Property

A conveyancing solicitor jailed for 30 months after defrauding a Hereford law firm out of at least £161,000 has now been struck off.

Conveyancing firms should diversify into remortgage work and expand ancillary services such as advising on equity release, according to a new report.

National firm Canford Law has acquired ,property services business PDC Group, its first deal since being bought by private equity, as we round up the latest deals.

An online platform that provides free legal advice and assessments for renters has applied to the SRA to become an alternative business structure.

A solicitor who “exploited and misled” the Zimbabwean women she claimed to be empowering has been struck off.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has cleared a conveyancer of taking instructions from a client’s son and of manifest incompetence in a property transaction.

A veteran solicitor who repeatedly lied to a client, giving her false assurances over a period of two years about the registration of her property, has been struck off.

The proportion of home-buyers saying they experienced “unexpected costs” in their transactions has gone up by more than 50% this year, new research has found.

The Legal Ombudsman has reported a 41% increase in the number of complaints about conveyancing, driven by delays, poor communication and post-completion problems.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has issued a sharp rebuke to the Legal Services Consumer Panel for its “inaccurate representation” of the regulator last week.