About CQS Conveyancing

Law firms need to start changing their conveyancing quotes and carefully consider completion statements as the new Land Registry Fee Order will come into force in two weeks time. A quick review of a number of conveyancing websites reveals that the new charges are not yet reflected. As of the 17th March the Land Registry will be introducing: flat fees for all ‘inspection of documents’ and ‘official copy of document’ (OC2) applications  a reduction in the number of fee bands for scale 1 registrations a reduction in the fee for scale 1 registrations of properties priced between £80,001 and £100,000 50 per cent reduction in fees for the registration of transfers of the whole of a registered title, charges of the whole of a registered title and transfers of charges and some fixed fee applications if made electronically Conveyancing lawyers who submit applications by post should note any postal applications submitted on or after Friday 14 March should include the new fee as t...

If you do nothing else this weekend, take some time to read the full decision in the matter of Santander UK Appellant and R.A. Legal Solicitors .  Pay particular attention to Lord Justice Briggs' comment relating to the assertion that it is common practice for conveyancers to submit an unqualified certificate of title when in fact investigations are outstanding. "To my mind the pretence that the investigation of title has been completed when it has not is a method of dealing with that difficulty which borders on dishonesty. It is nothing to the point that, if subsequently revealed defects are properly addressed, it causes the lender no loss.     “On the contrary, [RA Legal’s barrister’s] submission that unqualified certificates are frequently given prematurely involves the implicit admission that this is done deliberately, rather than by accident. If so, it simply makes the misconduct all the more serious.” As strange as this may seem (and with no ...

The SRA recently warned  that solicitors report receiving scam e-mail messages purporting to be from the agency and referring to pending investigations. But what if the e-mail were authentic and your firm was targeted for an investigation? Would you be ready? In deference to solicitors' preferences, the SRA uses e-mail "to inform regulated individuals and organisations of regulatory news, time-sensitive regulatory requirements and other important information," according to its  website . So, it's quite possible that it could be  real . And, it could be painful. With the launch of CLIENTCAREmonitor, solicitor firms have a tool to ensure compliance and identify the highest risk files in real time. The platform addresses the lengthy complexities of the new SRA Handbook, promoting the early identification of potential compliance failures to avoid the significant cost of interventions and other regulatory action. While it can't help reduce the amount of spam...

Principality Building Society, the largest building society in Wales and the sixth largest in the UK have today changed their requirements as set out in their CML Part 2 relating to leases of roof space for solar PV panels The new Part 2 requirements confirm the following conditions: 1. The Lease must contain a valid mortgagee break right which is exercisable after no more than 2 months’ notice. The lease must also provide that the cost of removing the equipment and making good any damage to the property is the responsibility of the solar PV provider. 2. The Lease is no longer than 30 years 3. The Lease excludes sections 24 to 28 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. 4. Where the property is leasehold, the written consent of the landlord authorising the installation of the equipment. 5. Building Insurance confirmation that it has been notified of the installation of the equipment. Solicitors on the Principality Building Society Conveyancing Panel must not submit their Certi...

Retirees are releasing more money from their properties than ever before, according to the Equity Release Council. Since 2011, the market for equity release in England and Wales has grown 10% year-on-year. In Scotland 2013, it was a whopping 37% increase. Overall UK equity release lending to older homeowners is around £1 billion as over-55s seek to improve their retirement income, reduce other debts or avoid having to move to a smaller property. In conversations across the country, lawyers tell me they often receive a ‘double conveyancing instruction’ as part of the money is sometimes used to help a family member get on the property ladder. With many people in the UK retiring asset-rich but cash-poor, tempting them to use the value of their property to supplement their income through specialist equity release lenders has proved an easy sell. Alternative lending options can be expensive, with lenders tightening remortgaging criteria for older borrowers. The idea behind equi...

