Lanyon Bowdler expand residential property team
In a market that is supposedly not “moving”, Today’s Conveyancer are hearing of plenty of new appointments in law firms across the country. One such appointment is the addition of Solicitor, Rachel Wierzbinski, to the residential property team at Lanyon Bowdler. Rachel, who joined the firm from Harrisons LLP, completed her law degree at The […]
Socialist Party believes the Land Registry will privatise
The Socialist website has published a piece speculating on the likelihood of the Land Registry being privatised. They said that: “The Land Registry’s public sector status is already under scrutiny with up to 1,000 of the current 4,500 jobs under threat over the next five years.” The Land Registry’s current purpose was pointed to, of […]
Bank of Ireland in tracker mortgage controversy
About 13,500 customers have been affected by the Bank of Ireland doubling their mortgage rates. The mortgages concerned are tracker mortgages taken out prior to 31 October 2004; the borrowers concerned believed they were on lifetime tracker mortgages. The consumer group Which? have said the change is “wholly unfair” and group Landlord Action in association […]
New Law Society forms aim to improve transactions
The Law Society of England and Wales have introduced new property forms which aim to make property transactions easier for both sellers and buyer. Following consultation with the profession, the Property Information Form (TA6) and Fitting and Contents Form (TA10) have both been updated. New questions have been introduced to the forms to more accurately […]
Land Registry release free historical data sets
We recently reported that the Land Registry had published a comprehensive list of the electronic datasets they hold. They have now announced the release of a number of free datasets as part of their commitment to the “Open Data” agenda. Here are the release dates and brief descriptions of the datasets being released: 30 May […]
SRA Chief Executive steps down
The SRA has announced that Chief Executive, Antony Townsend, will be stepping down later in the year. He has led the SRA through a period of significant change for the organisation. From its initial inception through the introduction of mySRA, a new code of conduct and the shift to outcomes focused regulation. He said of his decision […]
LFS regional Seminars off to a flying start
19 Law firms attended the first LFS regional seminars held in Leeds last Wednesday. The seminars are an extension of the main LFS Conference & Awards held in September. There has been glowing feedback from those that attended who found the speakers informative and in some cases entertaining. Speakers included Tracey Carr and Andrew Winfield […]
First Time Buyer readers’ Award for Wakefield law firm
First Time Buyer readers voted Wakefield based law firm, Beaumont Legal, the UK’s best conveyancing law firm. Beaumont Legal saw off competition from four other UK law firms who were shortlisted by a panel of property industry judges. Readers of the magazine then voted based on who they felt provided the best conveyancing service to […]
Moneypenny moves workers to Auckland
Having been asked to provide a 24 hour service, Moneypenny, who encountered problems getting staff to work the night shift, hit on a novel idea and moved their staff to Auckland. You can read the full Daily Mail article here.
PSG announce ‘Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge’ Charity Fundraising Walk
PSG, the market leading provider of conveyancing searches and reports for solicitors and conveyancing professionals throughout England and Wales, are delighted to announce the upcoming ‘PSG Three Peaks Challenge’. Working together for change On Saturday June 1st, PSG staff and several team members from partner and principle sponsor — Groundsure, will come together in PSG’s […]
CLC’s planned regulatory expansion and impact of the green deal proved hot topics at SLC’s spring road shows
The latest series of spring road shows, hosted by the Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) proved popular among the conveyancing community, with nearly a third of the SLC membership attending one of the four events, which took place at venues around the country this April. Kicking off in Leicester and followed by events in Newport, […]
Provide assurance with the Chancel Search from PinPoint
The medieval and arcane chancel liability is a parish anomaly that feels like the ghost of a past time, but could come back to haunt you and your client. The Wallbanks case in Aston Cantlow is now legend among conveyancers — soaring legal costs and liabilities finishing north of £200,000 for the homeowners unaware that […]
BCL Legal approaches 10th anniversary
BCL Legal is getting ready to open the champagne as it approaches its 10th anniversary. The business was established in 2003 by directors James Batt, Mark Levine & Vicky Clark and since then, it has grown to become one of the UK’s leading legal recruitment consultancies with a network of offices in London, Manchester, Birmingham, […]
Homeowners expecting price rises
According to research from property website Zoopla.co.uk, UK homeowners are expecting house prices to rise by 4.5% over the next six months. This marks the biggest predicted house rise in the UK during the last three years, so will it translate to being the biggest year for the market? 74% of homeowners think that house […]
LMS renews Nationwide contract
LMS have announced that Nationwide will continue to supply its mortgage and transactional conveyancing services. The new contract lasts until July 2016 and will take the relationship to 17 years so far. Andy Knee, managing director for LMS, said: "We’ve worked successfully with Nationwide for 14 years, completing hundreds of thousands of conveyancing and remortgage […]
National Conveyancing firm join the Conveyancing Association
Newport based Convey Law are the latest conveyancing specialist to have joined the Conveyancing Association. The Association, which is a not for profit organisation, counts several of the country’s leading conveyancers amongst its members. Convey Law join the likes of Goldsmith Williams, Enact and Optima Legal to name a few. Convey Law have continued to […]
North East law firm continues to expand
North East based Gordon Brown Law Firm continue their expansion by adding two new recruits, Nicola Carroll and Leanne Scott, to their residential conveyancing team. Nicola Carroll, previously from Hindle Campbell in North Shields commented: “It’s great to work for such a progressive forward thinking law firm. Everyone has been very welcoming and supportive. […]
Subsidence risk mitigation
In our last blog we looked at how trees and vegetation influence subsidence. As we rapidly approach the key growing period we will look at risk mitigation and the impact of legislation and ownership. Where there has been previous subsidence or the property is in a high subsidence risk area we need to consider the […]
Norwich based MJP set to become Limited Company
Legal 500 practice, MJP Solicitors of Norwich, say they are joining many of the leading lawyers throughout the country and incorporating their business as a Limited Company following a successful growth period. From 1st May, MJP will create two new companies — MJP Limited and MJP Conveyancing Limited — with a view to adding strength […]
Compensation Fund proposals by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
With the rising cost of intervening in failed firms the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have been looking at ways in which those costs can be accommodated. One suggestion had been a “one-off levy” on Solicitors but this appears to carry less favour than utilising the Compensation Fund. According to the Gazette, in a paper that […]