Landmark Information Group appoints Group Software Engineering Director to spearhead technology transformation agenda
Landmark Information Group, the UK’s largest property and land data business, has announced the appointment of Rob Young, who joins the business as Group Software Engineering Director. Bringing significant experience of directing large software teams to deliver cloud-based propositions for global enterprises, Rob is leading Landmark’s engineering and development teams to drive a transformation agenda […]
Right first time; new form for restrictions in the register
In-form-ed Consent: Use new form RXC to comply with restrictions in the register The story: You’ve been working for months on a deal that required the cooperation of the seller’s ex-husband, the management company or a risk-averse mortgagee. It’s been fraught with difficulty, you’ve finally completed it and submitted the disposition for registration, only to […]
Law firms in SRA firing line over AML failures
The fines levied by the SRA on 13 firms in recent weeks continue to demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding around responsibilities when it comes to the money laundering regulations. The firms in question had failed to comply with their procedural responsibilities to provide their firm-wide AML risk assessment and delayed their AML declarations. In […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer; 26th July 2021
So how has everyone been in the last week? It is surprising that the market is still very buoyant – it is busy but at least there is not a deadline and everyone pushing to complete quickly. I am not sure if this will happen when we get into September but we would hope that […]
Single digital ID a step closer
The government have published plans designed to enable the production of a single digital identity for everyone, for the purposes of providing ID verification for activities such as buying alcohol through to purchasing a home. A consultation will seek input on three key questions the governance system to oversee digital identity and and make sure […]
Conveyancing contract extension agreed between Yopa and Optimus
Yopa, the full service, fixed-fee estate agency business, has awarded a three-year contract extension to Optimus, part of the UK’s leading land and property data business Landmark Information Group, which will see the firm continue to operate as its conveyancing panel management partner. Via the Optimus service, Yopa’s customers are able to quickly obtain property […]
23% increase in solicitors over the last 10 years
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has published its annual reports on its operational work during 2019/20. The reports cover areas such as its regulatory role, preventing money laundering, and enforcement. Key facts highlighted within these reports include: 23% increase in the number of solicitors who hold a practicing certificate in the last decade £10.4 million […]
Jenrick announces changes to pre-mortgage cladding checks
Owners of up to 800,000 flats left valued at zero following the Grenfell Tower disaster and resulting cladding scandal may now be able to sell following new Government advice over fire safety requirements. The housing secretary, Robert Jenrick said that an independent panel of experts had found that small and medium blocks of flats less […]
LMS releases Secure Link® messaging service to streamline conveyancing process
LMS, the UK’s leading conveyancer and panel management specialist, has announced the launch of its innovative Secure Link messaging service to better streamline the conveyancing process and improve case query turnaround times. The Secure Link® service will enable law firms to raise common post-offer queries with RBS and NatWest. As both lenders are prioritising queries […]
Why digital client onboarding can be transformative for law firms
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has both created positive and negative outcomes for the legal landscape. Those barriers have had to be overcome, but it has enabled the legal environment to transition positively to new ways of operating against a backdrop of an unpredictable economic outlook. The last 18 months has forced fee earners […]
The Pace of Change in Residential Conveyancing
This month marks my second-year anniversary at SearchFlow and a majority of my time here has been spent operating within a Covid-19 world. The market that I have therefore witnessed has been anything but ‘typical’ and it’s not until you take time out to reflect on the last year that we can appreciate just what […]
Just one fifth of people can identify UK’s most invasive plant
Only 22% of British adults can correctly identify Japanese knotweed from other plant species commonly found in British gardens, leaving almost four fifths of people in the UK extremely vulnerable to the risks posed by the UK’s most invasive plant, reveals new research from YouGov and invasive plants specialist Environet. From a photographic plant identification […]
Developers sit on “Beautiful” land
Following on from Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick’s speech on a new national planning policy and his vision for Building Beautiful Places, Birmingham and Newcastle-based property developer, StripeHomes, reveals which of the UK’s biggest developers currently own the highest number of land bank plots, land which can, but isn’t being built on. Despite overseeing nearly 250,000 […]
Property Transaction Volumes Break Records
UK residential property transactions have, as expected, beaten all previous records as home movers sought to take advantage of the June SDLT holiday deadline. Figures released this morning by HMRC show that property sales hit 213,120 in June (not seasonally adjusted), the highest monthly UK total since the introduction of these statistics in April 2005. […]
Leaseholders need extra funding not just extra time
The Government’s decision to extend the limitation period for homeowners to take legal action for ‘shoddy work’, will have been made in a bid to provide support to leaseholders, amongst others, facing great uncertainty at the moment. But it actually raises more questions about who should be responsible for righting historic wrongs, and crucially who […]
Bold Legal Group to foster greater collaboration between conveyancers and estate agents
Bold Legal Group, a nationwide association of 700 conveyancing law firms is launching a new online forum designed to foster better relationships between conveyancing practitioners and estate agents. Founder and CEO Rob Hailstone has recently written extensively about the need for greater collaboration between conveyancers and estate agents, as the March and June (and no […]
Seven more firms fined for AML failures
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued fines to seven practices that have failed to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. The firms affected are Manchester practice Law Together LLP, Telford-based Picasso Legal Limited, Smooth Law Limited in St Helens, Manchester practice AB Corporate LLP, Devon firm Hole & Pugsley, Crawford & Company Legal Services Limited […]
Access Legal research highlights hybrid working compliance gaps
Access Legal has released new research that is encouraging law firms to review gaps in their compliance, given over two thirds plan to switch to a permanent hybrid way of working once restrictions ease. The legal technology division of The Access Group surveyed a substantial number of law firms and found that 85 per cent […]
Search Acumen launches interactive data tool to provide early warning of property transaction risks
Search Acumen, the property data insight and technology provider, has launched a new tool that provides real-time property data to lawyers via interactive reports, empowering them to advise clients earlier and progress transactions more efficiently than ever before. Interactive Data Snapshot provides conveyancers and property lawyers with unprecedented access to live property due diligence data that […]
The Conveyancing Foundation’s “Be Kind we Care” Initiative Wins Industry Sponsorship Backing
Digital onboarding platform Thirdfort and industry leading training provider the Conveyancing Academy have become the latest companies to back the Conveyancing Foundation, the not-for-profit organisation serving the conveyancing, legal and property industries. The Foundation has raised nearly £1 million for charity since its launch. It has also won plaudits for its ‘Be Kind We Care’ initiative which launched this year to […]