BCL Legal November Edition of The Brief out now!
This issue of The Brief is once again bursting with news, interviews and insights. Firstly, we have an exclusive chat with Linda Woolley – managing partner at Kingsley Napley – on her decision to introduce performance remuneration; whilst Ben Scott – head of legal at Nisa – is in the interview hot-seat talking about his […]
SRA advises uninsured firms of next steps
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has advised of the next steps for firms that have failed to secure a new professional indemnity insurance policy. The 141 firms that are still in their extended policy period (EPP) having failed to obtain cover by the 1 October deadline, have been written to the SRA. The period lasts […]
Firms warned to confirm insurance position
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned firms that have not declared their insurance position that they are breaching regulations and face enforcement action. Firms had until the 6th November to inform the SRA if they had failed to secure new professional indemnity insurance cover and were entering the second section of the new Extended […]
Solicitor jailed for stamp duty sting
A solicitor from Leeds who attempted to pocket £133,000 by changing conveyancing documents and lying to his clients was jailed on the 20th November. Timothy Thomas Rogers, 35, a conveyancing solicitor from Knottingley, owner of Rogers & Co Solicitors in Leeds, was caught by investigators from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) after they discovered discrepancies […]
Houses selling 11 days’ faster than last year
The average time it takes to sell a property in the UK is currently 58 days, 11 days less than the same period last year. According to the latest “Rate of Sale” report from the Post Office the regional variation in sale times is also showing signs of dissolving. Properties in Liverpool and Southend-on-Sea properties […]
ASA upholds complaint against search provider
The Advertising Standards Agency has told a website that offers Land Registry property searches and documents it must remove wording from its website which implies it offers an official government service. The website www.landregistryonline.net, states it is "The home of official Title Documents & Property Searches … We are the leading Land Registry online search […]
Supply and demand imbalance continues
November’s National Housing Market Monitor from haart has shown that Help to Buy fuelled a 92% annual rise in new buyer enquiries in first week of October whilst new property supply fell 2%. The average first time buyer property price now £152,593, up 6.1% annually with the average UK property price up 11.5% annually to […]
Mixed reaction to Help to Buy results
The latest statistics on the Help to Buy scheme show that in the schemes first six months there were 5,375 properties bought with the support of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme. The average price of a property bought under the scheme was £194,167, with an average equity loan of £38,703. Total loans amounted […]
John M Lewis & Co awarded Legal Eye Quality Standard
John M Lewis & Co, one of the largest specialist residential conveyancing companies in Derby, has been awarded the Legal Eye Quality Standard. The award follows a 12 month review of the company’s legal systems, practices and procedures. In order to gain the award the company had to demonstrate excellent risk management policies and registers. […]
Legal Services escape Co-op review
Following allegations made against their former chairman the Co-op bank are to undertake a ‘root and branch’ review of the bank. This review will not include the banks legal services arm. The review follows an expose by the Mail on Sunday of chairman Paul Flowers, where video evidence appeared to show him buying illegal drugs. Flowers […]
OneSearch Direct Launch ‘Assured’ Service with Residential Abortive Transaction Insurance
OneSearch Direct, the leading provider of private local searches in England and Wales, have announced the launch of their new OneSearch Assured service. Announcing the launch, Ronnie Park, Managing Director, said: “Making the buying and selling process as simple, safe and stress free as possible has always been our number one priority. Our market leading […]
Rise in House Sales Continuing to Fuel Conveyancing Market, Claims BCL Legal
Thanks to various factors, including the Help to Buy Scheme and a rise in house sales, BCL Legal now has a variety of conveyancing roles at various levels across the North West. Demand is expected to stay strong over the coming months as the economic recovery continues to take hold. Take a look at the […]
ETSOS and market on the up
The growing positive sentiment coming out of the conveyancing sector would seem to be supported by the latest figures coming out of search specialist ETSOS. The leading aggregator has reported a 28% increase in orders year to date, compared to 2012; while its third quarter sales performance has seen an impressive increase of 65% over […]
QualitySolicitors Talbots strengthens Commercial Property team
Midlands-based QualitySolicitors Talbots has further strengthened its Business Services Team with the appointment of one of the region’s leading commercial property lawyers. Clare Tierney is a commercial property solicitor with close on twenty years experience gained across the region, and has a special interest in the Leisure and Retail sectors Director of Business Services at […]
LFS announce 2014 seminars
LFS has announced three more regional seminars for 2014 following on from a series of sold out seminars in 2013. So far they have arranged events in Bristol on 18th February, London on the 4th March and Leeds on the 11th March. The speakers and topics to be covered in 2014 include; Paul Hajek — […]
Home buyers on the rise
According to the latest figures from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) the average number of registered house hunters increased from 314 in September to 332 in October. This corresponds to an increase in the average number of sales agreed per branch from 9 in September to 10 in October. The imbalance between supply […]
SME firms performing well
According to research from chartered accountants HW Fisher & Company SME legal firms are recovering well from the impacts of the recession. In an annual poll of 75 SME law firms in London and South East England profits were up a record 17% from last year. The Legal Services Act (LSA) has so far had […]
Campaign group describes Help to Buy as “ponzi scheme”
According to analysis of housing market figures by PricedOut, a campaign for affordable house prices, first-time buyers would be better off renting than buying a house under Help to Buy. They claim that interest rates are so high under the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme that the monthly repayments for the average first-time buyer […]
BSA Chairman questions need for Help to Buy
Speaking at the BSA Annual lunch last Thursday, David Cutter, BSA Chairman and Group Chief Executive of the Skipton Building Society questioned whether the Help to Buy scheme was needed. He noted that so far no building societies have signed-up to the scheme, whereas all the major banks and a few challenger banks have done […]
Which? urges caution on Help to Buy
In response to the Government declaring Help to Buy a success Which? Mortgage Advisers has urged first-time buyers to be aware of the full range of options available to them. Which? are keen to stress to first-time buyers that lenders not involved in the scheme are also offering competitive mortgages and that there are alternatives […]
