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 […]
How conveyancers can protect themselves against a cyber attack
The sensitive personal data that’s collected – addresses, names, financial information or property deeds, and the large sums of money handled make conveyancers a prime target for hackers. In fact, cybercrime remains one of the biggest threats in the legal industry, and it makes up 75 per cent of the crime reported by UK law […]
Embracing digital transformation: The future of conveyancing
The recent CA Conference was unashamedly focused on how the conveyancing process, and conveyancing firms, are moving in, and into, the ‘digital age’ and it was pretty clear there is widespread agreement that conveyancing work not only requires that move, but it is an absolute necessity. Which, I understand, is easier to write than deliver, […]
What Clients Want…
The latest Today’s Conveyancer podcast explores the perennial question on the minds and lips of most businesses… what do clients really want? A report from Law Firm Marketing Club does just that. Now in it’s 4th year, “What Clients Want” is an extensive piece of research which asks consumers of legal services what they want […]
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 […]
This is a fine mess you’ve gotten us into Mr Shapps
If Home Information Packs (HIPs) had not been scrapped we would not be in the confusing position we are now with the introduction of the new Material Information Guidance (MIG). The HIP, over the last decade or so, would have evolved into a pack that could easily have contained all of the new required Material […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer: 12th February 2024
On Thursday, I received a telephone call from a former client – she told me that she had decided to buy an apartment and wanted to know my fees. I started by asking her some questions, and the conversation went a little like this: Me: In order for me to give you as precise a […]
Property Patter: what can we expect for property law in 2024?
Emma Humphreys and Laura Bushaway are joined by Guy Fetherstonhaugh KC and Daniel Black of Falcon Chambers to look at what lies ahead for property law during 2024 – including areas of the Building Safety Act 2022 which need further clarifying, rights of way involving electric gates and whether the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 […]
“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 […]
Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill
In relation to lease extensions and freehold purchases, the objective of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill can be summarised as making it “cheaper and easier” for leaseholders. For those advising clients about how much “cheaper and easier” it might become in practice it would be nice to have a crystal ball. Instead, we have […]
Celebrating conveyancing talent of the future during National Apprenticeship Week
Apprenticeships have had a bad rap over the last few decades. Historically deemed as the unpopular and less academic option than a university degree, the early 00’s saw apprenticeship registration numbers across the UK take a nose dive. But the tides are turning as young people are rejecting the notion that a university education is […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer: 5th February 2024
What provoked my tale last week of the double murder in a house my client was buying was a post I saw relating to unnecessary enquiries. The query posted was – have any crimes been committed in the property? And bearing in mind, last week’s tale, I think we can conclude that acting in […]
The importance of performance management over appraisals
Hamza Hafesji, Group Product Manager at Advanced Legal, joins the latest Today’s Conveyancer podcast to discuss the importance of implementing a culture of performance management in a business. For years the only time most employees receive any sort of constructive feedback has been in an annual appraisal. For Hamza, something has to fundamentally change and […]
The ex-conveyancer’s view: Launching a new technology platform
Today’s Conveyancer podcast host David Opie is joined by former-conveyancer Chris Scantlebury, the founder and director at conveyancing platform ProConvey. Chris explains how he has moved on from front line conveyancing to develop ProConvey; an digital conveyancing tool that helps conveyancers and estate agents better collaborate. Having spent 10 years “down the mines” at the […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer: 29th January 2024
Conveyancing is not always about the law – yes, we need the law to underpin the work we do each day but a lot of what we do is a process. But every conveyancing transaction is different and that is because all properties are different and all people are different. How client X reacts to […]
Planning essentials case update: when can an enforcement notice against an unlawful use also require the removal of related structures?
There are currently two different limitation periods for breaches of planning law dependent on the type of breach. The general rule is that where there has been a breach of planning control consisting of building operations without planning permission, no enforcement action can be taken 4 years after the operations were substantially completed. Whereas, where there […]
Confessions of a cyber conveyancer
I’ve never made any secret of my opinion that the core problem in conveyancing is a lack of usable data to help lawyers make better decisions. When combined with a completely manual process of dealing with risk, this results in the almost unmanageable chaos that most property lawyers face every day. Given the increased risks […]
‘So, what difference does it make?’
Music fans of a certain vintage will recognise these lyrics from one of The Smiths’ powerhouse singles of the 80s no doubt, and wonder why they headline this particular article on conveyancing. Well, I start with this question, because it’s one we tend to get a lot from conveyancers when asking ‘what difference’ membership of […]
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 […]