HSBC shocked the conveyancing industry in 2012 by requiring mortgage borrowers to instruct one of just 43 firms it named on its approved panel of solicitors. Five months later, complaints from customers and lawyers forced the lender to ditch the controversial plan. Two years on, that reversal is seen as a win for consumers and probably contributed to the bank's grabbing a 12% share of the UK mortgage market. Following the change of heart in August 2012, HSBC allowed all members of the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) to act for it and the borrower in the legal work needed to buy a property, increasing the number of firms that consumers can choose from by more than 2,500 lawyers. Later today the City expects HSBC to declare profits of £14.8billion, built on the back of the booming housing market, exceeding the profits made before the credit crunch. According to asset manager Investec, HSBC increased its share of new mortgage lending, having lent £100 ...

Data from COMPLETIONmonitor reveals that Halifax lead new home mortgages. On the whole, lenders are still shying away from newbuild lending although, Santander, Nationwide BS, NatWest and Barclays (Woolwich) are still active in this area. Brokers have been expressing concern for some time now that lenders still have a dual criteria for lending on a newly built house and lending on what we would class as second hand and the biggest variance is at the LTV calculations. The problem is further reflected by latest version of Help to Buy. Notwithstanding that this product’s modus operandi is to allow buyers with as little as 5 per cent deposit to purchase a property, mortgage lenders supporting the scheme still restrict a new build property to their maximum published LTV criteria which is typically 80%.

Barclays will no longer allow valuation appeals unless there is more than a 25% gap between the borrower's estimated value and the value provided by the surveyor. Under this new rule, for example, a surveyor could value a £200,000 house at £151,000 and no appeal can be made. Previously Barclays had no restrictions. In an uncertain property market and with ‘once-bitten, twice-shy’ valuers, one might expect down-valuations to be on the increase. In fact, down-valuations, where the surveyor values a property at a lower level than the borrower, have fallen significantly since the financial crisis due to improvements in the economy and an increase in the availability of higher loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages. However, they remain a sensitive issue among estate agents, brokers and their customers. So why does the Barclays Conveyancing Panel Care?  Taking away the opportunity to appeal will increase the chance of the buyer pulling out due to the low LTV. With many conveyancing law fi...

A maths problem to start the day: When is 70% equal to 11%? That stumped me, too.  Hint: it isn’t.  The Council for Licensed Conveyancers September 2013 survey shows that 70% of the U.K.’s licensed conveyancers solicitors are women. It is presumably a fair representation of conveyancers within solicitor practices as well.  The Law Society’s annual roundtable of “thought leaders” on conveyancing are overwhelmingly men. (8 to 1 this year, 9 to 2 last year, roughly the 11%).  My colleague has asked the Law Society about the disparity and they’ve promised to get back to us. In the meantime, I  suggest having a look around your own office. Diversity in operations and leadership needs to be addressed in our industry.  Women and people of color are well-represented in the working ranks and certainly amongst our clientele. They should be included amongst our thought leaders, too.

The relationship between Decision First and the Law Society is becoming increasingly strained as the adoption of the Lender Exchange by lenders such as Lloyds undermines the value of CQS.  The Lender Exchange is a web portal which aims to address the issue of multiple lenders seeking similar information from solicitors in order to better manage their panel systems. The aim is to reduce costs and the administrative burden on solicitor firms, while also helping the lenders minimise fraud and negligence through due diligence. The Lloyds Conveyancing Panel will have to use the system. CQS will clearly no longer be the only game in town.  The Law Society maintain that important issue is the level of detail of the information sought by lenders. At present, some lenders require a minimal verification of ID prior to granting membership of their solicitor panel. Others require detailed information including criminal record checks. The Law Society have also expressed concerns about...

