BCL Legal approaches 10th anniversary
BCL Legal is getting ready to open the champagne as it approaches its 10th anniversary. The business was established in 2003 by directors James Batt, Mark Levine & Vicky Clark and since then, it has grown to become one of the UK’s leading legal recruitment consultancies with a network of offices in London, Manchester, Birmingham, […]
Subsidence risk mitigation
In our last blog we looked at how trees and vegetation influence subsidence. As we rapidly approach the key growing period we will look at risk mitigation and the impact of legislation and ownership. Where there has been previous subsidence or the property is in a high subsidence risk area we need to consider the […]
North East law firm continues to expand
North East based Gordon Brown Law Firm continue their expansion by adding two new recruits, Nicola Carroll and Leanne Scott, to their residential conveyancing team. Nicola Carroll, previously from Hindle Campbell in North Shields commented: “It’s great to work for such a progressive forward thinking law firm. Everyone has been very welcoming and supportive. […]
National Conveyancing firm join the Conveyancing Association
Newport based Convey Law are the latest conveyancing specialist to have joined the Conveyancing Association. The Association, which is a not for profit organisation, counts several of the country’s leading conveyancers amongst its members. Convey Law join the likes of Goldsmith Williams, Enact and Optima Legal to name a few. Convey Law have continued to […]
LMS renews Nationwide contract
LMS have announced that Nationwide will continue to supply its mortgage and transactional conveyancing services. The new contract lasts until July 2016 and will take the relationship to 17 years so far. Andy Knee, managing director for LMS, said: "We’ve worked successfully with Nationwide for 14 years, completing hundreds of thousands of conveyancing and remortgage […]
Homeowners expecting price rises
According to research from property website Zoopla.co.uk, UK homeowners are expecting house prices to rise by 4.5% over the next six months. This marks the biggest predicted house rise in the UK during the last three years, so will it translate to being the biggest year for the market? 74% of homeowners think that house […]
Norwich based MJP set to become Limited Company
Legal 500 practice, MJP Solicitors of Norwich, say they are joining many of the leading lawyers throughout the country and incorporating their business as a Limited Company following a successful growth period. From 1st May, MJP will create two new companies — MJP Limited and MJP Conveyancing Limited — with a view to adding strength […]
Compensation Fund proposals by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
With the rising cost of intervening in failed firms the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have been looking at ways in which those costs can be accommodated. One suggestion had been a “one-off levy” on Solicitors but this appears to carry less favour than utilising the Compensation Fund. According to the Gazette, in a paper that […]
The latest Newsletter from the Council of Licensed Conveyancers has been released.
Sheila Kumar, Chief Executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, says: “I have now been working full time as Chief Executive of the CLC for a little over three weeks. One of the top issues for me in these early days is the attitude of some lenders to instructing licensed conveyancers and having them on […]
CLC releases results of referrals consultation
From December 2012 to March 2013 the CLC consulted on their referral arrangement provisions. The majority of the 65 stakeholders who responded to the consultation felt that the CLC should continue to permit referral arrangements. The 65 respondents were comprised of 36 managers of CLC Practices, 20 were licensed conveyancers employed in SRA practices, 3 […]
ETSOS on the case with Cognito
Search supermarket ETSOS has announced that its online ordering portal has now been fully integrated into Cognito Software’s FiLOS case management system. This will allow Cognito FiLOS users to order and review searches direct from their workflow, avoiding the need to switch between applications. Commenting on the move, Steve Chivers, Cognito’s director of sales & […]
Conveyancers attend CML lunch in force
The number of conveyancers and panel managers attending the CML lunch on Friday showed the importance of good relationships with lenders. I was kindly invited to attend the CML lunch by Fastrac solicitors. Over the years I have attended many of these events, but at this event there were more conveyancers, search providers and panel […]
Revised house extension plans could still see neighbours get into a pickle over covenants, warns Titlesolv
The ongoing debate over the Government’s proposals to unleash a free-for-all on house extensions might be a political embarrassment, however the very real danger of increases in breaches of restrictive covenants claims has been largely ignored, warns Titlesolv. Restrictive covenants controlling use of land have traditionally posed a problem for developers as they can prevent […]
Co-op pulls out of Lloyds deal. What will this mean for conveyancers?
On Wednesday the Co-operative Group announced that it has withdrawn from discussions relating to the purchase of 632 Lloyds Banking Group branches. The boards of the Co-operative Group and Co-operative Bank plc decided that it was not in the best interests of the Group’s members to proceed further at this time. Peter Marks, Group Chief […]
HMRC clamps down on stamp duty avoidance
Homeowners who have taken part in schemes to avoid paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) may have recently found the HMRC requesting money from them. As part of their approach in tackling unpaid tax, the HMRC recently took a Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) avoidance scheme to a First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) and won. The […]
myhomemove conference success
The myhomemove conference, held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire, last week, has raised £7,000.00 for homeless charities supported by the Estate Agency Foundation. The 200 conference delegates heard predictions about the future of the property market from industry leaders, including the Managing Director at Legal & General Mortgage Club, a Senior Economist at […]
The latest practice on plans, leases, charging orders and more
Landnet 35, the April issue of Land Registry’s customer magazine, is available to read and download now from Land Registry website and includes a printable PDF version. In this issue you’ll find all the latest news and practice guidance from Land Registry, including articles about: a change in our practice on enlarging long leases how […]
SIPPclub launches residential property campaign
The SIPPclub is seeking opinions on whether the conversion of unused space in commercial properties in high streets and town centres to residential use could be allowed within pension schemes. The SIPP information service is inviting members of the public and the property and pension industries to take part in the survey. The campaign will […]
Homeowners want new lenders
Consumers welcome the dominance of the big six lenders being broken and new lenders such as Tesco, Virgin Money and M&S providing more creative approaches to mortgage lending. According to new research from housing investment and equity loan provider Castle Trust, 82% of homeowners want more to be done to make it easier for new […]
Number of registered solicitors increases
The Law Society has released key data on the state of the solicitor’s profession in 2012. The statistics reveal that there were 10,102 firms registered in 2012, down very slightly from 10,202 in 2011. Whilst the number of firms decreased the number of solicitors increased from 121,933 to 128,778. The number of new admissions was […]
