Brokers were warned at the Mortgage Business Expo at Manchester of bridging loan fraud, which was described as a fraud hotpsot by John Malone, executive chairman of PMS.  Mortgage Introducer reports that brokers are accused

A solicitor has been struck off for failing to refer clients to an independent financial advisor, reports Money Marketing. The case against Andrew Field was brought by the SRA to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.  The

UK trade body the Property Care Association (PCA) has launched a new group dedicated to the removal and control of Japanese Knotweed. The PCA has been working with RICS, the CML and the Building Societies

A new Voluntary Purchase Scheme is being proposed for properties will on the route of the high speed rail line between Birmingham and London.  If the scheme is adopted it will mean that properties can

Voting remains open for this award until the end of June so there is plenty of time left. Smaller law firms that offer a high level of service have as much chance as some of

Voting remains open for this award until the end of June so there is plenty of time left. Smaller law firms that offer a high level of service have as much chance as some of

The SRA has today issued a warning about the website www.preston-hubbard.co.uk.  The website purports to relate to a law firm in London, but the SRA records show that no such firm is regulated by the

The Co-operative today announced plans for the creation of 3,000 jobs in its legal services business, as it continues to expand.  The announcement will make the Co-operative, which already has interests in professional services, the

Nationwide has announced that it has increased its gross mortgage lending by 44% in the year to 4th April 2012.  Gross mortgage lending over the year was £18.4 billion, a rise from £12.8 billion in

Research by Hometrack examining the trends in new private housing supply suggests that the Government is not meeting its priority of increasing the volume of new housing.  The study can be found here. The number

Last week the ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the credit rating of 16 Spanish banks.  This included Santander.  The UK arm of Santander was downgraded to A2.  This is one level higher than the Spanish parent

From 18th May, Nationwide has reduced its two and five year fixed rates by 0.10%.  This includes the NewBuy five year fixed rate loan which is now at 5.99%.   Tracie Pearce, Head of Group

The Rightmove House Price Index for May was released this week and shows a stabilisation of prices, with no monthly change.  This is the first time that there has not been a price rise since

The Home Builders Federation has released figures showing that 400 new homes have been reserved through the NewBuy scheme since its launch nine weeks ago in March.   This figure comes as statistics show a

Peppermint Technology has unveiled its COFA and COLP toolset which delivers continuous risk management and reporting tools as part of the Peppermint Platform.  As firms are getting ready to nominate their compliance officers as part

Data released by the ONS shows that during the first quarter of 2012 the number of house building starts was 24,140.  This is a fall of 11% compared to quarter four of 2011 when there

From 1st August 2014, firms will no longer be obliged to pay trainee solicitors a minimum salary above the national minimum wage, it has been announced by the SRA Board.   The change will mean

Housing Minister Grant Shapps has announced that Kevin McCloud has been appointed self-build industry champion by the National Self Build Association.  His main roles will be to raise public awareness of the benefits of self-building

The BSA has published a toolkit to provide information to encourage more lenders to offer mortgage finance to self-build projects.   It claims that one in 10 new homes built in the UK are self-build

The BSA has launched a new housing initiative called The Housing Hub, which it sees as an opportunity to bring lenders and housing associations together.  It believes that by co-operating more closely it will allow

CML figures released last week showed that there was a surge in activity in March.  The largest increase was in lending to first time buyers, as they rushed to beat the stamp duty holiday.  First

A joint report published by the National Housing Federation, Shelter and the Chartered Institute of Housing suggests that the Government is failing to tackle the housing crisis.  The report shows that the Government is failing

The Council of Mortgage Lenders released the gross mortgage lending figures for April today.  Lending fell by 19% from March, as an estimated £10.2 billion was lent.  This is a monthly fall of £2.4 billion.

Desmond Hudson, Chief Executive of the Law Society has posted an open letter to the profession on its website regarding the HSBC lender panel agreement which was announced on Wednesday. The Law Society has kindly

Alan Riley of PropertyPSL Ltd looks at the recent case of Nationwide Building Society v Davisons (a firm) (2012) Ch Div 24 April and discusses the importance of ensuring you have an undertaking.  This article

North-West based Butterworths Solicitors has merged with Cinnamon Property Lawyers, the conveyancing firm based in Gateshead, expanding into the North East. The firm is focusing on delivering key specialist transactional based services in the areas

The Church Commissioners is applying to the Land Registry to register the Church of England’s ownership of mineral rights which have become detached from the ownership of the surface of the land, the Independent has

Santander has become the fifth lender to join the NewBuy scheme, launching a choice of three mortgages for those with a 5-10% deposit buying a new build property. The bank will offer loans with fixed

The Lancashire Law firm Napthens has been accepted as a member of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), the Law Society scheme to provide a recognised quality standard for residential conveyancing firms.    Membership of the

Following the announcement yesterday by HSBC that from August all members of the Law Society CQS scheme will be allowed onto its lenders panel, bodies representing Licensed Conveyancers have called for panel recognition. HSBC and

The HSBC and the Law Society yesterday announced changes to the HSBC lender panel.  From August the panel will be widened from a limited panel of 43 firms to include all firms that are accredited

In a statement this morning HSBC and the Law Society have jointly announced changes to the much criticised limited panel arrangements that have been in place since early 2012, which saw an initial panel of