Treating customers fairly (TCF) is central to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) expectations of a lender’s conduct. Banks must put the well-being of customers at the heart of how they run their businesses. After years of licking their mostly self-inflicted wounds, banks are now starting to compete for borrowers with ‘free legals’ reemerging as the preferred incentive to lure borrowers. How to square the TCF outcomes the FSA wants to see mortgage lenders deliver with the use of free legals? Banks are desperate for us to believe they have turned over a new leaf but are the old ploys returning? Whilst I am not an advocate for separate representation, my view is that changes over the last few years have made it is increasingly harder to act for a borrower and a lender without there being a conflict. That conflict is brought into sharper focus where free legals are in play because the solicitor is not acting for borrower but acting on behalf of the lender paying for the services...

Just over six months ago the Law Society consulted on proposed changes to the CON 29 and CON 29O forms, also know as ‘Local Authority Searches’ and ‘Conveyancing Searches’. Local authority searches are a vital part of the conveyancing process and are used by conveyancing solicitors to request information about matters affecting a property, such as pending planning or building applications, nearby transport schemes and rights of way. Preliminary negotiations about the proposed changes took  place between the Law Society,the Local Land Charges Institute and the Local Government Association. After a consultation,  feedback has now brought about changes to the forms that are due to be launched later this year. The consultation paper provides interesting insight as to current issues and risks.  I maintain that there is a disconnect between what is included in the new search and the newly imposed obligations within the CML Handbook. Please note that I do not comment on all...

The concerns raised in my post last week on the risks of a hot market are reinforced by a survey in the Law Gazette showing the conveyancing boom exposes a skills gap. What's clear from the survey is that either solicitors are faced with too much to do and not enough manpower, OR have manpower that doesn't have enough experience, potentially raising their risk profile. Both present a clear opportunity for change. The long period of retrenchment that has left solicitors and their firms with a need to " start the conveyor belt all over again" with hiring should instead be seen as an opportunity to find new tools and processes for the conveyancing process. Working smarter is the future, not working more or with more people.

While debate in the last couple of years has centered on availability of flood insurance, that conversation will soon turn to the impact of flooding on property values and what solicitors advised clients on flood risk and the availability of flood searches . Because a serious flood event typically drives down the value of a property, the inevitable knock-on effect will be an increase in claims against solicitors who may not have advised their clients to consider the risk of flooding or carry out appropriate searches. Flood searches are now more common but what about the millions of house purchases that took place in the last six years? PI Insurers will be asking whether solicitors have been negligent about fully considering flood risk and whether this has left an exposure. Solicitors are not qualified to give advice on flood risk but there are a number of checks that can be undertaken on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better understanding of the risks. Many solicito...

Following on from a very active fourth quarter, 160,900 buy-to-let conveyancing purchases involving a mortgage took place in 2013, a jump of 23% compared to 2012. The increase has been fuelled by Buy-to-let landlords benefiting from record low mortgage rates. Competition amongst lenders has seen fixed interest deals at a new low, brokers say. Mortgage Works, part of the Nationwide Building Society , now offers the lowest two-year fixed rate at just 2.49 per cent for borrowers with a 40 per cent deposit. The trend is set to continue as The Post Office has re-entered the buy-to-let market, nearly two and a half years after pulling out of the sector. The deals, which start tomorrow, offer a selection of two, three and five-year mortgages at 60 per cent and 75 per cent, with rates starting at 2.98 per cent. It’s mortgages are funded by Bank of Ireland and as a result I expect to see some changes to the CML Handbook requirements for this lender in the near future.

Kensington Mortgages have changed their policy when it comes to lending on new build properties where the property does not have the benefit of a new home warranty scheme. Up until today the lender would not lend on new build properties not subject to an acceptable scheme. Kensington have changed their CML Handbook requirements which now advises their conveyancing panel that they will lend if the building work has the benefit of a Professional Consultant's Certificate. The building work must have been monitored by a qualified architect and/ or surveyor ("relevant professional") with adequate professional indemnity insurance and the requirements specified in 6.7.4, 6.7.5 and 6.7.6 of Part 1 of the CML Handbook must be met. Kensington Mortgages will require the Professional Consultant's certificate which appears at Appendix 1 of the CML Handbook together to be completed and signed by the Relevant Professional prior to Completion. To see the change in full click her...

