Property


High Court rejects “unmeritorious claim” against barrister

15 January 2021

The High Court has rejected an “unmeritorious” negligence claim against a barrister brought by a former law lecturer acting as a litigant in person.


Treasury cool on renewed call to extend SDLT holiday

15 January 2021

The time-limited nature of the stamp duty land tax holiday is why people are looking to use it, the government has said in response to conveyancers’ call to extend it.


Minister urges councils to speed up searches amid conveyancing rush

8 January 2021

The housing minister has written to local authorities whose delays in returning searches are putting conveyancers under pressure ahead of the stamp duty holiday deadline on 31 March.


Search organisations set out insurance rules for conveyancers

23 December 2020

The body that represents property search companies has written to conveyancers’ representatives to set out ground rules for using search insurance at a time when councils are struggling to deliver.


Leading conveyancing firm spends £27m on referral business

1 December 2020

Leading conveyancing firm O’Neill Patient – which was last year bought by a private equity firm – has spent £27m to buy a platform providing services to mortgage brokers and estate agents.


Investment schemes causing “huge number” of claims

25 November 2020

Dubious investment schemes involving solicitors are becoming “far more sophisticated” and leading to a “huge number of claims” on the Compensation Fund, the SRA has warned.


Commercial property solicitor’s “outrageous failure” leads to strike-off

23 November 2020

A solicitor whose conduct of several property transactions has triggered multi-million-pound negligence claims against his former firm has now been struck off.


Transparency “will cure ills” of conveyancing referral fees

20 November 2020

Transparency over referral fees in conveyancing work will drive out bad practice, a government official said yesterday, while also calling for greater consistency in how law firms publish their prices.


“Reckless” conveyancer agrees to leave profession

16 November 2020

A “reckless” solicitor who admitted registering properties with the wrong purchase price and failing to carry out anti-money laundering checks has agreed to leave the profession.


Time for vendor disclosure to replace caveat emptor?

16 November 2020

The longstanding principle of caveat emptor could be displaced by vendor disclosure because of the rapid adoption of technology due to lockdown, experts have suggested.


Firm to start telling clients they won’t complete by end of SDLT holiday

6 November 2020

A leading firm of conveyancers is to start telling new clients from next week that their transactions are unlikely to be completed by the end of the stamp duty holiday.


Negligent conveyancers cannot dodge liability because of fraud

30 October 2020

Negligent conveyancers should not be able to avoid liability because it emerges later that their client was engaged in mortgage fraud, the Supreme Court has ruled.


Solicitor who changed dates of charges with Tipp-Ex struck off

27 October 2020

A property lawyer who used Tipp-Ex to change the dates of charges he needed to register at Companies House has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.


MP urges government to raise conveyancing standards

8 October 2020

A Conservative MP has urged the government to establish “minimum standards regarding searches and assessments of risk” by residential conveyancers.


LeO warns over emerging trend of holiday sickness complaints

7 October 2020

The Legal Ombudsman has warned law firms against making holiday sickness claims without “verifying the version of events” obtained by claims management companies as complaints rise.

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