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; Read More
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) Read More
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 Read More
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 &Read More
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 Read More
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.Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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, Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More
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 Read More