Conveyancing Firms At All-Time Low As Smaller Businesses Fall Victim To Market Consolidation
Number of active conveyancing firms in England and Wales down to the lowest since records began in 2011 The number of smaller conveyancers (handling up to 25 cases a month) has reduced by 10% in the last five years, while larger conveyancing firms (handling over 50 cases a month) has risen by a third (31%) […]
FATF Critical Of Legal Sector’s AML Systems
The intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force have produced a report this month assessing the UK’s ability to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Overall, the report claimed that the UK’s ‘AML/CFT regime is effective.’ However, the report was critical of both the regulators’ ability to supervise and the legal sector’s ability to effectively apply preventative […]
60% Of Young People Unaware Of Shared Ownership
Owning a property without acquiring the help from either loved ones or governmental schemes is now extremely difficult. Ownership has become all the more unattainable because of rising property prices and relatively low wages that have not always increased with inflation. Younger aspirational buyers have therefore relied more heavily on schemes like Help to Buy, […]
LEAP Enhances Software Offering With Two-Factor Authentication For All Users
LEAP, the leading provider of legal practice management software, has announced that all users can now benefit from Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) across LEAP desktop, web and mobile applications. Security-conscious LEAP users can now enable Two-Factor Authentication, a two-step system for law firms to improve secure access to LEAP involving a one-time verification code sent to […]
Conveyancing Association Urges Members To Prepare For Change At 2018 Annual Conference
The Conveyancing Association (CA), the leading trade body for the conveyancing industry, has used its Annual Conference to urge member firms to be prepared for significant changes in the future which are likely to fundamentally alter the sector and their processes for good. The Conference, which had the theme ‘Embracing the Digital Future’, was held […]
LEAP Best Practice Scheme Celebrates A Year On From Launch
Scheme helps law firms mitigate risk, increase compliance and reduce professional indemnity insurance premiums. LEAP, the world’s leading legal software provider for small to mid-sized law firms, is celebrating the success of its Best Practice Standard (BPS) conveyancing accreditation scheme as it reaches its one-year milestone. The Best Practice Standard was set up to help […]
Spurs Top The League For Exponential Property Price Rises Near Stadiums
The housing market has struggled in recent months, slowing to its lowest rate of annual growth since 2012. However, some areas have enjoyed more growth than others. It was revealed last month that predominantly ‘pro-Brexit’ areas enjoyed a higher rate of growth than ‘remain’ locations. Now, a recent report, by Cardiff-based commercial finance brokers Pure […]
AI Could Increase Cyber Threat To Conveyancers
Computer security software giant McAfee has released a report warning that companies face being ‘under siege’ from malware, ransomware and other cyber threats next year. They predict that underground organisations will collaborate to form bigger, more powerful groups, offering off-the-shelf packages to criminals. Cyber threats will no longer consist of one attack, but are likely […]
Law Commission Confident Commonhold Ownership Could End Leasehold Disputes
Earlier this week the Law Commission released its long-awaited perspective on alternatives to leasehold ownership. The Consultation Paper on Commonhold reform ‘Reinvigorating Commonhold: the alternative to leasehold membership’ will hope that it can spark new demand for a scheme that struggled when it was first introduced in 2002 and came into force in 2004. Commonhold […]
Forfeiture Of Residential Leases – Again
Triplerose Ltd v Patel [2018] UKUT 374 (LC) All conveyancers will be well aware of the promised –threatened? – changes to residential leaseholds. One of the perceived problems with residential leases is the availability of the right to forfeit i.e. terminate the lease. If a lease were to be forfeited, this would result in the […]
House Price Growth Will Remain Flat In 2019
As 2018 comes to an end and the property market has witnessed a significant slowing of property prices, a recent Rightmove report has forecast that UK property price growth will remain flat at 0% throughout 2019. Obviously, this will vary according to region with the South East of England and London Commuter-belt regions taking the […]
UK House Price Growth Hits Six Year Low
The Halifax Price Index has revealed that the annual house price growth of 0.3% is at its lowest rate since December 2012. Currently, the average house price in the UK stands at £224,578. Furthermore, on a monthly basis, house prices have decreased by 1.4% from October’s figures. This also means that house prices have continually […]
Conveyancers Told To Embrace The Digital World
Delegates attending the Conveyancing Association’s annual conference last week heard a series of presentations about how technology is changing the way that conveyancers work; and the ways in which consumers expect to interact with their legal advisers. The theme for the day was that we are living through unprecedented times of change with new technology […]
The Practical Vision Network’s New Recruits Passionate About Supporting and Developing Businesses
The Practical Vision Network is excited to welcome the appointment of two Key Relationship Managers that will endeavor to passionately extend the value and protection our vital products and services can add to UK law firms. Uniquely placed in providing innovative technology and products to safeguard law firms against cyber crime, Lawyer Checker is delighted […]
Executor Denied Property Fraudulently Transferred From Deceased
Becoming an executor of a property can be an extremely challenging job; however, the task becomes even more onerous when you are asked to reclaim property by overturning a longstanding fraud. Through the Court of Appeal Ruling, the victim and subsequently the executor of the victim’s estate cannot seek rectification of the register of a […]
Legal Ombudsman Opens Online Complaints Service
The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) were overwhelmed by complaints this year, finding it extremely difficult to process the requests in an efficient and timely manner. They have therefore set up an online complaints service that should streamline the complaints that are relevant to LeO; the others will be forwarded to the correct regulator. By using complaints […]
Technological Change At The CA Annual Conference
Delegates attending the Conveyancing Association’s annual conference yesterday heard a series of presentations about how technology is changing the way that conveyancers work; and the ways in which consumers expect to interact with their legal advisers. The theme for the day was that we are living through unprecedented times of change with new technology leading […]
German Consortium Has Purchased Full Service Manchester Law Firm
In recent history UK based legal firms have been extremely dominant in Europe. Following Brexit and the likely event of the UK leaving with no deal, Europe’s reliance on UK legal may start to deteriorate. In fact, a German based legal firm has just bought a UK based Legal firm. Although we have seen many […]
Home Owning Parents Ensure Children Purchase Property
A recent report from the Resolution Foundation has found that by the age of thirty those of us without parental property wealth are 60% less likely to be home owners than people whose parents own property. This importance of parental property wealth has increased throughout the decades. In the 90s and 00s those aged over […]
Regulators Will Support Firms Rather Than Sanction Non-Compliance
As December 6th rushed by, many have speculated as to how the legal sector would enforce regulatory change. Would the Machiavellian amongst us create a compliance witch-hunt by snooping around competitors’ websites for snippets of non-compliance? Or, would the regulators heavily sanction firms from midnight on the sixth? Instead, the regulators have adopted a sensible, supportive […]
