Fighting the Legal Crisis: Why the UK Legal Industry Needs to Evolve to Survive
The legal industry may be built on tradition and heritage, but it must be open to innovation to keep up in an ever-evolving world. It’s no secret that the world of work is rapidly changing in the UK’s wider cultural climate but, for a sector built with a strong focus on precedent and commitment to […]
If upfront information isn’t the answer, what are you doing to solve the archaic conveyancing process?
The introduction of Material Information Parts B and C towards the back end of last year has thrust conveyancing into the spotlight, giving us as professionals a new standard to uphold. But as the sector digests the implications, it is apparent that there are mixed views as to whether or not it will benefit the […]
An American Adventure
Chief Revenue Officer at Cashroom Alex Holt joins Today’s Conveyancer Podcast host David Opie to discuss his Cashroom and the development of the business over the last 10 years. Cashroom offer outsourced finance functions for law firms across the UK; and has grown as a number of factors have come together to place pressure on […]
CLSQ launches Lack of Mortgagee Protection Clause policy
CLSQ has launched a Lack of Mortgagee Protection Clause policy to smooth the conveyancing process on leasehold properties where there is no mortgagee protection clause included in the lease, or where the clause is defective. The policy insures a lender for any shortfall on the mortgage advance on a leasehold property following re-entry and/or forfeiture […]
A reflection on National Conveyancing Week
As the curtain falls on another successful National Conveyancing Week, I consider the opinions shared over the course of the programme and question, with this renewed sense of togetherness, how we keep that enthusiasm up throughout the year. I was struck by a comment in Monday’s session on Creating a Digital Property Market, noting how […]
Market conditions, the material information debate, and normalising climate change
The Today’s Conveyancer podcast talks to Chief Operating Officer at environmental data and search provider Groundsure, Malcolm Smith. After nearly 20 years in the sector Malcolm is known to many and in a refreshingly honest discussion, he shares his thoughts on current market conditions, the up front information debate, and normalising climate change advice for […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer: 25th March 2024
I often think about the ‘good old days’ of conveyancing but this week, I had cause to reflect on something which does illustrate that processes were so much easier in the old days. I have just completed the purchase of a leasehold apartment. I have served the notice on the managing agents and as is […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer: 18th March 2024
So National Conveyancing Week is over – and what a week it was! From on line panel discussions to awards ceremonies – it had everything that a conveyancer needs! We can see where the market is going and what is likely to be of interest to us in the next year. As I have often […]
National Conveyancing Week 2024 Special Episode – HMLR in Conversation
This special edition of the Today’s Conveyancer Podcast is guest hosted by one of the founders of National Conveyancing Week Rob Hailstone. Rob speaks with HM Land Registry’s Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Customer and Strategy Mike Harlow. Rob questions Mike about progress on the registrations backlogs, consistency of response from HMLR, lender updates, […]
Finders International: Streamlining Property Matters with Missing Freeholder Services
Practitioners often face challenges during property transactions when dealing with missing or absent freeholders. At Finders International, a multi award-winning tracing company, these challenges are met with a proven and reliable solution. Specialising in finding missing individuals, the company’s comprehensive research team offers a range of Missing Freeholder services to assist UK conveyancing and property […]
Building Safety Act: A review of the Law Society Guidance
The Building Safety Act 2022 became law on the 28th June 2022 with the aim of preventing any repetition of the Grenfell disaster and or releasing leaseholders from the potential or actual burden of service charge for remediation work relating to fire risk or the risk of collapse. The six parts of the Act, five […]
Are We Forgetting The Homeowner?
The property industry has taken so long to get digitised, that it now has an opportunity to learn from other sectors and to leapfrog whole generations of digital innovation. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to have been appreciated by those people in charge of large parts of the property sector’s data and system development. This is […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer: 26th February 2024
I sometimes think about ‘the old days’ – and in particular, those old days where the relationship between solicitor and estate agent was so much kinder. A drink after work on a Friday afternoon to catch up on local property gossip; recommendations between agents and solicitors where they would ask us to act on transactions […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer: 19th February 2024
There are times in conveyancing land when we need to take a deep breath and decide that the best course of action is often to do nothing when provoked. This happened to me this week. I am sure that is a scenario that many of you will relate to! I am acting for a lovely […]
“We’re arguing over boilers, not practicing the law”
Ruth Beeton co founder of Home Sale Pack join the Today’s Conveyancer podcast to discuss the launch of the business which aims to collect more property information and data up front in the course of a property transaction in order to create greater speed and certainty. Ruth, from North East firm HS Conveyancing Ltd, has […]
How to better deal with complaints and compliance considerations
Kate Burt joins this latest episode of the Today’s Conveyancer podcast. Kate is a solicitor and compliance consultant, running specialist consultancy Hive Risk. The topic of discussion is compliance and the way external organisations can support firms, before moving on to specifically talk about complaints handling. As Kate says, compliance is not just the SRA […]
The Ombudsman’s Corner: January 2024
Our approach to offers made at first tier When a consumer first brings a complaint to us, one of the first thing we do is to establish whether the service provider has made an offer to resolve it during their own complaints procedure. If this is the case, and we think the service provider’s offer […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer: 22nd January 2024
One of the things that bothers me is what we should do when we receive a contract pack which is not correct and perhaps has missing documents and what we should do when we receive enquiries which are standard and clearly not CQS-compliant. It is clear from what I read that the quality of conveyancing […]
The regulator’s view; anti-money laundering and the CLC
The Today’s Conveyancer podcast returns for it’s third series with our first episode of 2024. And we’re launching with a bang with Sebastian Haller, Deputy Director of Anti-Money Laundering at the Council for Licensed Conveyancers sharing the regulator’s views on the challenges conveyancers and property lawyers face when it comes to anti-money laundering (AML) Sebastian […]
How can law firms enhance their ESG efforts and meet the evolving expectations of clients?
“How important is a law firm’s approach to sustainability?” As ethical considerations and sustainable practices become increasingly crucial for both clients and businesses, the legal sector finds itself under scrutiny for more than just its ability to provide a slick service to clients. Asking clients and potential clients to weigh in on this matter, the […]
