BRM Solicitors has announced the appointment or a new Partner and Head of their Residential Property Department. Stuart Taphouse, a former Director of Banner Jones Limited and latterly a partner at James Peters & Co
The latest property transaction figures released by the Land Registry show that non-seasonally adjusted transactions were at their highest level since December 2009. 89,460 transactions were carried out in August, up 0.4% up on July
On Thursday evening winners of the Law Firm Services Conveyancing awards were crowned. myhomemove took home the award for Overall Conveyancer of the Year as well as Direct Conveyancing Firm of the Year. These awards
In August gross mortgage increased from an average of £8.4bn over of the last six months to hit £9.3bn. The latest BBA figures showed that the numbers of approvals for house purchase and remortgaging both
Whilst remortgage lending in still up 8% from this time last year it suffered a substantial fall of 14.8% from July to August taking the total to £3.2bn. According to the latest figures from LMS
A motion bought before a Law Society of Scotland special general meeting to introduce mandatory separate representation for home buyers and lenders was today defeated. The final vote count taking into account proxy votes was
The Conveyancing Association has announced its endorsement of ML Solutions’ anti-money laundering services and products. Conveyancing Association members will now be eligible for a discount on services offered by ML Solutions, who have become the
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has started to evaluate the data on around 2,000 firms’ finances following a fact-finding survey. Firms included in the survey included those working in areas that are experiencing particular economic
According to the latest figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders gross mortgage lending held steady in August at an estimated £16.6 billion. Lending was only slightly higher in July at £16.7 billion and
Ahead of is full stock market listing, due to take place this week, Foxtons has been valued at £649m. Foxtons announced their plans to float last month in order to raise funds and capitalise on
Countrywide Residential Lettings has continued to rapidly build its portfolio with the acquisition of 18 businesses since the start of 2013. Since 2007 the group has acquired 59 businesses and the empire shows no signs
Fridaysmove has announced that it is now inviting new applications from firms seeking to join its conveyancing panel. This is the first time the Fridaysmove has opened its doors to applicants since 2011. Historically, membership
A special general meeting of the Law Society of Scotland later this month will see lawyer’s debate proposals for mandatory separate legal representation for home buyers and lenders. Earlier this year solicitors voted for the
Average rent in August across England and Wales reached just £1 behind the all-time record of August 2012. According to the latest buy-to-let index from LSL Property Services plc, monthly rents in August hit an
Radio 4’s You and Yours programme on Friday 13th September focussed on the growing area of vendor conveyancing fraud. The programme focussed on the case of a homebuyer who has lost £100,000 after being defrauded
In response to demand by Shropshire law firms for a CPD seminar in the county, a number of key industry speakers are coming to Telford on 9th October. The session covers a variety of subjects
Leading conveyancer myhomemove has announced 2012 was its strongest year to date, with transactions up 13.5% from 2011. myhomemove hope to continue this success over the next few years and treble their transaction volumes in
Capita plc has announced that it has reached a conditional agreement to acquire the English business of Optima Legal Services Limited (‘Optima Legal’), including its subsidiary Cost Advocates. Optima Legal provides legal services for property
The SRA has today launched the 2013 round of Practising Certificate renewals, with a closing date of Thursday, 31 October. They are offering a range of support measures to help those completing applications. These include;
The invaluable Conveyancing Handbook has been updated and is now in its 20th Edition. Once again Frances Silverman and her team have produced an excellent piece of work. The book is useful not only for
Gross UK mortgage lending in July was 29% up from last July, and 12% from June, taking the total to £16.7 billion. The Council of Mortgage Lenders figures showed total home-owner house purchase lending continued
Firms who took out Professional Indemnity cover with firm Berliner should have received notification that there is uncertainty as to their cover for the forthcoming year. Berliner took over clients from troubled firm Balva, meaning
One of largest conveayncing firms in Scotland, McVey and Murricane (MM) has authored a report arguing that Separate Representation would be a disaster for the Scottish legal profession and the Scottish homebuying public. The news
RICS have sparked debate by suggesting the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee should consider limiting annual house price inflation to 5% in order to prevent “another housing bubble, reckless bank lending and a dangerous
Representatives of the Legal Services Consumer Panel (LSCP) and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) talked last week to conveyancers about the current and future state of regulation. At the quarterly meeting of the Conveyancing
The UK’s largest conveyancer myhomemove has revealed that it experienced a record August, with 3938 completions in 22 working days. This breaks the firm’s own record for the most transactions ever completed in a month.
A number of emails hiding a piece of malware have been circulating, purporting to come from the Land Registry. The emails inform recipients that some fees will be collected by the Land Registry from their
Housing Minister Mark Prisk has offered a huge investment opportunity as part of the £1bn Build to Rent scheme. The scheme will operate alongside £10bn in government housing guarantees and support developers and investors who
Average house prices have reached £233,776 following an increase of £7,275 over the last 12 months. According to the latest House Price Index issued by LSL house prices increased 0.4% in Agust from July signally
The Business Secretary this week warned that the Government’s help-to-buy scheme needed more careful consideration. He told Sky News “we don’t want a new housing bubble” and expressed concerns that in some areas of the
Barratt Developments PLC had today issued its final results for the year ended 30 June 2013, showing an increase in group revenue of 12.2%. This brings total group revenue to £2,606.2m up from £2,323.4m in
The Solicitors Regulation Authority Board is meeting this week to consider a two-year action plan to help ensure consumers have the information they need when they use legal services. The plan includes the launch of