Property
Conveyancing fees down a fifth since stamp duty holiday
Conveyancing fees are down by over a fifth in real terms from the peaks seen during the stamp duty holiday as the market has cooled, according to new research.
Big lenders invest £10m in blockchain property network
The three biggest mortgage lenders in the UK – Lloyds, Nationwide and NatWest – and property website Rightmove, have invested £10m in the digital property transaction business Coadjute.
MPs to probe transparency and referral fees in conveyancing process
MPs are to probe whether consumers have the information they need to choose a conveyancer as well as the role of referral fees, it was announced yesterday.
People happy with their conveyancers – but don’t know what they do
Home movers are generally happy with the service they received from their conveyancer – but a large proportion have little idea what they actually do, new research has found.
Rush to meet end of SDLT holiday caused solicitor to let down client
A conveyancer who forgot to put in place a declaration of trust on the ownership of a property in the rush to beat the stamp duty holiday deadline in 2021 has been rebuked.
Litigant misled court over response from other side’s solicitors
A litigant in person who made a ‘without notice’ application to move property transactions to completion, blaming the other side’s solicitors for not replying to him, mislead the court.
City giant uses generative AI to develop lease reporting tool
City law firm BCLP has used generative artificial intelligence to develop a lease reporting tool which is being rolled out to UK clients this month.
Value of legal services market “to hit £50bn” this year
The legal services market will continue to grow in 2024, hitting a turnover of £50bn with a “resilient” corporate law sector boosted by “stronger economic conditions” later in the year.
“Unstuffy” ABS hits £7m turnover in less than five years
A Yorkshire alternative business structure founded in 2019 by a solicitor and non-lawyer has grown its turnover from £500,000 in year one to £7m as it expands its range of services.
Minister urges conveyancers to increase pace of innovation
Conveyancers have “a central role” in realising a digital home buying and selling process but innovation needs to happen at a greater pace, the housing minister said last week.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
