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TM Group has begun its programme of regional conveyancing CPD sessions around the UK, featuring a range of expert industry speakers.

Entitled ‘Driving & Adapting to Change’, the series of five regional events showcases content from TM Group’s national conveyancing conference of the same name, which took place in April 2015 at RIBA in central London.

The first two events of the roadshow, in Maidstone & Nottingham, boasted a 100% recommendation rate from delegates and the remaining 3 events promise equally informative and engaging sessions, with each focussing on the small changes that conveyancers can make that will have a big impact on their businesses.

The expert guest speakers are charged with providing three useful tips in quick-fire sessions designed to help time-poor conveyancers get the most out of their CPD.

What sets these events apart is that delegates get to set the agenda. With interactive roundtable sessions, conveyancers ask the questions that they want answered and can get their voices heard in small peer groups.

With practicality in mind, opportunities for downtime spaced strategically throughout the day, give conveyancers the chance to digest information or catch up on emails over a coffee.

Topics covered:
• How to stay responsive to changes in legislation
• Managing risk
• Dealing with ever-more demanding consumers
• Reputation management
• New business conversion
• Attracting and retaining the best talent.

Next stop is in Bristol at the Radisson Blu Hotel on Thursday 22nd October.

Click on the links below to register:

Bristol - 22nd Oct
Bradford - 28th Oct
Chester - 29th Oct

TM Group have today announced the appointment of experienced industry professional Julia Scott, who will serve as Key Account Manager for the North of England.

With more than 15 years’ experience in the conveyancing market, Julia brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the business and is looking forward to working closely with our existing portfolio of clients to bring them market-leading online property and conveyancing solutions.

Commenting on what attracted her to TM Group, Julia said:

“Whilst working at other companies in the industry I was aware of how ahead of the curve TM Group are; they have always been first to market with new and useful services and I look forward to playing a big part in bringing these innovations to conveyancers.

Speaking about Julia’s appointment, TM Group Sales Director Carole Marsden said:

“I’m delighted to attract such a talent as Julia and welcome her to the team. We can’t wait for her to get started as her vast experience in this sector and proven track record of dedication to customer service will ensure that she is a real asset to TM and her clients.

Julia joins us at an exciting time for the business as we look to release new products and services in both the residential and commercial real estate market.”

To discover how TM Group can work best with you, please call Julia on 07483 425550 or email Julia.scott@tmgroup.co.uk

The Mortgage Market Review intended to "hardwire common sense into the mortgage market" but, one year on, has it made any difference to a property transaction? TM Group's Nick Dyoss investigates...

The change in lending criteria introduced by the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) on 26th April 2014 were, as stated by the FCA, designed to "hardwire common sense into the mortgage market", and prevent a return to irresponsible lending that took place in the run-up to the credit crisis. Whilst time will tell if the long-term aims of MMR have worked, recent research by TM Group reveals one unintended consequence: namely that aborted or collapsed housing transactions are on the rise.

In April, TM asked conveyancers, “Have you witnessed an increase in the number of transactions that have aborted over the past 12 months?”

86% of respondents had seen no improvement or an increase in the last year and only 14% have recorded a fall. This begs the question of 'why?' when MMR was supposed to introduce stability.

February of 2015 saw research published by MoveWithUs which indicated that 49% of collapsed transactions were due to the mortgage falling through whilst 21% were caused by buyers not being able to afford as much as they thought due to MMR. Other issues cited were adverse searches & surveys and sales falling through higher up the chain.

Collapsed transactions are not a new problem.

Pre-MMR, in April 2014, QuickMoveNow highlighted a significant increase in their Sale-Fall-Through-Index with 27% of transactions in March 2014 failing to complete. The most common causes were identified to be on the seller’s side rather than the buyer's and included gazumping and problems with their own chain.

So what can be done to address this issue? Abortive transaction insurance for residential property is available from as little as £39.00 and will reimburse clients up to £1500 for conveyancing costs, mortgage arrangement fees, lenders fees and survey fees. Cover includes the most common reasons identified above including mortgage lending, gazumping and adverse searches and is also available for sale transactions as well.

Andrew Payne, the National Business Development Manager at Northcott Beaton, commented:

“‘The very nature of today’s property market means that there is heightened uncertainty within any transaction. If buying as an owner occupier, there are also elements of emotion attached to the transaction and, as such, it is imperative that consumers have the opportunity to protect themselves against the pitfalls of abortive transactions. In essence, this could indemnify the client for any financial loss enabling them to commit faster to any future potential purchase.”

Abortive Transaction Insurance from Northcott Beaton and underwritten by DAS is available from TM Group from £39 including IPT and is available for purchase and sale transactions.

