myhomemove big winners at Law Firm Services awards
On Thursday evening winners of the Law Firm Services Conveyancing awards were crowned. myhomemove took home the award for Overall Conveyancer of the Year as well as Direct Conveyancing Firm of the Year. These awards came only a day after myhomemove was awarded best ‘Alternative Business Structure (over 100 employees)’ at the inaugural Modern Law […]
Gross mortgage lending up to £9.3bn
In August gross mortgage increased from an average of £8.4bn over of the last six months to hit £9.3bn. The latest BBA figures showed that the numbers of approvals for house purchase and remortgaging both rose in August, with house purchase the highest since 2009 and remortgaging the highest since 2011. Paul Hunt, managing director […]
August remortgage lending falls
Whilst remortgage lending in still up 8% from this time last year it suffered a substantial fall of 14.8% from July to August taking the total to £3.2bn. According to the latest figures from LMS remortgaging now accounts for 20% of the overall market with total gross mortgage lending holding steady at £16.6bn. The typical […]
Law Society of Scotland sep rep voted defeated
A motion bought before a Law Society of Scotland special general meeting to introduce mandatory separate representation for home buyers and lenders was today defeated. The final vote count taking into account proxy votes was revealed about an hour ago, with 671 lawyers in favour of the proposal whilst 847 voted against. Today’s vote followed […]
Conveyancing Association endorses ML Solutions
The Conveyancing Association has announced its endorsement of ML Solutions’ anti-money laundering services and products. Conveyancing Association members will now be eligible for a discount on services offered by ML Solutions, who have become the Conveyancing Association’s preferred supplier for AML training. The company specialises in providing a wide range of training services to law […]
SRA investigates 2,000 firms’ finances
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has started to evaluate the data on around 2,000 firms’ finances following a fact-finding survey. Firms included in the survey included those working in areas that are experiencing particular economic pressures, such as personal injury or legal aid, and around 500 ‘high impact’ firms, those which would have a significant […]
Gross mortgage lending holds steady
According to the latest figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders gross mortgage lending held steady in August at an estimated £16.6 billion. Lending was only slightly higher in July at £16.7 billion and was 28% higher than August last year. CML chief economist Bob Pannell said: "We are beginning to experience a healthy […]
Foxtons valued at £649m pre-float
Ahead of is full stock market listing, due to take place this week, Foxtons has been valued at £649m. Foxtons announced their plans to float last month in order to raise funds and capitalise on the recovery in the property market. The company is due to be officially admitted to the stock market on Wednesday […]
Countrywide continues to grow
Countrywide Residential Lettings has continued to rapidly build its portfolio with the acquisition of 18 businesses since the start of 2013. Since 2007 the group has acquired 59 businesses and the empire shows no signs of slowing down its growth. Two of the latest acquisitions were in Scotland, further strengthening its presence there. The latest […]
Fridaysmove invites panel applications
Fridaysmove has announced that it is now inviting new applications from firms seeking to join its conveyancing panel. This is the first time the Fridaysmove has opened its doors to applicants since 2011. Historically, membership has been by invitation only, and limited to a handful of practices with a conveyancing specialism. Director Chris Salmon said: […]
Law Society of Scotland to debate seperate representation
A special general meeting of the Law Society of Scotland later this month will see lawyer’s debate proposals for mandatory separate legal representation for home buyers and lenders. Earlier this year solicitors voted for the principle of changing the current practice rule whereby a solicitor can represent both the buyer and the lender. They also […]
August rents second highest ever
Average rent in August across England and Wales reached just £1 behind the all-time record of August 2012. According to the latest buy-to-let index from LSL Property Services plc, monthly rents in August hit an average of £743, up 0.7% from July. Over the last year rent has increased by an average of 1.3%. Most […]
PSG announced as gold sponsors of The Society for Licensed Conveyancers’ conference 2013
Market leading provider of property searches, insurance and associated services to the Legal and Conveyancing sectors, PSG, has today been announced as the main sponsor for the Society for Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) Annual Conference in November. The Annual Conference, now in its third year, will take place on November 20th at the Riverside Centre in […]
BBC Radio 4 looks again at bogus solicitor scams
Radio 4’s You and Yours programme on Friday 13th September focussed on the growing area of vendor conveyancing fraud. The programme focussed on the case of a homebuyer who has lost £100,000 after being defrauded by criminals pretending to be from a branch of Acorn Solicitors. The same fraudsters were the focus of a report […]
Shropshire CPD seminar for solicitors and conveyancers
In response to demand by Shropshire law firms for a CPD seminar in the county, a number of key industry speakers are coming to Telford on 9th October. The session covers a variety of subjects including Risk, Compliance and Social Media and will qualify for 2 hours CPD — well timed due to the cut-off […]
Strong 2012 for myhomemove
Leading conveyancer myhomemove has announced 2012 was its strongest year to date, with transactions up 13.5% from 2011. myhomemove hope to continue this success over the next few years and treble their transaction volumes in the next three years. The company completed 29,513 transactions last year whilst seeing an EBITDA increase of 41% from 2011. […]
Boom or Crash – What’s Your Money On?
This is my first ever blog – I feel like the first time caller on the radio talk ins. I am not sure how others use this medium. I wanted to reach out to explain why I am returning to the property transaction industry. I want to do this in a way that is less […]
Some Food for Thought – Make Hay While it Lasts
Last Thursday I hosted the Real Estate Symposium dinner and it was a great success. Some of the economic medicine dished out with the wine by the excellent speakers — Jonathan Davis and Michael Coogan — did not dampen the mood. In fact, it led to a lively debate in the subsequent “open mike” session. […]
The Legal Eye team expands with more coverage in the South
Legal Eye is pleased to announce that Zoe Bage has joined the Legal Eye team, extending our coverage in the South. Zoé has worked in the legal sector for the past 17 years. Her legal career has been predominately based within Residential Conveyancing. In recent years she has gained experience in compliance and risk […]
Advanced Legal announces new partnership with telephone answering specialists Moneypenny
Advanced Legal recently announced its latest partnership agreement — with telephone answering specialists Moneypenny. Moneypenny, the UK market leader in outsourced call handling and receptionist services, is well known to the UK Legal sector and this agreement is a demonstration of the close working relationship between the two firms — forming part of Advanced Legal’s […]