Legal Eye expands team with new appointment
Legal Eye has announced a new Associate, Loschinee Naidoo has joined their team. Ms Naidoo is an experienced Lawyer and Solicitor with more than 10 years legal and compliance experience. She personally founded and managed a successful legal practice in South Africa before working for west end and city law firms in London, where she […]
Land Registry consultation on Electronic Document Registration Service ends soon
The Land Registry consultation, on a proposal to widen access to their Electronic Document Registration Service (e-DRS), will close on 5 July 2013. The proposed changes would remove the requirement for access to the e-DRS and Information Services to be subject to the full network access agreement. More information about the consultation is available on […]
House prices continue to increase
A 0.3% increase in UK house prices in June has taken the average house price to £168,941. According to the latest Nationwide House Price Index prices are up 1.9% from June 2012. David Pollock, Managing Director at London estate agents Greene & Co., said: “A record property price rise of 5.2% in the second quarter […]
SLC launches Green Deal guidance to members
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has issued a Guidance Note for members, along with a detailed Q&A on the Green Deal and its practical implications. Since the Government’s Green Deal launch earlier this year it has sparked a number of concerns and questions from conveyancers and consumers alike. The SLC Q&A is designed to […]
Law Society consultation on Con29 and Con290 forms
The Law Society has announced that consultation will be open until the 1 August 2013 on proposed amendments to Con29 and Con29O enquiry forms. A mixture of new issues to deal with, such as the Green Deal and assets of community value, combined with recent legislative changes has led to the need for updated forms. […]
Legal Eye and ULS group announce partnership agreement
Software systems provider ULS group, incorporating eConveyancer, and Legal Eye Limited have announced a new partnership agreement. Alan Young, Head of Sales, ULS Group: “We at ULS Group have always been at the forefront of due diligence and risk management and this is an integral part of our proposition. “Teaming up with Legal Eye furthermore […]
Commission proposes more council tax bands and stamp duty reform
A RICS Housing Commission report “More Good Homes and a Better United Kingdom” has been published which sets out a number of key recommendations for the housing market. The proposals include scrapping stamp duty for people over the age of 65 downsizing from a larger property to a smaller one in order to encourage older […]
Court of Appeal rejects case involving completion dispute
Last week the Court of Appeal judgement was handed down in the case of Clarke Investments Ltd v Pacific Technologies. The two parties had entered into a contract for the sale of a shop, with two residential flats above it, in Muswell Hill, London. The property had previously been offered for sale at auction on […]
Conveycentric on Notice of Imminent CML Handbook Changes
Conveycentric has been notified by the Council of Mortgage Lenders that they intend to publish important amendments to the CML Lender’s Handbook for England and Wales on July 8, 2013. Members and relevant stakeholders consulted on the changes for the new Part 1 question added as 5.20.4, which were made necessary by the Green Deal. […]
Voting opens for new award
Voting has now opened for an additional category at the LFS Conveyancing Awards. The awards will take place on Thursday 26th September at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The category is Estate Agents Conveyancing Firm of the year (voted for by estate agents) Voting will close at the end of July so it gives […]
Legal Education and Training Review report published
A report has been published today which looks at whether reform to the current system of education and training is required. The Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) research report was commissioned in June 2011 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Bar Standards Board (BSB) and ILEX Professional Standards (IPS). The report recognises that the […]
SRA respond to Legal Education and Training Review
The SRA have responded to the report released today that looked at whether reform to the current system of legal education and training is required. They have said the report will be invaluable in driving the future programme of reforms for the SRA. Charles Plant, Chair of the SRA Board, explained that the SRA’s programme […]
Record-breaking remortgage lending
Remortgaging in May hit £3.9bn, up 17.1% from April and at its highest level since October 2012. According to the latest LMS figures, the remortgaging rate is up 37.2% from January. LMS figures reveal that total gross mortgage lending is also up 21% to £14.7bn. They anticipate a steady upward trend as customers continue to […]
Conyeyancing firm with big ambitions to dominate the market
Since the recession I have noticed Land Registry application figures showing some firms gaining market share more quickly than others. Beaumont Legal in Wakefield is one such firm. Recently Nick Masheder, Head of Conveyancing, Beaumont Legal, was quoted as saying that within the next three years his aspiration is for the firm to become the […]
Fosters Law announce conveyancing promotions
Kent based firm Fosters Law have announced a number of promotions and new appointments. Louise May from their Sheerness office has been promoted to full-time Conveyancing Executive. Andrea Anniss from the Ramsgate office has been promoted to full-time Conveyancing Executive. Kevin Crow will be starting at the Ramsgate office on 3rd July, taking up the […]
Long-service of conveyancer recognised
Shropshire-based PCB Solicitors has honoured 25 years’ service of one of its employees, Alison Haughton. Alison is a Licensed Conveyancer based in the firms Shrewsbury office. She said: “If you’d told me when I started that two week contract I’d still be here 25 years later, I’d have never believed you! “It has been an […]
60,000 identity crime victims so far in 2013
The latest figures from CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service, have shown there were nearly 60,000 identity crime victims during the first five months of 2013. 46,000 were victims of impersonation whilst 13,500 were victims of takeovers. CIFAS Communications Manager, Richard Hurley, said: “It is often said that fraud is victimless. “With nearly 60,000 victims […]
Housing minister announces Affordable Housing Guarantee scheme
After their initial announcement on 6 September 2012, the government have now officially opened Housing Guarantees for business. The licence to provide the Affordable Housing Guarantees Scheme has been granted to Affordable Housing Finance plc (AHF), a subsidiary of The Housing Finance Corporation Limited. The Housing Minister Mark Prisk said in a written statement to […]
Home Market Turnover Indicator shows significant supply drop
In a couple of articles in the past week industry leaders have raised the issue of restricted housing supply in the market. To track the rate of flow of stock, Home.co.uk has created the Home Market Turnover Indicator (HMTI), which combines monthly data on overall stock levels and average marketing times from 2005 to the […]
Manchester promises thousands of new build homes
Manchester City Council has set out ambitious plans to accelerate house building to cope with the need for an estimated 55,000 new homes in the city by 2027. The “Residential Growth Prospectus” sets out the city’s plans to become the fastest growing city in the UK. In good news for conveyancers in the north-west, their […]