The CML have today issued a press release relating to information to First Time Buyers . I stumbled across the following information data which reveals the number of purchase and remortgage  conveyancing transactions in 2013. That's nearly one million transactions where a CML Part 2 or BSA requirements applied.

In an article today in the Financial Times on how to sell a house without an agent, journalist Lucy Warwick-Ching suggest that you pick your lawyer carefully.    The reason is that if a dispute arises with a buyer, you will probably have to handle it yourself, although some online agents may step in. A good conveyancing solicitor may have to take on some of the work that an agent would have done in holding the deal together. Some lawyers may well be pleased not to have an agent involved but should be careful what they wish for.

Penrith Building Society yesterday changed their conveyancing panel requirements to require confirmation of professional indemnity insurance. It could be a coincidence but this comes hot on the heals of 136 firms being listed by the SRA as uninsured as well as the SRA withdrawing a practicing certificate for a lawyer who continued with conveyancing work after having been suspended. The change to the Society's BSA Mortgage Instructions do not make it clear whether existing firms on the conveyancing panel need to send in a copy of their PI policy. The team at Lexsure are advising their firms to send a copy to the Society just in case. Other requirements to be on the Penrith Conveyancing Panel include the fact that the firm must have a minimum of 3 partners as well as supplying a copy of the practicing certificates.

Clydesdale Bank currently has 14 firms on the panel, which also covers legal work for Yorkshire Bank, both of which are  subsidiaries of parent National Australia Bank. The firms previously appointed in May 2011 are Addleshaw Goddard, Brodies, CMS Cameron McKenna, DLA Piper, Dundas & Wilson, Eversheds, Harper Macleod, Gatelely, Hogan Lovells, Mcclure Naismith, Morton Fraser, Norton Rose, Thomas Eggar, Optima Legal. At the time of appointment, Clydesdale Bank head of legal Michael Webber said: "As a matter of course we regularly review our key suppliers, and as a result we have consolidated the number of firms on our national legal panel." Legalweek.com revealed back in 2011 that the bank reviews the national panel every three years, which if correct, and assuming there has been no policy change, the review will shortly take place. The review of it’s legal panel is different to the consolidation or changes to the Clydesdale conveyancing panel which may also t...

Nearly 2000 firms are waiting to see whether the cost and requirements of being on the Paragon Conveyancing Panel will change 2014 given the CML’s indication that Paragon have expressed interest in the ‘Lender Exchange’ platform. Lender Exchange has been developed by Decision First, in collaboration with a working group of lenders. The announcement by the Council of Mortgage Lenders in the middle of November 2013 of the plans by a number of large lenders to use a new, single panel management data and application process will have inspired little confidence that life will become any easier in 2014. The scheme will cover Lloyds Banking Group, Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland Group and expressions of interest have also been made by the Paragon Group. The basis upon which lenders such as Paragon, should the join, will make a decision as to who remains on their panel and who does not remains a closely guarded secret. It is stated that each individual lender will make their own...

Peers took part in a second reading debate on the Leasehold Reform (Amendment) Bill. This private members' bill, was introduced to the House of Commons by Conservative MP Philip Hollobone.  The bill received cross-party support. The bill amends the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 in relation to the permitted signatories of notices. Opening the debate, Baroness Williams of Trafford, who is sponsoring the bill in the House of Lords, said that the bill would correct an anomaly that currently exists in the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Currently, leaseholders of flats who wish to extend their leases have to personally sign these notices. The bill would allow these notices to be signed on a leaseholders' behalf. Conservative peer Baroness Gardner of Parkes, a long-term campaigner on the rights of leaseholders, welcomed the bill, but expressed surprise that it had taken so long. "Perhaps it gives us hope that someon...