Goldsmith Williams scoop top 10 in LegalTec 100
Liverpool based Goldsmith Williams are celebrating following recognition as one of the top 100 law firms for technology innovation, advancement and sustainability. The firm registered its commitment to its introducer and client communities by channelling technology innovation and efficiency and have succeeded in achieving the number 7 spot in the KnowList’s legal technology excellence survey. […]
Des Hudson “disappointed” with ongoing HSBC conveyancing panel saga
Des Hudson, Law Society Chief Executive, has met with senior representatives of HSBC, according to the Law Society Gazette, following the slashing of its conveyancing panel a month ago. Having reduced their conveyancing panel to just 43 firms HSBC are currently facing a backlash from the profession, with calls for bank accounts to be moved […]
Calls for the Government to put pressure on HSBC to reverse its conveyancing panel decision
Rob Hailstone of The Bold Group is asking law firms to sign his e-petition calling for the Government to put pressure on HSBC to reverse its conveyancing panel decision. Rob comments: “In January 2012, HSBC reduced the number of law firms that could act for it and the buyer of a property (with an HSBC […]
Law Society Consultation on Property Information Form (TA6)
The Law Society have launched a consultation on the Property Information Form (TA6) (PDF), asking for views on how the form can be improved for conveyancers, buyers, sellers and lenders. The consultation, which does not extend to leasehold, commonhold enquiries or new build, seeks to obtain views, particularly from Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) members, that […]
Barratt Developments see increase in demand for new homes
Barratt Homes have reported an increase of almost a fifth in new home reservations in the last 12 months, according to whathouse.co.uk. Barratt’s said that the average sale price on one of their developments is now £181,200, a year on year increase of over 3 per cent, indicating that market conditions are improving. With reservation […]
Lenders and Lawyers working together
LFS are pleased to announce the launch of this year’s Conveyancing Conference to be followed by the inaugural Conveyancing Awards. The theme of this year’s event is Lenders and Lawyers working together. Clearly with so much focus on panel management of law firms by lenders, this is the ideal opportunity for conveyancing firms to come […]
Mortgage Approvals up during January marking steady start to the year.
The British Banking Association has released statistics on mortgage transactions for January 2012. The number of mortgage approvals in January 2012 was the highest seen in two years, according to the British Bankers’ Association. The figure of 38,092 is 34% higher than the figure for January 2011 (36,553). There were 1539 more approvals than […]
Wards Solicitors market a new security measure from the Land Registry
Property has long been an attractive target for potential fraudsters. At high risk of being targeted are those that are empty, mortgage-free or tenanted. Wards Solicitors have on their website highlighted a new, free security measure that has been introduced by the Land Registry to help absent owners protect their property. The Land Registry has […]
Liverpool City Council to Provide Help For First-Time Buyers
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve plans for a new Local Authority Mortgage Scheme today. If it is given the go-ahead, it could help more than 200 people into their first homes. The £3 million scheme will see the Liverpool City Council working alongside mortgage lenders to boost the amount made available […]
Safe Move achieve gold standard
Safe Move, a trading arm of Yorkshire Water, have recently been awarded Gold Investors in People (IIP) status, the highest IIP accreditation. Investors in People look at business improvement, helping organisations to transform their performance through development of people. Providing conveyancing searches in the Yorkshire area, Safe Move pride themselves on offering a “first class […]
Should Conveyancers be paid on performance?
I have recently had a twitter conversation with an estate agent who clearly feels that conveyancers are deliberately slow and ineffective in the way that they work. He held the clear belief that conveyancers should be paid on speed of result and this would bring about better results. We thought you might be interested in […]
SRA holds firm on publication policy
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is holding firm on arguments against the publication policy, after rejecting the Law Society’s calls to limit the information published about solicitors who are subject to regulatory sanctions, according to Legal Futures. The SRA make decisions on firms and individuals they regulate and publish them on their website, this began […]
Peppermint Legal Service Platform to support iPads and Smartphones
Peppermint Technology have today announced that the next release of their Legal Service Platform, due in Q2 2012, will support the iPad, iPad2 and a selection of Smartphones, including the Windows phone, iPhone 3GS, Google Android and Blackberry. Ensuring that the Platform continues to provide both choice and flexibility the move will give users a […]
The Changing Face of Conveyancing
“HSBC radical separate representation move splits market”; “Competition and choice under threat”; “Solicitors slam HSBC conveyancer panel”. These are only a few of the headlines that have been written concerning the decision by HSBC to reduce the number of solicitors who are to be retained on their conveyancing panel. It has been mooted by some […]
Victor Olowe leaves CLC
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has posted an announcement on its website that their CEO of the last five years, Victor Olowe, has decided to “seek new challenges” and has left the organisation. The change is effective from the end of February but, with leave commitments, he served his last day in the office on […]
Telegraph “Land Registry civil servants take four months to find best way to open mail”
In a strongly worded article Andrew Hough of The Telegraph last week commented on a “tax payer funded” four month review that Land Registry instigated into post opening. The Telegraph stated “On Thursday night, the department was accused of wasting public money on a futile exercise after it emerged that no changes had in fact […]
Myhomemove steps up its online SEO
Whilst we might be a little late in spotting this we still think this story underlines how much the conveyancing market is changing. We all know that the internet is becoming increasingly important in our purchasing decisions. Whether that is actually purchasing on-line or just helping us decide whether a business is trustworthy it is […]
Move With Us appoints two new directors aiming for growth
Move With Us the Cambridgeshire based property services business has appointed two new directors to help manage its growth. The business runs a network of estate agency businesses throughout the UK and supplies a broad range of services (including conveyancing panel management) to those estate agents and home movers. The two appointments point to an […]
Jordan's launch new range of environmental searches
Jordan’s the conveyancing search provider have issued a press release indicating that they have launched a new range of environmental reports. The release is covered in full below. More than ten years on from the launch of environmental reports into the conveyancing market what impact has Part IIA actually had? What is being changed? And […]
Localism Act prompts Search Code review
With the final death of Home Information Packs by the revocation of parts of the Housing Act 2004 CoPSO and the PCCB have also lost the statutory framework for searches that previously existed. The Localism Act which repealed parts of the Housing Act has resulted in a review of the Search Code. The Council of […]