PEXA launches fraud and conveyancing webinar series for Fraud Awareness Week
Conveyancing technology provider PEXA has launched a series of webinars to be run throughout Fraud Awareness Week, to help educate the sector on the evolving risks of fraud posed to property. The webinars come as banking trade association UK Finance warned fraud remains a major threat, with an increase in both the total number of […]
OPDA teams up with the SLC to drive collaboration and advance digital transformation
The Open Property Data Association (OPDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC), formalising a new partnership designed to promote closer collaboration and knowledge-sharing across the two organisations and the broader property sector. The MoU sets out a shared commitment between the two organisations to advance the digital […]
Newly formed taskforce calls for ‘balance between reform and resilience’
The UK property market is one of the largest and most important in the world and protecting its integrity requires a careful balance between any reforms and security, according to a newly formed ‘Conveyancing Task Force’ (CTF), as the government considers how it might reform home buying and selling through its recent consultation. Formed in […]
SRA losing anti-money laundering powers is ‘wake up call’ for legal sector
Responding to the news that the Solicitors Regulation Authority is to lose its anti-money laundering responsibilities, with supervision of law firms passed to City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority, Phil Cotter, CEO of anti-money laundering and digital compliance specialist SmartSearch said it is a ‘wake up call’ to the sector and that the pressure to […]
AML regime responsibility to pass to FCA amid ‘blitz on pointless admin’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will become the Single Professional Services Supervisor (SPSS) for anti-money laundering (AML) as part of her ‘blitz’ on ‘pointless admin’ In an effort to save £6bn per year by 2029 the chancellor has announced sweeping changes to business bureaucracy at a Regional Investment Summit in […]
Reeves may target limited liability partnerships in budget to raise public funds
Chancellor Rachel Reeves may target limited liability partnerships (LLPs) as part of her plans to tax ‘those with the broadest shoulders’ in the upcoming budget. Tasked with filling a sizeable hole in the public finances, in part due to the unexpected longer term impact of Brexit and austerity, the chancellor is reported to be considering […]
£2m government funding allocated for home buying and selling reform
Nearly £2m has been allocated to support innovation in the property market as conveyancing searches and data have been targeted by the government as areas where cutting through ‘out-dated red tape’ would enable innovators to ‘get new technologies out of the lab and into use sooner. ’ The funding has been awarded by the Regulators’ Pioneer […]
Gilson Gray appoints Jeremy Davy as head of residential conveyancing
Full-service UK law firm Gilson Gray has appointed Jeremy Davy as partner and head of its residential conveyancing division for England and Wales. Based in Lincoln, Davy will oversee Gilson Gray’s residential conveyancing division, with a focus on expanding the team’s operations, enhancing efficiency through technology and AI, and growing its headcount in key locations. […]
SSB case reflects ‘deeper vulnerabilities’ in legal services with regulatory overhaul needed
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) must ‘overhaul its complaints handling and risk assessment processes,’ introduce better safeguarding measures for clients, be more proactive about redress for consumers, and embed a consumer culture for better outcomes as the fallout from the report into the failure of SSB Group continues. A report published by the Legal Services […]
‘Increasingly standard’ climate risk reports can’t be avoided in conveyancing, Law Society panel says
Future climate risk reports are becoming increasingly standard in homebuying reports, according to practitioners working at the forefront of the field. In a plenary session at the Law Society Property Conference on Wednesday, Keith Davidson, partner at Irwin Mitchell, Sarah Sargent, partner and head of residential property at Flint Bishop, and panel chair Warren Gordon, […]
From future threat to present reality: How location data is redefining risk in conveyancing
With the UK facing increasingly unpredictable weather, there is an urgent need for the property sector to adapt. Climate risk is no longer a distant threat – it’s a present-day reality increasingly affecting real estate. The impact is not just being felt through flooding, rising sea levels, overheating homes or subsidence, but through transition risks […]
Steele Raymond marks 21 years as Top Tier firm in The Legal 500 rankings
South coast law firm Steele Raymond has been ranked Top Tier in The Legal 500 rankings for the 21st consecutive year, as it continues to expand across the region. The 2026 guide recognises eight Steele Raymond practice areas, with commercial litigation, commercial property, residential development, and corporate & commercial all ranked Top Tier. Four teams […]
Binding contracts and faster sales are great – but will the home buying overhaul actually happen?
House sellers will have to reveal issues with their properties before selling new under government plans to reduce costs for buyers and speed up transactions. These changes – dubbed by the government as “the biggest overhaul of the home buying system” in England’s history – might also see buyers and sellers signing “binding contracts” to […]
Conveyancing task force will address ‘fatal flaws’ in home buying reforms
A task force of conveyancers has assembled to address what its members say are fatal flaws in the government’s proposals for home buying reform. Urgent conversations have been taking place amongst the group since Sunday, a spokesperson said, with the aim of analysing the consultation documents ‘for the good of the profession’. The group – […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer – This ‘straightforward’ case is not what it seems…
I had a lot of things to write about this week as so much seemed to be happening. Still a lot of negativity on LinkedIn, still a lot of conveyancing bashing. We now also have a consultation about how to make this all better, and which could result in cheaper fees for buyers (thereby increasing […]
Advising on restrictive covenants in residential transactions – In conversation with Ian Quayle
Restrictive covenants remain one of the trickiest aspects of residential conveyancing. These binding promises can dictate what owners may or may not do with their land and frequently surface during title investigations. A recent webinar with Ian Quayle, managing director of IQ Legal Training, and Rosella Lanza, content analyst at InfoTrack, explored the complexities of […]
Taking the politics out of property reform – why it matters for conveyancers, housing and the wider economy
For once, the stars seem to be aligning. The Government’s new consultation on reforming home buying and selling reads like a checklist of what conveyancers have been calling for over many years – upfront information, better regulation of property agents, aligned AML checks, digital ID, and genuine interoperability between systems. It’s practical, it’s evidence-based, and […]
Conveyancers are unfairly caught in HMRC’s tax advice net – some simple rules could set them free
HMRC’s recent consultation proposes that any organisation which ‘provides tax advice and interacts with HMRC’ must register as a tax agent. But is this drawing too wide a net and capturing conveyancers whose role is limited to SDLT filing? Conveyancers already manage various compliance tasks, including anti money laundering checks, environmental and title searches, trust […]
How PEXA fits into the UK conveyancing ecosystem: Building confidence in completions
Every conveyancer knows the pressures of completion day. The phones ring nonstop, clients grow anxious, and conveyancers are left juggling uncertainties around funds and paperwork. For too long, the process has been defined by a lack of transparency, reliance on manual checks, and the constant risk of last-minute fall-throughs. PEXA – the world’s first digital […]
Home buying industry reacts to government reform proposals: ‘Much-needed progress and change’
On Sunday night, the government announced a series of sweeping changes to the home buying system, calling the propsoals ‘the biggest shake-up to the home buying process in this country’s history’. The current system, the statement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said, is ‘chaotic’, ‘a barrier to home ownership’ and […]