Homebuyer/Sellers’ behaviour adapts to an evolving industry
The conveyancing landscape was a lot different before Covid-19 was on the scene and now over 12 months later the sector post-pandemic has changed the habits and behaviours of buyers/sellers when purchasing their homes. In what has been described as a ‘mad’ housing market, a growing numbers of property buyers are making offers on homes […]
Conveyancing recruitment expert’s view of the sector
With conveyancing job advertisements continuing to climb due to the stamp duty holiday, the government’s new mortgage scheme and overall impact of the pandemic continuing to change the shape of conveyancer’s professional working lives and the market, Dan Bowman, Director of recruitment company, Be Legal Ltd, gave his views and experiences on the conveyancing recruitment […]
Housebuilding industry continues to face difficulties
New-build price hikes could be on the cards following a warning from leading industry figures. Price rises in materials are set to make new build homes more expensive according to sector experts which could have an impact on First time buyers wanting to get on the property ladder. The chief executives of the Builders Merchants […]
Upfront property information one way to improve conveyancing process
There has been lots of noise over recent weeks regarding upfront property information. The introduction of the Buying and Selling Property Information (BASPI) dataset by the Home Buying and Selling group on 15th March began a lot of discussion. Many others in the sector have come out to show their support, with the Conveyancing Assocation’s […]
Work-From-Anywhere Conveyancing
How conveyancers work has changed—and it could be for the better for you and your firm. For a lot of conveyancing professionals, it was previously unthinkable that it was possible to work from home. The past two years have shown that it’s not just possible but very manageable for conveyancers and other legal professionals to […]
Why the government have got it wrong on Stamp Duty holiday
When the Government first announced a Stamp Duty holiday in July 2020, it seemed like the ideal solution to boost a market dealt a hammer blow by the first national lockdown and the shock of COVID-19. Transaction numbers plummeted between April and May 2020 as the housing market was forced to close completely. So, when […]
Ochresoft data reveals residential property conveyancing rollercoaster
New data released by Ochresoft – the legal workflow software specialist for property and private client lawyers – assesses the shifting ratio between the number of new residential property instructions versus the number of completions and now highlights the challenging ‘rollercoaster’ conditions facing conveyancers and property lawyers during 2021. This data compares instruction volumes versus […]
Updated Practice Guide: First registrations (PG1)
There has been an update published in the following practice guide: First registrations (PG1) Guidance for conveyancers on how to register unregistered estates in land for the first time (practice guide 1). Page Summary : This guide deals with the procedure to be followed when applying for first registration of unregistered estates in land. It […]
Efficiency measures to manage client expectations
Written by Priscilla Sinder, Managing Director at Property Conveyancing Consultancy Ltd. In this short article I will look at two quick efficiency measures that can be implemented with very little cost but can reduce unnecessary calls and emails from clients chasing for their Title Information Documents. In today’s climate (excluding the hard conditions imposed on […]
New Training Academy contributes to 40% growth in conveyancing staff
O’Neill Patient (ONP) has set up a Training Academy to bring new blood into the conveyancing industry and has welcomed 79 new starters in the first four months of 2021. This new recruitment means ONP’s head count for conveyancing sale and purchase has increased by 40% since the start of the year as it continues […]
Mental Health Survey – how are you feeling?
We’re re-running our mental health survey to establish how our conveyancing friends and readers are feeling as the impending Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday looms, and whether the gradual lifting of restrictions across the country has impacted our mood. The survey takes a couple of minutes and you can have your say here. The […]
Land Data releases Local Land Charges Awards for Excellence Shortlist
Land Data, the National Land Information Service (NLIS) regulator, has today revealed the shortlist of finalists for their upcoming 2021 Land Data Local Land Charges Awards for Excellence. After a 2-month period of judging the shortlist is now finalised. Entries and nominations were submitted by solicitors, conveyancers, customer service experts and local land charges personnel. […]
InfoTrack announces game-changing enhancements to Property Report
InfoTrack has released content updates to Property Report, the only search data-driven report on title solution in the market. Solicitors can rely on Property Report to provide content tailored to their Title Registers, Conveyancing Searches and Land Tax, in line with HMRC guidance. Solicitors select applicable tenure types including Freehold, Leasehold, New Build, Shared Ownership, […]
Conveyancers to benefit from HMLR’s Portal Enhancement
HM Land Registry (HMLR) have enhanced their portal so conveyancers can quickly see estimated completion dates for their applications. Their latest portal enhancement, ‘Estimated Completion Date’, is now available within ‘View My Applications’. Estimated Completion Date is the latest enhancement to View My Applications, which is available to all portal users. For the first time […]
Welwyn Hatfield Council joins Land Registry’s Local Land Register
HM Land Registry’s digital Local Land Charges Register continues to grow, enabling the digital transformation of homebuying with Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council now joining Land Registry’s Local Land Charges Register. Borough council is the latest local authority to transfer its local land charges data to HM Land Registry’s digital register. Anyone requiring local land charges […]
Junior lawyers must be supported as the profession looks to a hybrid return to the office
New guidance on how to supervise and support junior staff and trainees via hybrid and flexible working models as firms and organisations look to return to the office has been unveiled by the Law Society of England and Wales. Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce said: “Since March 2020, solicitors have been working and supervising […]
SRA abandons plans to reduce grants from Compensation Fund
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has abandoned its plans to reduce the maximum grants made from the Compensation Fund. This u-turn has been welcomed by The Law Society for England and Wales. A spokesperson for the Law Society commented: “We are pleased to hear that the SRA has decided not to reduce the single claim […]
Have you signed the Call for Kindness Pledge?
Following on from the inaugural British Conveyancing Awards, we thought it would be the right time to reaffirm the commitment we’ve all made as an industry to help each other navigate through these tough times, and highlight our Call for Kindness pledge. David Opie, Managing Director of Today’s Media who publish Today’s Conveyancer, said: “At […]
Glitz and glamour as the Conveyancing sector celebrates at British Conveyancing Awards
This afternoon the conveyancing industry came together to celebrate and recognise the herculean efforts of all those involved in the property market over the last 14 months. The inaugural British Conveyancing Awards took to the virtual stage, with multi-award-winning broadcaster and journalist Samira Ahmed leading the prestigious event alongside headline sponsor Lawyer Checker and Champagne […]
Law firm diversity – are you ready for this years’ survey?
The bi-annual Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) diversity survey will be run in late Summer this year; the last survey took place in 2019 and saw 96% of firms reporting their data from more than 186,000 people in 9,500 firms. As with the previous survey, there has been slight changes to some of the questions, these […]