Property

Conveyancers enjoyed their busiest year on record in 2021/22 – and hundreds of law firms came back into the market – with the average practice seeing a 60% rise in transactions.

The merger of two of the four big property search providers “substantially lessens competition” and the only remedy would be to break up the business, the CMA has provisionally found.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off a solicitor whose conduct has led to 25 claims on the SRA Compensation Fund totalling £750,000 from conveyancing clients.

Firms of licensed conveyancers will have to apply for professional indemnity insurance two months ahead of the renewal deadline and in return will receive a response within four weeks.

Consumer law firm Taylor Rose MW has made a “seven-figure investment” in a proptech business which helps home movers change addresses, while PEXA is gearing up for its UK launch.

Conveyancers should be able to rely on digital IDs checked by estate agents and vice versa, the head of the Home Buying and Selling Group’s upfront information sub-group has said.

New rules on the information that must be included in property listings will encourage sellers to instruct conveyancers earlier in the process, National Trading Standards has said.

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.