Lender Exchange Interview
Lender Exchange, a privately run centralised panel management system for lenders to collate information from law firms in the conveyancing sector, is set to launch over the next few weeks. Today’s Conveyancer spoke to Justin Parkinson, Managing Director of Decision First, which will operate Lender Exchange, in the run-up to launch. When does Lender Exchange […]
PEPA slams Pickles for loss of £6mil in EPC information
The Property and Energy Professionals Association (PEPA) has written to The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, highlighting the amount of money lost due to his department’s inefficient use of energy information. Three independent studies concluded that over 15 per cent of consumers implement energy efficiency recommendations in Energy Performance Certificates […]
CoPSO speaks out on strike action over Land Registry plans
With the government currently holding a consultation on the future of the Land Registry, proposing it’s part-privatisation, the PCS Union has said it will not rule out taking strike action. The Land Registry has been a part of the civil service since 1862 and its office in Swansea employs over 400 people to gather and […]
Santander UK Plc v R.A. Legal Solicitors [2014] EWCA Civ 183 (24 February 2014)
Introduction Whether and to what extent a trustee can be relieved from liability for breach of trust is, excusing a play on words tortuous. This recent case before the Court of Appeal may be seen by some as an exercise of mercy at a price to others. Context here is key. Lenders facing loss […]
First Groundwater Flood Risk Map available for England and Wales
Until now, there has not been any authoritative information to show where property is at risk of flooding by groundwater, with the only data available for the purpose merely showing susceptibility. The reports are based on scientific and quantitive underground flood risk models, including data from the British Geological Survey national geoscience database and calibrated […]
LFS Conveyancing Awards 2014
Entering the awards is an excellent idea for Conveyancing firms, as winning one of the sought after awards is an excellent way to raise the profile of a firm. Firms who have won categories in the past 2 years have been given places on leading conveyancing panels directly as a result of winning one of […]
Countrywide Conveyancing Services Visit 10 Downing Street to discuss new Apprenticeships in Conveyancing
The Countrywide group is being facilitated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), a regulator of legal services, as part of a scheme by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to develop world-class apprenticeships. The conveyancing group is aiming to develop the new apprenticeship very quickly so that the first learners can start […]
Land Registry Reducing Fees From Monday 17th March
Biggest reductions are for applications lodged electronically when there is a 50% reduction on the current fees, for each House price band. The other main changes are: Combining the two lowest Scale 1 fee bands making the fee for registering properties worth up to £80,000 just £40, £20 if registered online; and the fee for […]
SRA and CLC to develop BIS apprenticeship
The SRA and CLC have both announced they will be facilitating the creation of a new apprenticeship scheme being set up by the government. Trailblazers offers the first ever apprenticeship that can lead to a qualification as a solicitor and will be developed using industry standards, with both the SRA and CLC assisting the governmental […]
Irwin Mitchell acquire a fifth firm
Law firm Irwin Mitchell has acquired the business of HL Interactive through their debt legal arm, Ascent. It is the fifth deal made by the Manchester based recoveries group since it was granted Alternative Business Structure (ABS) licenses and the fourth to be completed by Ascent, establishing Ascent as the UK market leader of recoveries […]
Land Registry launches Property Alert Service
The Land Registry has launched a property alert service in a bid to fight property fraud. The new service allows owners to register a total of three properties for monitoring, and any applications made to the Land Registry to change the register or requesting an official search will be flagged up to the registered owner […]
'Nation Rent' could become a reality
Within another generation, half of the UK population may be living in rented accommodation, a study has revealed. Only 65 per cent of UK homes are currently owned by the occupier, a six per cent fall from the 71 per cent peak in 2003 and demonstrates a worrying trend that is set to continue, with […]
Are CML handbook changes asking conveyancers for too much?
The latest HSBC CML handbook change answers the question ‘Does the lender want to receive environmental or contaminated land reports?’ The complicated and confusing answer that HSBC writes is: Japanese Knotweed – You will need to advise the Bank if you become aware that there may be Japanese Knotweed on or near the property and […]
Buy your new domain name before a criminal does
The .uk domain registry company, Nominet, has revealed it will be launching a new, shorter domain name of simply .uk, instead of example.co.uk or example.org.uk. The launch date of the new domain name is set for 08.00 on 10 June this year, but for all 10.5million names already registered to a .co.uk domain, the rights […]
Defending the Defensible – Harder Than It Sounds?
Claims against conveyancers are made by lenders almost every day. Some of the hardest cases to defend involve situations where a conveyancer acting jointly for the borrower and lender receives the mortgage advance, pays it to the seller, only to find that they have been duped by a fraudster. It’s the eventuality that every conveyancer […]
Land Registry centralisation plans will put listed homes at risk and destabilise housing market
Under new plans to centralise local land charge searches the Land Registry will only be responsible for digitisation of records back to 1999 which will mean that the 430,000 buildings that were listed before 1999 will not show up on searches for people buying these properties. In fact, it is unlikely that any listed homes […]
Rhonda Hales promoted to Senior Associate
Legal Eye Ltd is proud to announce the promotion of Rhonda Hales to Senior Associate. Rhonda Hales joined Legal Eye as an Associate in April 2013. The Legal Eye team has grown substantially since it launched in May 2009 and new divisions have opened including Financial Eye and Marketing Eye. Training Eye is launching soon […]
OFT to study provision of residential property management services
The Office of Fair Trading has begun a market study into the provision of residential property management services to leaseholders in England and Wales. The research will include residential property management services for properties where local authorities and housing associations are the freeholders, as well as those with private sector freeholders. The OFT has decided […]
ETSOS compliance tool kit gets JET power
Conveyancing search supermarket ETSOS has announced that it is now partnering with JET Convey as part of its on-going commitment to simplify the compliance challenge for its users. JET assists conveyancers in managing their exposure to lender negligence claims through an online tool that contains the lending instructions and rules from the CML handbook and […]
Commercial property lawyers… are you opening yourself up to negligence?
If you are a commercial property lawyer reading this, you will doubtless be aware of Capital Allowances. What are they? Capital Allowances are a form of tax relief available to commercial property owners. The tax relief can be anywhere in the region of 15% to 45% of the original purchase price of the property dependant […]
