A second Birmingham solicitor has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT). Zia Latif, formerly of AKZ Solicitors, Alum Rock, was struck off at a hearing last Tuesday (21 October) in a case
A solicitor has been sentenced to jail after helping an overseas client to buy a flat in Waltham Abbey, as part of the UK’s Right to Buy scheme. Co-defendant, Sarah-Jane Foster was able to buy
Dramatic drop in extra costs of buy to let due to mortgage fees, for all except the highest LTV loans Short term fixes now less prevalent, as longer initial terms form a growing proportion of
Hotspots in Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Islington & Hackney set to lead London’s future home developments New build projects in the capital could deliver 570,000 extra homes, enough to match expected need by 2024 Population growth
Regentsmead, the UK’s leading provider of residential development finance, have found their golden touch once again, helping one of their clients to scoop three major gongs at the recent UK Property Awards hosted in Grosvenor
Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) has today been fined £4,135,600 for failings when dealing with its mortgage customers experiencing payment difficulties. Between 1 October 2011 and 31 July 2012, call handlers at YBS, dealing with customers
Paul Skillen is the founder of the international property management and investment firm Mayfair and Morgan, which has just launched an internet-based crowdfunding property platform, allowing members to invest in portfolios from as little as
Global Wealth Manager UBS are the latest company to engage the services of Lawyer Checker in a bid to fight the criminal conveyancers. With a 150 year heritage in wealth and asset management, UBS have
A new housing development which will regenerate a rundown former industrial site has been unveiled by a prominent MP. Margaret Hodge has officially opened the first of 73 new affordable homes in her London constituency.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has struck off Nasir Ilyas, the last partner of North West firm Wolstenholmes LLP to be dealt with for professional misconduct. Mr Ilyas was struck off on Wednesday 15 October,
This month sees the launch of Today’s Conveyancer Training — a range of highly effective training courses designed to improve the knowledge of customer-facing employees within conveyancing. We’ve teamed up with customer service and B2B
Despite reports showing the property market is beginning to “cool” after the summer, this doesn’t seem to be detracting business from conveyancing firms, such as Headleys Solicitors based in the East Midlands. Headleys have announced
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have recently reported gross mortgage lending figures that represent a slowing in the market, yet a 10% boost since the same period last year. Reported estimates of gross mortgage
Broker-focused conveyancer, Blacks Connect, has today been added to the solicitor panel of specialist mortgage lender, Precise Mortgages. Brokers and their clients are now able to choose Blacks Connect as their conveyancer of choice when
The phrase ‘perfect storm’ is over used, but there are plenty of reasons for legal IT professionals to look pensive as they plan their projects for the next 12 months. Across the legal industry, as
Tips to help increase sale price of ‘haunted homes’ The majority of estate agents believe a home with a spooky history can lose up to 20% of its value and can be twice as difficult
In October 2013, the HM Government released the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, in an effort to detract such criminal activity that had a detrimental effect on the UK. The strategy focussed on the 4
September sees 25,800 first-time buyer completions — up 11% compared to 23,200 a year ago Average first-time buyer deposit falls 8% year-on-year to £26,134, despite purchase prices rising Average first-time buyer deposit now represents 67.6%
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is running two events to raise awareness and understanding of the SRA’s draft Competence Statement and supporting documents. Bespoke sessions are taking place in in London and Birmingham on 19th
Though London has the highest house and rental prices in the UK, it seems residents remain optimistic and believe they will eventually be able to take the first step onto the property ladder. Leading flat-share
Buying flats is a pain, not helped when you have an incredibly unresponsive conveyancer. Experience so far suggests avoid ***** – Dan K (@DanKoola86) October 22, 2014 Had been v.excited about buying my first flat,
Measures to make it simpler for multi-disciplinary practices (MDPs) to be licensed as alternative business structures (ABS) by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have been approved by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The SRA’s changes
HotLizard announce another exciting upgrade has just been released on www.jobboard.com and www.recruitersites.co.uk — a new mobile platform that has seen the level of functionality increase along with enhancements to the design. This is release
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is today [24 October] publishing the findings from the extensive engagement work undertaken to support the development of the Competence Statement. The SRA commissioned an external research company, BMG Research
“The cloud” is one of those buzzwords that seems to dominate any discussion of technology now. The cloud is a catch-all term for computer services and data storage via the web. It can deliver greater
House price growth across Prime London slows to 0.5% in Q3 2014, down from 3.1% last quarter Ratio of buyers per property drops to 12 in September, as supply soars 13% in three months However,
Number of remortgage loans also rose by 16% from August Remortgage repayments account for less than a fifth of total income, the smallest amount in a year as wages rise for third consecutive month Latest
Research by myhomemove, the UK’s leading provider of conveyancing services, has revealed that six months after its introduction, UK home buyers hold mixed feelings over the Mortgage Market Review (MMR), which was designed to halt
Yvonne Hirons is managing director of DCUK (Direct Conveyancing UK), which has just launched E-Plus 247, an on-line case tracking and quotation system that promises to cut out the panel manager in the relationship between
Identity driven crimes account for nearly half of all frauds in 2014 A recent report carried out by CIFAS found that data driven identity crimes — frauds carried out using a victim’s identity details to
Leeds-based Blacks Solicitors, comprised of broker-focused conveyancer Blacks Connect and the recently launched Blacks Affinity conveyancing quotation system, have claimed a major prize at the Yorkshire Legal Awards. Blacks beat off stiff competition to pick
Scotland’s average rent falls 0.2% from August peak, to stand at £536 per month in September Annual rent rises slow to 2.0% over the last twelve months, down from 3.1% in September 2013 Rents drop