For more information please contact your Account Manager. If you're new to TM Group, call us on 0844 249 9200 or email helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk to get started.

TM Group's 'Home Moving Trends Survey' report set the tone for 2015, showing how solicitors need to react to the ever-increasing demands that consumers place upon them. Continuing on this theme, Lexis Nexis have recently released their annual Bellwether report, ‘The Age of the Client’ which explores how independent law firms and sole practitioners are responding to a new breed of client.

With TM Group's research featuring the opinions of more than 4500 home movers and Lexis Nexis' report being comprised of lawyers' opinions & private clients, we wanted to see if there was a disconnect between the legal perspective of the market to that of the consumer.

The race to the bottom

In this year’s Bellwether report, Lexis Nexis found that one of the chief concerns occupying lawyers’ thoughts is the idea that they need to compete with their cheaper competitors. In the chapter, 'The Challenges keep on coming', Lexis Nexis identify one of the trends that was teased out from the interviews with solicitors:

“The economy may be recovering, but the recession has produced a more demanding and value-conscious client. As low-cost competitors enter the market, retaining clients is seen as a challenge by almost six out of ten lawyers.”

However, TM Group’s recent survey of consumers showed that there is probably little to worry about.

It was revealed in the Home Moving Trends Survey 2014 that just 1 in 10 consumers chose the cheapest conveyancer and that, actually, most people were motivated by the solicitor’s ability to demonstrate professionalism, expertise and trustworthiness.

In fact, no matter which way you cut it – by age group, region, house price – nearly everyone agreed that you get what you pay for.

This will be heart-warming news for anxious lawyers.

Having spoken with senior partners at various law firms, it seems that many already understand this; they are adamant that they’re not going to be caught in a race to the bottom.

Setting out to market your firm on service rather than price can be a daunting approach and sometimes goes against what might seem to be intuitive commerciality.

But Lexis Nexis do offer an alternative approach for conveyancers drowning in a sea of cheap fees:

“More firms are going to have to become more specialised,  because there are all these competitors who can do the bog-standard work. That’s how you differentiate yourself – by being able to do the more complex work that they can’t do.”

Repeat business

Another finding from the Lexis Nexis Bellwether report was that 6 out of 10 lawyers saw ‘retaining clients’ as a challenge.

Historically, one of the main sources of revenue for a law firm was from returning customers and it can be much more effective to cross-sell other services from around the firm to existing clients than to try and win new ones.

The Home Moving Trends survey this year indicated that this is still the case with around a third of home movers returning to their previous conveyancer but clearly the other two-thirds of clients must come from other areas – with recommendations from third parties and friends & family found to be key drivers.

So how do you increase repeat business?

An unexciting answer but ‘Customer Service’ – capital letters intended.

A flawless customer experience should be your main priority and, if anything should go wrong, it’s how you deal with the problems that can set you apart from your competitors.

Being responsive

Gone are the days when solicitors can simply take down a client’s information in a ledger in a face-to-face meeting to get started and then give them a call only when something interesting happens.

In the modern day and age, clients may not even get the opportunity to meet with you face-to-face so it’s important to explain at the outset of the transaction exactly how and how often you will be contacting them.

Indeed, in this year’s Home Moving Trends Survey, it was revealed that three quarters of respondents (72%) want to be updated at least once a week, if not more, even if there is not necessarily anything to report. A quote from one solicitor in the Bellwether report concurs:

“My expectation is what my clients expect of me. In this digital era, I respond back even if I don’t have the answer as yet, so they know it’s being sorted out."

Furthermore, as we are all well aware, moving can be a stressful time with home movers often having to juggle the typical demands of everyday life. It is therefore no surprise to see that email (57%) is favoured over the immediacy of the telephone (38%), allowing clients the time to absorb information and formulate a response or reply outside of working hours.

For further insights from more than 4500 consumers, download the full report.

Following on from our recent research the Law Society, in conjunction with Catax Solutions, have released their findings on capital allowances and the results are almost identical, writes Nick Dyoss of TM Group (pictured right).

When the Law Society asked about the adoption of the new capital allowances legislation 37% of respondents said that they felt it was not the solicitor's responsibility to establish a position on capital allowances for a given property.

A further 18% did not yet realise that it is the solicitor’s responsibility to do this and have made limited progress in complying with the new legislation.

So, in total, 55% of the poll had an issue with complying with the April 2014 capital allowance practice note.

All of this is very similar to the TM Group research which found that 52% of respondents answered "What Practice Note?" and less than 10% were 'finding it easy to fulfil their obligations'.

Picking out some of the other points from the Law Society report:

• •    Only 20% of solicitors said they know everything they need to know about the Capital Allowance 2014 changes.

• •    70% admitted they would like to know more.

