Royal mail price increase could hurt small law firms
Royal Mail’s Regulator has recently allowed Royal Mail to set their own prices for first-class and business mail. This has seen an increase of 30 per cent on first-class mail and 39 per cent on second-class mail, these changes will take effect from the end of April. Many firms may have already decided not to […]
Legal Ombudsman three year Strategy and Business Plan announced
The recent announcement from the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) of the three year Strategy and its Business Plan for 2012-13 for the Legal Ombudsman has an emphasis on ensuring the service remains both modern and effective. A challenging budget, which is below £17 million, indicates the activity volumes experienced by the Legal Ombudsman whilst […]
Des Hudson writes letter to Head of Lending at HSBC
Des Hudson, Law Society Chief Executive, has written a letter to HSBC’s Head of Lending, following a discussion on BBC Moneybox, offering the same, or comparable, panel management service. Dear Martijn Conveyancing Panel Arrangements During our BBC Moneybox discussions last weekend on the subject of HSBC’s panel arrangements, I mentioned another bank’s decision to employ […]
Head of Lending at HSBC responds to Law Society offer
The response letter to Des Hudson, Chief Executive of the Law Society, from Head of Lending at HSBC, Martin van der Heijden, does not appear to address any of the points mentioned in the original letter, although it does set out quite clearly the criteria for becoming an HSBC panel member. With the customer in […]
SRA warning over Velocity Law Firm or Velocity Law Firm Ltd
The SRA have published the following warning to Solicitors: “Information received by the SRA indicates that an office may be operating as Velocity Law Firm or Velocity Law Firm Ltd from 201 Coventry Road, Birmingham, B10 0RA (telephone numbers 0121 4480818 and 0121 4480848). Other information received links this address with the firm of Parmars […]
SRA in bid to increase fines for misconduct
Neil Rose at Legal Futures exclusively revealed the news that the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have put plans in place that will see them increase their power when it comes to fining law firms. What could this new power mean for law firms? You can read the full story over at Legal Futures. Today’s Conveyancer, […]
Optima Legal to handle fees free transactional for Yorkshire Building Society
Yorkshire Building Society have chosen Optima Legal to power their new product range of legal fee assistance, with various fixed rate products on offer for a 2 year fixed deal. The offering also includes 3, 4 and 5 year fixed rates. Speaking on behalf of Optima Legal, David Duckworth commented: “We are delighted to have […]
TMSecure and CaseID offer process for managing conveyancing instructions and panels
TMSecure and CaseID offer process for managing conveyancing instructions and panels TMSecureâ„¢ has joined forces with CaseID to provide lenders with a comprehensive solution for managing open panels. During 2010 lenders were exposed to an estimated £1 billion mortgage fraud. While individual lenders battled with this issue in isolation, there has not been, until now, […]
Nationwide sees house prices fall by 1% in March
The Nationwide House Price Index has revealed that in March the average price of a UK house rose from £162,712 to £163,327. When these figures are seasonally adjusted, this represents a 1% fall from February. This is a 0.9% drop compared to March 2011. Robert Gardner, Chief Economist at Nationwide commented: “A slowdown was to […]
Building Societies Association data shows yearly rise in mortgage lending
Data released by the Building Societies Association (BSA) shows that lending has increased, indicating a healthy start for the market in 2012. Gross lending by building societies and mutual lenders was £1,908 million in February 2012. This is a rise of 28% compared to February 2011 (£1,486 million). This is also a slight rise on […]
Nationwide releases its first quarterly report of 2012, showing house price growth slowing
Nationwide released its House Price Index report for the first quarter of 2012 last week. It shows that seven of the thirteen regions of the UK recorded house price growth, with London the area with the highest rises. The average price of a property in the UK for Q1 was £162,722. This is an annual […]
CML figures show gross mortgage lending unchanged in February
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has released data for February 2012. It shows that gross lending figures were very similar to those for January. Gross mortgage lending in February was an estimated £10.7 billion. This is an increase from January when the figure was £10.65 billion, and a 14% rise when compared to February […]
Nationwide to suspend legal firms from panel
The Law Society reports that Nationwide is to suspend law firms from their lending panel, based on how many transactions the firm have carried out in the last 12 months. Firms will shortly be receiving a letter advising them that their firm will be suspended if they have carried out fewer than 4 transactions for […]
Lawyers failing the Deaf
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to issue new guidelines to solicitors and law firms, ensuring that they are “Deaf aware”, according to Legal Futures. Research has been carried out, on behalf of the SRA, Legal Services Panel and Action on Hearing Loss, by the Deaf Studies Trust. The findings make it clear that people […]
British Banking Association data shows drop in mortgage approvals
The British Banking Association (BBA) has released data for February 2012. Gross mortgage lending by banks in February was £7.9 billion. This is a drop of 1.9% compared with February 2011. It is also a fall from January when the figure was £8.1 billion. The number of mortgage approvals in February was 65,737. […]
Firms rush to enter Conveyancing Awards
Conveyancing firms from all parts of the country have been flocking to join the competition to become “The Overall Conveyancing Firm of the Year” sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group". With less than a month to the closing date, Richard Mathias of LFS is delighted by the response. He says “We have been overwhelmed by the […]
Conveyancing fees down 18% in last 5 years
Really Moving demonstrates an 18% real decline in conveyancing prices in the last five years. Conveyancers all know just how stiff competition is in this market. There are lots of firms in the market offering conveyancing services. It is hard to explain why your service is going to be so much different to anyone else’s […]
SRA licences first three ABS Solicitors
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) today announced that it has licensed its first three alternative business structures (ABS) Whilst many won’t be surprised that Co-operative Legal Services are one of the first the other two are much smaller firms John Welch and Stammers, and Lawbridge Solicitors Ltd. An ABS is a business providing regulated reserved […]
The Planning Pendulum
The 2012 budget demonstrates the determination of the coalition government to build our way out of recession. Long forgotten are the Conservative manifesto statements to frustrate garden grabbing and concreting over the countryside. What is not up for debate is the UK will need to start accepting that development, no matter how controversial, is coming. […]
Peppermint “App Shop” launched
Peppermint Technology has launched the “Peppermint App Shop” as an addition to their Legal Service Platform, with the idea behind it being to bring together a “wide range of complementary partner products and services” in a one-stop shop for legal service providers. Apps currently available include a document bundling service from Zylpha, email marketing services […]
