FCA consults on the interpretation of cryptoasset activities ahead of summer policy statements
Following confirmation the issuing, management and transfer of cryptoassets is to be regulated, the Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on its interpretation of cryptoassets activities ahead of the publication of policy statements in the summer. In December, the government confirmed cryptocurrency would become regulated, with providers required to register with the Financial Conduct […]
Legal-technology founder launches AI powered conveyancing firm
The founder of a conveyancing technology provider has launched a CLC-regulated law firm “to show that the variability that has long characterised the conveyancing process is not inevitable”. Ed Boulle is the co-founder of Orbital, an AI-powered property due diligence platform which provides summarised title documents, leases, deeds, searches and lender requirements for conveyancers. Announcing […]
Legal tech sees 35% increase in external investment as government invests £4.5m in incubator
LawtechUK, a Ministry of Justice-backed initiative supporting technology startups in the legal sector, has secured further funding to enable it to continue operating for the next three years. The programme, currently delivered in a partnership between CodeBase and Legal Geek, will receive an additional £4.5 million over the next three years. Last year, UK-founded lawtech […]
Industry body for legal software throws its weight behind home buying reform
The Legal Suppliers Software Association (LSSA) has thrown its weight behind efforts to reform the home buying and selling process in a meeting with the Ministry of Housing. The LSSA said it had met with a strategy adviser in the Ministry to discuss proposed reforms to the home buying and home selling process and the […]
The judgment line
In the fourth of his weekly series, Ed Molyneux introduces the concept that should shape how every conveyancing firm thinks about AI: the judgment line, and which side of it your work falls on. Over the past three weeks I have written about what AI can do, where it fails, and why provenance is the […]
New panel management platform aims to bring lenders and conveyancers closer
A South African technology business says it has launched a new panel management platform that will “simplify the onboarding process for conveyancers and improve panel management and oversight for lenders”. In the company’s native South Africa, e4 Strategic built a platform that connects all major stakeholders involved in a property transaction including mortgage lenders, conveyancing […]
NatWest now actively transacting on PEXA platform
NatWest is now actively transacting on PEXA’s digital property transaction platform, with the move affecting fee-assisted remortgage customers of the FTSE-100 bank. Sale and purchase transactions will follow, PEXA said. The high street lender signed a formal commitment to proceed with an implementation programme for remortgage transactions in July last year. The third largest mortgage […]
Why ‘AI says so’ isn’t good enough
In the third of his weekly series, Ed Molyneux explains why provenance – knowing where data came from and how conclusions were reached – is the difference between AI that helps your practice and AI that threatens it. Last week I wrote about where AI excels and where it fails in conveyancing. The response […]
New Law Society guide informs solicitors of AI risks
The Law Society of England and Wales has launched a new practical guide to help solicitors make safer, more informed technology decisions and warns that unsafe AI adoption may expose firms to risks. The majority of firms and solicitors now use AI for routine legal practice tasks such as drafting documents and analysing case material, […]
Smart property data could add £2bn to GDP; but only with legislative intervention
The application of smart data to the property market could contribute up to £2bn to UK GDP by the 2040’s according to a new report published by government his week. The Department for Business and Trade report “Economic analysis: understanding the costs and benefits of smart data use cases” analysed five use cases for smart […]
Award-winning industry leader launches latest version of legal case management
We’re excited to introduce the latest version of Redbrick Solutions’ legal case management software, featuring enhanced functionality and improvements, including the enhanced capabilities of Redbrick Legal AI, to help our clients deliver exceptional legal services more efficiently. The software’s new headline features include the following: Redbrick Legal AI: Built to help our clients achieve more […]
What AI can and can’t do with your case files
In the second of his weekly series, Ed Molyneux gets specific about where AI excels and where it fails in conveyancing — and why understanding the difference is the key to using it safely. Last week I introduced the “jagged frontier” of AI capability; the idea that these systems are superhuman at some tasks and […]
How PropTech could connect transactions of the future
The future of digital property transactions is closer than many think. Here, Nick Dyoss, group business development and relationships Director at Landmark, explains how national digitisation, trusted data frameworks and new infrastructure could deliver a faster, more certain and more connected market for everyone in the near-term future. The UK property market is undergoing […]
Hoowla Hosts UK Conveyancing Software Conference Focused on AI, Data and Operational Efficiency
Hoowla, a leading provider of conveyancing software in the UK, successfully hosted its inaugural user conference on 11 March in Birmingham, bringing together legal professionals from across the UK for a day of industry insight, collaboration and forward-looking discussion. The invitation-only event marked a significant milestone for the company, providing the first opportunity for Hoowla […]
tmGroup launches tmSign – the Qualified Electronic Signature solution purpose-built for UK conveyancing
tmGroup has launched tmSign, an innovative Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) solution specifically for the regulatory, technical and workflow needs of conveyancers. The platform brings together verified digital identity, compliance, and legally recognised signing into one seamless process – enabling firms to complete property transactions securely, efficiently, and without the delays traditionally associated with wet signatures. […]
Call for conveyancers to join data testing project
The Smart Property Data Trust Framework sandbox, a government-backed project laying the foundations for a “more efficient, trusted and transparent housing market”, is looking for more conveyancing firms to get involved. The initiative comes in response to what its creators describe as a property market still reliant on “document-heavy, fragmented processes”, with the aim of […]
Confessions of a cyber conveyancer – ‘What should we be training our lawyers to do?’
As AI’s knowledge grows, and those operating it become increasingly confident in its accuracy, where does that leave conveyancers? While cyber conveyancer Peter Ambrose accepts the sector may be losing the monopoly on knowledge, he explains why AI can never replicate or replace the human touch. Check back on 10th April for the next instalment. […]
Qualified electronic signatures in conveyancing: Why QES matters now
The property market has moved decisively into the digital age, but conveyancing hasn’t always kept pace. While buyers can view properties online, arrange mortgages digitally, and transfer deposits electronically, the final signing stage has historically remained frustratingly analogue, relying on a pen-and-ink process that’s remained largely unchanged for 100s of years. That is now changing. […]
The age of the AI agent: A conveyancer’s guide to what’s coming
AI agents are arriving in property transactions. Not chatbots, but autonomous systems that complete tasks across every participant in the chain. In the first of a weekly series, Ed Molyneux explains why the technology’s ‘jagged frontier’ of capability means the real challenge isn’t intelligence – it’s architecture. A few days ago, a clip went […]
Lawyers gain 10,000 hours in productivity as AI-powered document reading tool REI processes data from over 300 local authorities in England and Wales
Search Acumen, a pioneer in UK legal technology, announces that its local authority document reading tool, Real Estate Intelligence (REI), has created time efficiency savings of approximately 10,000 hours for real estate lawyers to date. Since its launch in Q4 2024, REI has processed more than 225,000 individual pages of CON29 documents. Using REI, reviewing […]