Property
Employment and commercial work fare best during crisis
Employment and commercial work are seeing the biggest increases in demand from clients, research has found. However, lockdown has had a “devastating impact” on other practice areas.
Property logbooks next on list for home-buying reform
The property logbook is the next initiative to be investigated as part of work to speed up the home-moving process, although lockdown has hit other projects.
Speeding up the property buying process
Speeding up the process of property buying and selling has taken on new urgency following the conveyancing market meltdown due to Covid-19.
Consumers “ignore” conveyancing fraud risk as solicitor jailed
Consumers are more worried about the fee conveyancers charge to transfer their money than the risk of it being stolen, research has found at the same time that a solicitor is jailed for fraud.
Groups issue Covid-19 advice for conveyancers
Five bodies representing conveyancers have joined forces to issue detailed guidance to support the re-opening of the housing market while complying with social distancing.
Firm’s negligence had “disastrous consequences” for client
It is difficult to imagine a “more obvious breach of duty” by a conveyancing solicitor than failing to register its new owner, the High Court has said in a case where it had “disastrous consequences”.
Conveyancers lobby for furloughing flexibility
Conveyancers and other property stakeholders have called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to allow them to move staff in and out of furlough on a weekly basis as the home-moving market recovers.
Conveyancing cheer as government reopens housing market
Conveyancers, estate agents and others involved in the home-moving process can return to work today in line with social distancing advice, the government announced last night.
What crisis? Conveyancing firm secures £1.1m investment
Ground-breaking conveyancing law firm Muve has completed a £1.1m equity funding round, despite the property market grinding to a halt during the Covid-19 crisis.
NAHL eyes conveyancing work as profits tumble
Profits at NAHL plc – the company that owns National Accident Helpline – tumbled by nearly 80% in 2019 as it emerged it is testing whether to start handling conveyancing matters itself.
Conveyancers calls on government to extend furlough scheme
The furlough scheme should be extended for property businesses, like conveyancers, where income required to pay staff will not be available for months after work is undertaken once lockdown is lifted.
Court rejects “fanciful” conveyancing negligence claim
The High Court has rejected a “fanciful” £600,000 conveyancing negligence claim against the law firm Gateley, based on an error admitted by the firm.
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.
