Property

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.

Desperate consumers are looking at the feasibility of changing their lawyer as the impact of the cyber-attack on Simplify, the conveyancing giant, stretches into a second week.

A conveyancer has described how she ended up fearing for her safety and calling the police after harassment from the buyers on the other side.

A listed property technology firm has bought a firm of licensed conveyancers to help it test products in a “live environment” before they are launched.

A company seeking to become a linchpin in the property market is to trial a crypto-currency to replace the traditional transfer of money between banks and conveyancers.

The UK’s first-ever property deal using the new qualified electronic signature, which is being trialled by HM Land Registry, was completed this week.

HM Land Registry is to pilot the use of qualified electronic signatures that do not need to be witnessed, which it said could be a “gamechanger” for conveyancing.

Two solicitors who breached the trust of vulnerable clients in need of cash by acting in a dodgy quick home sale scheme have been suspended from practice.

Estate agents have called for the introduction of digital property logbooks, supplied by companies regulated by the government, to help speed up the conveyancing process.