Mortgage redemption by phone call results in Court of Appeal case.
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that solicitors are in breach of trust in a remortgage transaction unless they get a valid redemption statement from the existing lender. Mark Redler & Co Solicitors (MRC) admitted negligence when they acted for AIB on a remortgage transaction and failed to obtain a valid redemption statement. At the […]
Is the elderly care cap actually a good deal?
The government announced on Monday that the costs of personal care for the elderly in England will be capped from April 2017 at £75,000. Health Minister Jeremy Hunt told the House of Commons that the "historic" reforms would save thousands of people from having to sell their family home to pay for care. People who […]
Buy-to-let at four year high
Gross buy-to-let lending was up 19% from 2011 to £16.4 billion, the highest level for four years. Buy-to-let lending accounted for 11.5% of total gross mortgage lending in 2012, up from 9.8% in 2011, according to data released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Over the last quarter there were 36,700 buy-to-let loans advanced, […]
SRA warns of con artists using Global Solicitors name
The following warning has been issued by The Solicitors Regulation Authority: "The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a warning involving con artists claiming to be from Global Solicitors. The SRA has received information that members of the public are being sent letters purportedly from Tim Neary and/or Mark Jerusin at Global Solicitors, Dreen, House, […]
Final Entry Date brought forward for LFS Conveyancing Awards
Law Firm Services have announced that the final entry date to enter the conveyancing awards will now be 31st March 2013. This is to allow sufficient time for the judging process to take place. Richard Mathias, Sales Director of LFS said “ we have had a superb response to this year’s awards and we already […]
Increased subsidence risk due to rainfall
According to Searchflow, the property search provider, UK homeowners could be at risk of over £291m in subsidence damage if there is a dry summer this year. Long range forecasters are predicting a hot and dry summer, which following the second wettest year on record in 2012 could lead to a surge in subsidence cases. […]
LSB make recommendation on estate administration
The Legal Services Board recommended to the Lord Chancellor yesterday that estate administration not be regulated. The LSB had initially proposed that estate administration activities should be included in the list of reserved activities. However, it concluded that statutory regulation would not be an effective or proportionate way to prevent criminal behaviour. In the same […]
SRA Warning: misuse of Rowlinson Solicitors name
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a warning of con artists claiming to be from legitimate solicitor Lynne Rowlinson at Rowlinsons Solicitors Limited. The SRA has been informed that a number of individuals across the country have been sent emails purportedly from Lynne Rowlinson, alleging the recipient that they may be entitled to the […]
Are you appealing to foreign investors?
Chinese, Malaysian and other Far Eastern investors are pushing up demand for new build investment properties across many UK cities. But are you doing enough to win their business? The property markets in Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities are currently experiencing huge oversupply, meaning yields are low. According to buy to let specialist Assetz […]
Housing market fairly stable
The RICS January 2013 Housing Market Survey has shown that prices have remained fairly static whilst transactions have slightly increased. Of these transactions the number of new buyer enquiries fell. As ever there is significant regional variation with London and the South East continuing to have record high price balances. The headline national price balance […]
DevAssist receives CPD accreditation
We are delighted to announce that DevAssist has been granted CPD accreditation from the SRA. This means that you can now collect points while also finding out how our unique search reports can help your property-buying or probate clients. Our principal course — Trade Secrets: Development and its Impact/Benefit on Conveyancing and Probate Practitioners — […]
SOS and ETSOS complete product integration to help lever competitive advantage in conveyancing
Solicitors Own Software (SOS) and ETSOS have completed the integration of the ETSOS conveyancing search portal into SOS Connect, one of the UK’s leading legal case management systems. This means users of SOS Connect can now access ETSOS’s online ordering system direct from their workflow, without the need to switch between applications whenever conveyancing searches […]
Have firms given up on acting for Santander? Or even conveyancing?
Santander made a really important announcement last year, saying that if solicitors firms wanted to act for them then they have to have be CQS accredited by 31st March 2012. On Saturday 9th February there were just 50 days left before the 31st March. In December the Land Registry said 4400 firms made applications to […]
Steve Ray comments on the professional indemnity insurance market
Steve is a Director of Howden Windsor, the Professional Indemnity Division of Howden Insurance Brokers. He has been at Howden Windsor for six years having formerly been a partner at well known risk management practice McCavitt Ray & Co. What do you think will happen to the insurance market for Solicitor’s practices over the next […]
Online lawyer search website launches
We announced last August that an online search tool MrLawyer.co.uk would be coming to market. The site has now launched in the London area and will roll out across the UK in the next few months. Lawyers are able to register for no charge to the site which will launch to consumers in April 2013. […]
Strong January for valuations market
January saw the fourth consecutive month of annual growth in valuation activity, according to the latest Housing Market Activity Report by Connells Survey & Valuation. The number of residential valuations conducted by Connells in January was up 16% from December and 39% from the same period last year. John Bagshaw, corporate services director, Connells Survey […]
Annual increases in house values and sales
House values have increased by an average of £7,000 in the last year whilst overall sales are also up 8%. According to the latest report from LSL Property Services Ltd. January’s figures are better than expected. David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services, said: “Market conditions are certainly improving. “Funding is cheaper, thanks to […]
Home ownership continues to fall
In bad news for the conveyancing market, the level of homeownership has fallen to its lowest level since 1987. The news comes despite some recent improvement recent signs of improvement to the mortgage market, following the introduction of the Government’s Funding for Lending scheme last August as well as a number of lenders dropping their […]
Lenders offering record low rate loans
A number of lenders have started to offer record low rates for a two-year fixed-rate loan, with many providers offering rates of 1.99pc. Borrowers with a 40pc deposit can pay £995 for a two-year fixed-rate deal at 1.99pc, from Yorkshire, Norwich & Peterborough and Chelsea building societies. HSBC has gone even further by cutting its […]
Number of house hunters picks up
The average number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch increased to 282 in December from 263 in November. The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) housing market report for December showed that despite the increase house hunters the number of first time buyers fell from 22% to 21%. The number of properties available […]