The latest Newsletter from the Council of Licensed Conveyancers has been released.
Sheila Kumar, Chief Executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, says: “I have now been working full time as Chief Executive of the CLC for a little over three weeks. One of the top issues for me in these early days is the attitude of some lenders to instructing licensed conveyancers and having them on […]
CLC releases results of referrals consultation
From December 2012 to March 2013 the CLC consulted on their referral arrangement provisions. The majority of the 65 stakeholders who responded to the consultation felt that the CLC should continue to permit referral arrangements. The 65 respondents were comprised of 36 managers of CLC Practices, 20 were licensed conveyancers employed in SRA practices, 3 […]
Conveyancers attend CML lunch in force
The number of conveyancers and panel managers attending the CML lunch on Friday showed the importance of good relationships with lenders. I was kindly invited to attend the CML lunch by Fastrac solicitors. Over the years I have attended many of these events, but at this event there were more conveyancers, search providers and panel […]
ETSOS on the case with Cognito
Search supermarket ETSOS has announced that its online ordering portal has now been fully integrated into Cognito Software’s FiLOS case management system. This will allow Cognito FiLOS users to order and review searches direct from their workflow, avoiding the need to switch between applications. Commenting on the move, Steve Chivers, Cognito’s director of sales & […]
The latest practice on plans, leases, charging orders and more
Landnet 35, the April issue of Land Registry’s customer magazine, is available to read and download now from Land Registry website and includes a printable PDF version. In this issue you’ll find all the latest news and practice guidance from Land Registry, including articles about: a change in our practice on enlarging long leases how […]
myhomemove conference success
The myhomemove conference, held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire, last week, has raised £7,000.00 for homeless charities supported by the Estate Agency Foundation. The 200 conference delegates heard predictions about the future of the property market from industry leaders, including the Managing Director at Legal & General Mortgage Club, a Senior Economist at […]
HMRC clamps down on stamp duty avoidance
Homeowners who have taken part in schemes to avoid paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) may have recently found the HMRC requesting money from them. As part of their approach in tackling unpaid tax, the HMRC recently took a Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) avoidance scheme to a First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) and won. The […]
Co-op pulls out of Lloyds deal. What will this mean for conveyancers?
On Wednesday the Co-operative Group announced that it has withdrawn from discussions relating to the purchase of 632 Lloyds Banking Group branches. The boards of the Co-operative Group and Co-operative Bank plc decided that it was not in the best interests of the Group’s members to proceed further at this time. Peter Marks, Group Chief […]
Revised house extension plans could still see neighbours get into a pickle over covenants, warns Titlesolv
The ongoing debate over the Government’s proposals to unleash a free-for-all on house extensions might be a political embarrassment, however the very real danger of increases in breaches of restrictive covenants claims has been largely ignored, warns Titlesolv. Restrictive covenants controlling use of land have traditionally posed a problem for developers as they can prevent […]
Homeowners want new lenders
Consumers welcome the dominance of the big six lenders being broken and new lenders such as Tesco, Virgin Money and M&S providing more creative approaches to mortgage lending. According to new research from housing investment and equity loan provider Castle Trust, 82% of homeowners want more to be done to make it easier for new […]
Number of registered solicitors increases
The Law Society has released key data on the state of the solicitor’s profession in 2012. The statistics reveal that there were 10,102 firms registered in 2012, down very slightly from 10,202 in 2011. Whilst the number of firms decreased the number of solicitors increased from 121,933 to 128,778. The number of new admissions was […]
SIPPclub launches residential property campaign
The SIPPclub is seeking opinions on whether the conversion of unused space in commercial properties in high streets and town centres to residential use could be allowed within pension schemes. The SIPP information service is inviting members of the public and the property and pension industries to take part in the survey. The campaign will […]
Landmark makes key appointments
Landmark Information Group, the supplier of digital mapping, property and environmental risk information, has announced the appointment of seven new team members who are joining its Environment Land & Property Division. They will provide a combination of business development, account management and sales roles. Carole Oliver joins Landmark as Group Business Development Manager. In addition, […]
Exclusive report by the SRA for Today's Conveyancer
In an exclusive article for Today’s Conveyancer the Solicitors Regulation Authority sets out their concerns about mortgage fraud. "How to prevent getting caught up in mortgage fraud" In the past three years, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has taken significant steps to prevent mortgage fraud: catching out criminals intent on cloning legitimate law firms’ identities, […]
Land Registry publish dataset inventory
The Land Registry has published a comprehensive list of the electronic datasets they hold. The dataset inventory allows developers, companies and charities to identify datasets that can be released, which may present an opportunity to create value through reuse and interpretation. Some datasets are chargeable whilst others are available at no cost. Malcolm Dawson, Chief […]
SRA make it easier to get their advice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) website now contains comprehensive advice and support to help firms maintain financial stability. They have created a special section of the site to support solicitors’ in maintaining good financial management. The move comes in the wake of a handful of recent high-profile failures at large firms. The web pages support […]
How a Japanese Knotweed Trade Body has Developed Best Practice and Collaboration in a Previously Unregulated Industry
The effect on property of Japanese knotweed has been widely reported in the press over the past few years, due, in part to the problems many home buyers were experiencing when trying to secure mortgages on properties affected by knotweed. Because lenders could not obtain consistent, reliable advice on how to survey, assess and treat […]
Money Box investigates conveyancing fraud
The lead topic on Saturday 20th April’s edition of Money Box was the threat posed by fraudsters setting up bogus law firms. Click here to go to the BBC’s site to listen. Money Box’s Paul Lewis talked to Nick, a home buyer who was defrauded of £735,000 by a bogus solicitors firm. The recent […]
The Lex Factor: Who will be the winners in the ABS world?
How do new entrants view the legal market? How are your competitors winning business? Is paying for work the way forward? Covering competition and innovation in the legal market following the arrival of ABSs and new entrants, high-profile speakers from across the industry include: the chief executives of the Law Society and SRA, plus Rocket […]
SRA highlights issues for compliance officers
The SRA held a COLPs and COFAs conference last week where they identified key areas of risk for compliance officers to focus on. SRA Executive Director Samantha Barrass highlighted financial instability as a key risk, saying that whilst some firms were taking a responsible and diligent approach to managing their finances, others were recklessly putting […]