Property
Court readiness will not drive Renter’s Rights Bill, says minister
The government will not tie implementation of the Renter’s Rights Bill will “what could be a subjective assessment of court readiness”, a minister said last week.
Solicitors “letting down” women subjected to economic abuse
Lawyers giving independent legal advice in cases of potential economic abuse of women are helping the abusers more than their clients, new research has suggested.
Too complex and long – conveyancers condemn Law Society form
Conveyancers have told the Law Society that its controversial new TA6 property information form is too complex and too long, it revealed yesterday.
Solicitor had clients pay fees into personal bank account
A solicitor has been struck off for telling clients to pay small sums of money into his personal account – but, very unusually, his identity has been kept secret.
Strike-off for partner who asked seller’s firm to backdate completion
A conveyancing partner who asked the seller’s solicitor if he could backdate completion by a day to save his client stamp duty land tax has been struck off.
City firm partner fined for unwitting role in property fraud
A property partner who failed to undertake proper anti-money laundering checks on a client involved in a “substantial fraud” has been fined £27,500.
SRA imposes control order on CILEX lawyer who misled lender client
A CILEX lawyer who misled her lender client so as to complete a residential property transaction has been made subject to a control order by the SRA.
Law firm fights off summary judgment in property fraud claim
A judge has refused a lender’s application for summary judgment against a law firm in a case involving an “imposter who appears to have fraudulently deceived” both of them.
Law firm found negligent over property development agreements
A well-known Shropshire law firm was negligent in the order agreements for a property development joint venture were signed, allowing one side to pull out, the High Court has found.
Tribunal halves law firm’s fees on HS2 house sale
A tribunal has more than halved the fees charged by a leading law firm for advice on the forced sale of a property affected by HS2.
Fine for conveyancer who acted for lenders and himself
A solicitor who acted for lenders in conveyancing transactions without telling them he was also acting for himself and family members has been fined £12,500.
Conveyancers spend nearly half their time chasing people
Conveyancers spend approaching half of their working day chasing other stakeholders or being chased by them, a report has found.
Simple errors in Land Registry applications cost conveyancers £19m
Conveyancers’ failures to get names right in applications to HM Land Registry is costing them up to £3.6m a year in fee-earner time to correct, the agency has estimated.
Many conveyancing firms “do not have clear pricing policies”
Almost half of conveyancing firms do not have pricing policies which are “clearly defined, understood, communicated and adhered to” all the time.
PEXA launches initiative to redesign conveyancing process
PEXA, the Australian conveyancing technology giant now operating in the UK, has launched an initiative in West Yorkshire to redesign the home-buying and selling process.
Blog
Is competition in the legal sector stifling innovation?
As the legal sector’s competitive landscape continues to evolve, Nobel laureates remind us that innovation is not inevitable,and that competition may not always be an incentive to innovate.
What high-performing consumer claims firms get right
Recurring concerns about parts of the volume claims sector show that the gap between well-run firms and those struggling to manage volume effectively is widening.
The SRA’s 2025 AML report: What law firms need to know
The SRA has released its 2024-25 anti-money laundering report and the scale of supervision is striking – it carried out 935 proactive engagements in the year to 5 April 2025.
