Law Society calls for lending panel solution
The Society has called on Secretary of State for Business Vince Cable to support a long term solution to issues surrounding the composition of panels. In a letter to members Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said that he recognised the reasons driving lenders to change the composition of their panels, such as the FSA […]
SRA wants to help prevent mortgage fraud
The SRA is hoping to engage with conveyancing firms in order to reduce the risk of mortgage fraud. As well as being the subject of a number of complaints, conveyancing accounts for a high proportion of claims against solicitors’ insurance and Compensation Fund. The SRA said that whilst a number were a result of poor […]
Government’s plans flash up warning signs for home buyers
The government has certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons with its recent announcements about easing the planning rules in order to encourage more house building. In particular, its refusal to completely rule out some tinkering with the green belt has already had organisations such as the National Trust and the Campaign to Protect Rural […]
Homeowners at risk of breaching regulations
The SLC has warned that a temporary relaxation of rules relating to domestic extensions could spell trouble for home owners. The society believes the regulations are open to misinterpretation and that instead of kick starting the economy they could bring financial woe for consumers. Consumers are warned that while they may no-longer be required to […]
Market now for pre-Christmas sales
Residential property firm specialists Move with Us have said homeowners who want to sell their home by Christmas need to have their house on the market by the 7th of September. The firm has analysed over 3,900 recent property sales in association with Home.co.uk, and calculated it takes an average of 109 days to sell […]
LFS Conference
Lawyers flock to LFS Conveyancing Conference Ricoh Arena 20th September With less than 2 weeks before the LFS Conveyancing Conference there are only a few tickets left. Tickets cost £120 + vat and you will receive 5 hours CPD . This is less than half the cost of similar law Society events and with speakers […]
SRA to consult on discipline
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is seeking opinions on introducing more lenient sanctions for those who disclose their breaches of the Code of Conduct. The SRA’s Board has agreed to consult on its draft Co-operation Agreement Policy. A key objective of the policy is to enable the SRA to receive information that will help it […]
Reaction to new Housing Minister
Former surveyor Mark Prisk has been welcomed into his new post as Housing Minister following this week’s reshuffle. The Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA) has said they hope to work closely with the minister over the coming months to ensure consumers are better informed about the survey options available to them. Alan Milstein, Chairman of […]
Squatters’ Rights Rescinded as Squatting becomes criminal offence
As from 1st September, squatting in a residential property becomes a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of imprisonment for six months and/or a fine of £5,000.00. Squatting, as described by Wikipedia, is the occupation of an abandoned or unoccupied building/area of land which the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission […]
Leading Property Services Group, Countrywide, talk to Today's Conveyancer
Countrywide are one of the country’s leading estate agency and property services groups. When declaring their recent financial results they described their conveyancing offering as “industry leading”. A statement backed up when they recently picked up the British Mortgage Awards "Conveyancing Business Leaders" Award. We talked to Sue Spurgeon, Chief Operating Officer at Countrywide Conveyancing […]
Ochresoft kicks off summer signings with Thrings
Legal workflow specialist, OchreSoft, has announced details of the first of an anticipated half-dozen summer signings. It has been appointed by Top 100 law firm, Thrings LLP, to deliver its IntelliworksTM Conveyancing solution across both residential and general property teams. The project, which is due to go live by the end of September, will see […]
Client Case Study – Gordon Brown LLP
Gordon Brown LLP is one of the North East’s leading firms and has been providing legal advice to companies and private clients for over thirty years. It has two offices in Newcastle and Chester le Street. Back in 2006, it decided to reinvent its conveyancing business, convinced that it could successfully transition into a high […]
HSBC goes live with CQS
HSBC’s panel is now including the nearly 1,700 members of the CQS scheme across England and Wales. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said: “That number continues to rise ensuring that HSBC mortgage customers have a wide choice of solicitors who have met CQS’s high standard to choose from when buying a home.” CGS firms […]
Law Society regional meetings on sep rep
The Law Society is hoping to set up regional meetings to seek the views of its members on separate representation. Any members wanting to attend a meeting should email panel.events@lawsociety.org.uk indicating the nearest town or city to participate in a meeting, to help the Society arrange locations and dates for the meetings. The call for […]
Consumers favour building societies
A GfK NOP survey of 2,000 consumers has found that trust in building societies is far higher than banks across a number of categories. The number of people who feel building societies value them as a customer is 22% points higher than feel the same about banks. This is up from a gap of 15% […]
Mortgage approvals rise
Bank of England figures have revealed 47,312 mortgages were approved last month, up from 44,124 in June. Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus Software said the signs of recovery in the market were uplifting and said it wasn’t the only sign that the market was picking up. Mr Hunt said: “Increasing competition between lenders is […]
London drives house price rise
Growth of 6.5% in London has helped drive an overall increase in prices of 0.8% in July. The average asking price reached £162,900, representing a 0.3% annual increase. This overall increase came despite more than half of regions seeing a year on year fall in prices. According to the Land Registry figures average prices in […]
Firm criticises professional indemnity insurance
JLT has warned that the rise in two-year solicitors’ professional indemnity (PI) insurance contracts could end up costing law firms more money. The end of the costly assigned risks pool (ARP) from this year’s renewal date has led to an increase in the two year deals. Two-year contracts are being offered by a number of […]
Shared equity helps new home rise
The FirstBuy shared equity scheme has helped Persimmon Homes to an increase in new homes sales. The government-backed initiative has enabled more first-time buyers to get a foot on the housing ladder by making it easier to secure an affordable mortgage. Persimmon said it had a shared equity interest in 30% of its first-half of […]
Sanctions process documented
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has responded to calls for increased transparency by producing a document detailing its processes and the sanctions it can impose. Tribunal president Andrew Spooner said: “The guidance effectively codifies in one document the approach to sanctions that has been adopted by the tribunal for many years. “We hope that it […]