About CQS Conveyancing

In the last 18 months 12 lenders have changed their Part 2 Handbook instructions relating to 5.4.6. That particular section addresses the question ‘ Does the lender accept search insurance and, if yes, what are the lender's specific requirements? Even though some lenders dictate a blanket refusal of search insurance many lenders will accept depending on whether the case is a remortgage or purchase. Some lay down specific requirements relating to buy-to-let transactions. A significant proportion of lenders make it clear that where a lawyer takes out a policy they do so their own risk and must give an unqualified COT. Occasionally, a lender clarifies what is policy must cover. Skipton, for example state ‘Any policy must cover our successors in title or be readily assignable (with no onerous conditions)’ The Mortgage Lender (TML) who launched in 2016 is the latest lender to make significant changes to section 5.4.6 of their handbook instructions. What makes their change particul...

The Lexsure Academy has seen a ten-fold increase in bookings for their in-house ‘power hour’ training in the last in the last year. And there’s a rising trend for mixing things up by scheduling a morning course. Nutritionists often say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but how many of your conveyancers routinely skip breakfast in an attempt to get some productive work in ahead of the influx of emails and calls? It’s a self-defeating manoeuvre that saves a small amount of time but can reduce efficiency all day, making it harder to focus and remember. Not only is everyone’s brain more alert and receptive in the morning, evidence suggests that people are also more likely to retain what they learn. So, next time you’re considering an efficient mealtime session to add value to your firm, don’t just fall back on the ever-popular ‘lunch and learn’. Set the tone and offer your lawyers in-house training over breakfast one day: with food for stomach and the brain...

Skipton Building Society is the latest lender to change their Handbook requirements introducing a reasonableness test when it comes to leasehold event fees. The new instruction at section 5.14.9 reads ‘....event fees must remain at a reasonable level at all times during the lease term’ This begs a couple of questions: “What is an ‘event fee’?” and, “What is ‘a reasonable level’ when it comes to an event fee?” Ordinarily, the reference to a leasehold event fee is within the context of a retirement property leases . Nevertheless I am yet to find a single lender who, in their Part 2 Handbook instructions, narrowly limits the definition of event fees solely to retirement properties. In the absence of such a limitation I expect lenders to assert that an event fee would cover fees referenced in a lease such as Transfer Fees, Subletting Fees*, Management Fees and Consent Fees. These are all examples of ‘events’ where a fee is applied. If there are unreasonable fees specified in th...

Part I: Pros and cons from the pros When sourcing conveyancing training, the traditional training option used to be external courses. More recently, e-learning (such as webinars) has become popular, but what about training’s rising star: in-house training? The Lexsure Academy is seeing increasing numbers of law firms considering in-house training courses but is this the perfect solution? Does it suit all types of firms? Is it better for firms of one size or another? What other factors should be taken into account? In this post, we give you the benefit of our experience of training hundreds of conveyancers a year. We’ll lay out the advantages, disadvantages and other considerations you might like to have in mind when considering in-house training, so you know if it’s the right path for you and your firm and we’ll give you some useful hints and tips along the way. The advantages of in-house E-learning’s drawbacks – For some needs, e-learning can be a good option but its dr...