About CQS Conveyancing

In line with new CML Handbook changes Principality Building Society have updated their specific requirements relating to building insurance. As a conveyancer on the  Principality Building Society Conveyancing panel one needs to check the following:  You should also make reasonable enquiries to satisfy yourself that: 1. the insurance is in the joint names of us and the borrowers unless the property is leasehold and the lease requires the insurance to be in the landlord’s name, in which case our interest should be noted on the insurance policy. 2. The amount of building insurance cover is at least the amount referred to in the mortgage offer. If the property is part of a larger building and there is a common insurance policy, the total sum insured for the building must be not less than the total number of flats multiplied by the amount set out in the mortgage offer for the property. 3. The building insurance cover is index linked. 4. The following risks are cover...

I got asked yesterday by a potential buyer requiring conveyancing in Hendon whether Environmental Searches would show if Hendon is within the Hydrogen Network Expansion plan (LHNE) LHNE will deliver publicly-accessible, state-of-the-art fast-fill 700 bar hydrogen fueling station network together with new hydrogen vehicles in London, including a number of Hyundai hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and Revolve diesel-hydrogen dual fuel vans. The LHNE consortium comprises of Air Products, Cenex, Commercial Group, Element Energy, Heathrow Airport Ltd and Revolve Technologies Ltd and the project is co-funded by a grant from the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board.  It is one of five research and development projects selected by the Technology Strategy Board in 2012 to help accelerate the adoption of energy systems using hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, bringing them into everyday use.  The Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority will play a supporting ro...

I’m a specialist in risk, so I can sometimes be accused of being a little conservative in outlook, even for a lawyer. But I suspect that this article will have people reaching for their thesaurus to find stronger words, like “worrier”, “pessimist” or even “doom-monger”. I’m sticking my neck out today to predict that 2015 is going to be the year of of the file review. And like the mythical Cassandra of Troy, I’m predicting that I’ll be roundly ignored and then proved right. Although unlike Cassandra, I hope to avoid insanity. And seduction by a god. There are a number of reasons why many files will come under the spotlight by lenders in the next twelve months: Regardless of whether and when interest rates move upward, experts predict a correction in the market. However small a correction that is, some borrowers will quickly find themselves in dire straits and we will see a slow but steady return to repossessions, although even I don’t foresee it being on scale of the early 90s...

Over the last few years, the SRA and  Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal  have taken disciplinary action against firms appear to have failed to comply with requirements to report key facts about transactions to lenders. The focus has been on significant failures to comply with CML Handbook requirements which, when followed, will reduce the risk of mortgage fraud. Failure to comply with these requirements potentially exposes the profession (as well as reputational) risk and in the case of Scotland to significant financial risk in the form of increased Master Policy insurance and Guarantee Fund claims and premiums. The SRA and SSDT appear to be taking disciplinary  action as a proportionate response to what appear to be cases involving significant risk. As far as I understand neither operate a policy to review all breaches of the CML Handbook. More recent disciplinary actions appear to feature firms demonstrating systematic failings. These involve a num...

Australian legal information services provider  InfoTrack  has signaled an aggressive global acquisition strategy with an agreement to acquire the largest independent property search company in England and Wales,  STL Group  PLC. According to Mr Wood, chief executive of InfoTrack, “Australia has a track record in developing new technologies then – for a range of well documented reasons - we end up selling the farm to overseas interests”. “We have developed a great business here and we are determined to keep it in Australian hands while at the same time enhancing our offering to the legal profession, not just in Australia but in key legal jurisdictions around the world,” he commented. Mr Wood went on to say that not only was the acquisition good for Australia, it will also deliver enormous benefits to STL clients with significant investment planned for STL’s technology platform. The STL business has been operating across the UK for over 40 years,...