounts (TPMAs) has now been approved by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The Legal Services Board (LSB) has approved new account codes to deal with aged balances up to £50 and […]
Mutual Lenders – Your Role In Building The UK Back To Health
I realised whilst listening to Sara Bennison, Chief Product and Marketing Officer from Nationwide Building Society speak at the Digital Housing Summit last week, that I still have a very clear memory of the lilt of my Welsh speaking primary school teacher’s voice on the day that she taught my class about the origin of […]
Are associates the employee engagement ‘middle child’?
It’ll be no surprise to you that pay within legal professions is considerably higher than the UK average, with the best talent taking home mid-to-high six-figure salaries. Also, no shock hopefully is the fact that the legal sector is also one of the best when it comes to employee benefits including travel and flexible working […]
Warnings For PI And Conveyancers As Volumes Still At 50% Of Previous Levels
The chief executive of the National Accident Helpline (NAHL) reported drops of between 75% and 90% in the levels seen before the UK went into lockdown in March, but is reporting an increase to 50% of the pre-lockdown levels. The statement blamed the drop as a result of fewer vehicles being on the roads, the […]
Q&A With Land Registry On Their Response To The Pandemic
There is no doubt that every business around the world has had to face enormous challenges since the emergence of the Covid-19 virus. In the UK, millions of works are beginning to adapt to working from home, with chats over video calls rather than face to face. The handling of paper seems archaic now as […]
Index PI Offers Additional Value to Integrated Reports on Title EM
Leading search provider Index Property Information has announced a unique offering to their law firm clients in relation to their integrated Report on Title platform, Lexsure’s e-ROT. Hundreds of lawyers ordering Index searches currently benefit from the innovative reporting software. Once the conveyancer orders their search bundle the case is automatically created and populated with […]
FCA Sounds Alarm Over Unsuitable Equity Release Advice
Red flags and alarm bells have been raised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who have discovered that some mortgage advisors were giving questionable advice to clients. The regulator has announced it will be carrying out a more detailed review of advice in the lifetime mortgage market as part of its ongoing investigation into mortgage […]
ULS Technology Sees Impressive Figures In Full Year Results
ULS Technology plc (the Group), a provider of online technology platforms for the UK conveyancing and financial intermediary markets have announced its Full Year results for the year leading to the 31st March 2020. Despite global conditions and the drop in the UK property market, the Group’s revenue impressively was only reduced by less than […]
The Impact Of A Pandemic On The Legal Sector
The coronavirus has undoubtedly had a catastrophic ripple effect that has affected people in so many different ways. Hundreds of thousands of people have sadly lost their lives around the world. Economies have been hit with businesses and livelihoods also being lost. Realm Recruit, an agency which specializes in recruitment for the legal sector conducted […]
Homebuyer Communication Processes Criticised
Recent claims have suggested that homebuyers are confused by traditional methods of communication from multiple property professionals during a residential property purchase. In an hour long chat with Chris Harris of Today’s Conveyancer, Mick Silver of Moovshack said that estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage brokers, removal companies and utilities all engage with home movers from the moment […]
Leasehold Group Mourns Sudden Death of MD Louie Burns
The Leasehold Group was devastated to hear about the sudden death of its Managing Director, colleague and friend Louie Burns in the early hours of Sunday 21 June 2020. Louie, who joined Leasehold Solutions in 2009, was passionate about fighting the injustices of leasehold. He steered the company’s crusade for changes to the system and, […]
Don’t Forget About Data Protection
It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a year that has changed the way people have worked. Although some sectors may have been looking at ways they could work remotely, others have had a rough ride as they’ve attempted to maintain business as normal whilst adapting to these unprecedented times. In recent weeks, more […]
Conveyancers – do you have a Plan B?
“Success in life is not how well we execute Plan A; it’s how smoothly we cope with Plan B”[1]. On Friday 13th March 2020 I was made redundant. I was no longer part of a plot sales team working with national and SME house builders to hit Target Exchange Dates. I’d stopped playing any part […]
Simultaneous Exchange And Completions – Are They A Good Thing
The re-opening of the English property market back on the 13 May, is said to have released seven weeks of pent up frustration of both buyers and sellers. When the UK went into lockdown on 23 March 2020, a lot of property transactions were put on hold as buyers and sellers were unable to move. […]
Interview with Tom Quirke, MD Searchflow
MD of Searchflow, Tom Quirke talks to Today’s Conveyancer about his introduction to the industry 12 months on from his appointment; the challenges presented by Covid-19; what advice he has for firms over the next 12-18 months and what his plans are for 2020 and beyond. You’ve been in the role for 12 months now, […]