Property

The use of electronic signatures has been the “single largest area of change” in technology for the property industry over the past 18 months, a survey has found.

Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), which processes 80% of conveyancing completions in Australia, has announced plans to launch in England and Wales this autumn.

A pilot version of what its solicitor co-founder describes as the “first collaborative conveyancing service” has gone live. Eddie Goldsmith said it was about letting conveyancers “get on with the legal work”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has spelt out its concerns that clients “are not receiving appropriate advice” on onerous clauses in leases, particularly around ground rents.

The government is to sit down with National Trading Standards to consider whether stricter rules are needed to force estate agents to disclose that they have received referral fees from conveyancers.

Investors who lost money in a failed property development in Liverpool should sue their former solicitors rather than the law firm which held and paid out their deposits, the High Court has ruled.

The pandemic and stamp duty holiday led to conveyancing fees going up sharply, while ‘dabblers’ played a vital role in supporting the market, an industry roundtable has heard.

A blockchain network that connects conveyancers with estate agents and mortgage lenders and the company that provides third-party managed accounts for lawyers have both received new investment.

The Simplify conveyancing group saw its turnover from legal work increase by 3% to nearly £125m in its last financial year, which does not cover the recent cyber-attack.

The merger of two of the four big property search providers faces an in-depth probe unless they can show it will not reduce competition and increase costs to conveyancers and others.

Group action law firm Keller Lenkner UK is planning a claim over the cyber-attack that continues to affect clients of conveyancing giant Simplify, it has emerged.

There should be an inquiry into the “mis-selling scandal” of housing developers pointing buyers to preferred conveyancers, who then did not advise on escalating ground rents, MPs said this week.

The majority of conveyancers at the Simplify group are now “back up and running on core systems, and actively working on cases”, it announced yesterday.

Commercial property lawyers believe the pandemic has not only hastened the adoption of new technology but highlighted gaps where it could improve the conveyancing process.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers is pressing the Simplify group to reach a position where it can provide its files to clients who wish to change lawyer following the recent cyber-attack.