What’s happening with Local Land Charges?
The intended centralisation of the Local Land Charges registers has been well documented; but it’s not the only item on the agenda for Local Land Charge teams. In this latest Today’s Conveyancer Podcast host David Opie is joined by Land Data Chief Executive Fiona Barron, Pat Morgan, Chair of the Local Land Charges Institute, and […]
Could working from home require planning permission?
When would working from home require planning permission? Sabah Siddiq, Associate Solicitor at Blandy Blandy, takes a look and tells us more. In October 2021, judge Sir Duncan Ouseley shed some further light over this complex issue in his judgment of the High Court case Sage v Secretary of State for Housing, Local Government and Communities […]
HBSG has taken industry as far as it can without government intervention
The government needs to step in to mandate reforms that promise to revolutionise the home buying and selling process, a roundtable organised by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has heard. Speakers at the annual stakeholder event also highlighted recruitment issues in the conveyancing market, after the huge surge of work during the post-lockdown stamp […]
What they don’t tell you about setting up a conveyancing firm…
I set up Aconveyancing in 2017, after many years of working with firms of all sizes. My intention was to take the best parts of all those previous companies and merge them into my own. Sounds logical, right? Combine that with all the tips from experts, books and mentors and I’d have the recipe for […]
Podcast Special: Reaction to SDLT Cut
In this special episode of the Today’s Conveyancer Podcast host David Opie discusses the ins and outs of the announcement by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to cut Stamp Duty rates in the mini-budget on Friday 23rd September. David is joined by conveyancing industry veteran Lloyd Davies, Managing Director of Convey Law and Chairman of The Conveyancing […]
The state of the Solicitors’ Professional Indemnity Insurance market in 2022
For many firms, solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) is a “set it and forget it”-type of activity. They understand they need coverage, but they’re far from thrilled about the process of scouring providers to find the best deal. That’s especially true when you consider the current professional indemnity insurance market. Surging premiums, an absence of […]
The perils of paying lip service to cyber risk
In this latest Today’s Conveyancer podcast, host David Opie is joined by Emma Green, Managing Partner at Cyber Data Law Solicitors. A regular commentator on national radio and television, Emma is an expert on cyber crime and alongside spending her time educating firms on the perils of cyber attack, has also spent time negotiating with […]
Diary of a high street conveyancer; 20th September 2022
A week last Saturday, the King announced an additional Bank Holiday. My first thought was, “oh no – I have someone moving on that day”. However, the property my client was selling was his late mother’s property and I knew it was empty, so changing the completion date was not going to be too tricky. […]
SRA makes long-awaited announcement on future of SIF
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has established an SRA-run indemnity scheme meaning that existing Solicitors Indemnity Fund arrangements, as operated by the Solicitors Indemnity Fund Limited (SIFL), will be replaced with SRA-run indemnity arrangements from September 2023. The decision to introduce SRA-run indemnity arrangements, which will maintain consumer protection for post six-year negligence as a regulatory […]
The advent of “cradle-to-grave” digital conveyancing is now
“Cradle-to-grave” digital conveyancing round the corner as PEXA and LMS successfully launch new digital remortgaging products Last week was nothing short of momentous for the remortgage market, with two key market players announcing pioneering developments that, with time, are set to shift the tectonic plates of the conveyancing industry. The current remortgage process is complicated […]
Looking back at conveyancing during Her late Majesty’s glorious reign
As the country mourns Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, Today’s Conveyancer looked back at the development of the law and society during Her late Majesty’s glorious reign. The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/VfxpXro22W — The […]
Leading KC spells out conveyancers’ climate risk duty of care
An environmental lawyer has suggested property practitioners owe a duty to clients to provide warning and advice around climate risk which may adversely affect the property being purchased. Stephen Tromans KC has warned conveyancers that failure to follow proper due diligence when it comes to climate change could result in damages claims for professional negligence, […]
How can conveyancers prepare for a downturn in the market?
It is ill-founded to suggest that the market is on the precipice of catastrophe: the latest Land Registry data shows house prices are still on the rise, with transactions also soaring in July. Significantly, the Bank of England also revealed last week that mortgage approvals climbed in July – an indicator that future borrowing is […]
Snakes and ladders: the key to helping clients understand conveyancing?
Buying or selling a house can be very complicated and the conveyancing process can be very difficult to explain to clients. With all the legal jargon, areas where transactions can fall through, the searches, the surveys, even some in the profession can grow tiresome of conveyancing. Luckily to help clients understand the process, Rob Hailstone, […]
A solicitor’s top technological tips
Here are some handy technical tips from a solicitor that you already have at your disposal but may not know about know about. With everyone working from home either permanently or on regular basis, it might take a change in mindset/training yourself to read everything on screen to be totally paperless. Here we go: Learn […]
Darlington Building Society teams up with LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Darlington Building Society, the 160+ year old Northeast-based mutual, has procured compliance technology from LexisNexis® Risk Solutions. As part of the Society’s ongoing digital transformation, Darlington will initially use the LexisNexis® RiskNarrative™ platform to deliver their financial crime prevention strategy and improve their existing online member portal experience and customer onboarding journeys. The mutual went […]
How law firms must adapt to thrive in a changing conveyancing sector
The conveyancing sector continues to set records against past years as new trends emerge in the housing market, and law firms adapt and compete with the rising demand. The housing market has shown its resilience over the past few years, staying surprisingly strong throughout the Covid pandemic. This was particularly helped by the exodus of […]
The Ombudsman’s corner: 29th August 2022
The Ombudsman’s corner: recent changes – taking the right approach for each case The Legal Services Act 2007, which set up the Legal Ombudsman, requires that we complete our work “quickly and with minimum formality”. Demand for our service has never been higher, and there have been significant waiting times for us to begin investigating […]
Help to buy losing the battle for Generation Rent
The UK Government released the Q1 2022 Help to Buy Statistics in August. What they said Between 1st January and 31st March 2022, 5,395 properties were purchased with a Help to Buy equity loan. This was 65% lower than the same period last year, and 40% lower than in the previous quarter. The value of […]
Facing up to property fraud
Property fraud has been a growing threat in the digital age – but the buoyant housing market and a looming recession are creating a perfect storm for criminals looking to cash in. In one well-documented case, a man returned home from a work trip only to find it had been sold and stripped out without […]