The other consistent theme from the Law Society's report was that clients are also unaware of capital allowances and the tax relief they can claim, which is backed up with 40% of law firms saying that their client never raises the issue during a transaction.

Is this because clients view capital allowances as a complication that delays matters rather than a benefit, albeit in the longer term?

But it doesn’t have to be like this with the client uninterested and the solicitor failing to comply with legislation; potentially exposing themselves to a negligence claim.

Practical ways of helping your clients with Capital Allowances

Add some wording into the client care letter, maybe the firm could offer some form of assistance to complete Section 32 of the CPSE.1? Certainly it's a good idea to raise the issue as early as possible in the transaction.

An easy way to help and be able to demonstrate your compliance is to obtain a search.

In the same way you do with the Contaminated Land and Flooding Practice Note, you can order a Capital Allowance Check which can be passed onto the client to help them get underway with some information which they can pass onto their tax advisors.

TM have launched a commercial search at £50 and a residential one at £15 which, with some additional information from the client, can be returned in hours. Simply login to the system to order or contact us to set you up with a account.

The issues associated with capital allowances are not going to go away and nor is the duty that solicitors have to their clients since the April 2014 changes.

The process for determining allowances can be improved quite quickly, with very little upheaval to you or your firm's existing processes. A few simple steps like the ones above could certainly help both solicitors and clients alike.

As much as we’d like to think so here at TM Group, the term 'property searches' doesn't just refer to those done by a conveyancer once a property is being transacted. It's actually much more commonly used to refer to the consumer's activity to find that dream home in the first place.

Consumers searching for their next home typically go online to one of the property portal websites - a space that has been dominated for the last few years by the big two: Rightmove and Zoopla.

Rightmove, celebrating its 15th birthday this year, is the most visited property portal in the UK by some stretch although Zoopla has made significant ground in recent years to consolidate its position at #2.

In January of this year, the status quo was disrupted by the launch of an estate agency-owned portal with low fees called OnTheMarket.com (OTM) which is now gaining market share by allowing its estate agents to advertise on just one other portal.

What impact has this had?

Advertisers

Property portals rely on the 19,000 estate agents in the UK to be signed up and listing property and so the OTM ‘one other portal’ rule is designed to eat into Rightmove and Zoopla's market share.

According to OTM’s Chief executive, Ian Springett, they had signed up more than 4,000 estate agency branches ahead of their launch. Rightmove announced that their advertiser numbers rose by 5% in 2014 and were unchanged at the end of February, following the launch of OTM.

In contrast, Zoopla recently admitted that its 16,500 agency advertiser numbers fell by 11% over the year to January but, even so, OTM still only has around a quarter of the advertisers that Zoopla does.

Stock
A property portal wouldn’t be a property portal without property, so a key measure of their success is the volume of stock on each portal. A recent report by investment bank Morgan Stanley says that Rightmove has one million listed properties, Zoopla has 650,000 and OTM 350,000.

Visitors
There have been no discernible changes to visitor traffic at Rightmove or Zoopla in the two months since the launch of OTM and this is where the challenger meets its biggest obstacle. Since the conclusion of their 6 week launch marketing campaign, OTM has actually seen its initial traffic volumes fall, according to Experian Hitwise figures, and their traffic remains 21 times smaller than Zoopla's.

OTM’s major challenge without a doubt will be building a recognisable brand that can pull in the right level of sustained traffic to compete with the big boys. Rightmove and Zoopla have invested heavily in this area over a number of years and so there is considerable catching up to be done if OTM are to warrant their place at the top table.

Shares
Rightmove shares actually climbed 10% in January and February but, in the same period, shares in Zoopla Property Group have fallen by 8% in the wake of their announcement about falling agency members.

So, in summary, OTM have publicly stated that they are confident in becoming the #2 portal by January 2016 - which is looking like a pretty bold statement as things stand, certainly in the eyes of the public.

Between the top two, it's Zoopla that has been the clear loser in the property portal wars so far this year but there is still a huge gap between themselves and OTM and it is apparent that OTM will need to play the long game to increase their visitors as this audience cannot be built overnight.

It’s hard to argue against OTM being successful at some point down the line but much will depend on the patience of their agency owners - and they will need advertisers to be prepared to play the long game too. If OTM do make significant progress this year the twist in the tail could turn out to be that Zoopla are forced into turning their hand at estate agency and using their brand power to go straight to the general public.

Whatever happens it will be an interesting year or two in the property portal wars. 

Recent research from TM Group suggests that for many the issue of Capital Allowances has snuck in under the radar.

From research conducted in February 2015, when asked ‘How easy are you finding it to carry out your requirements as set out in the Law Society Practice Note on Capital Allowances?’ 52% percent of respondents answered ‘What Practice Note?!’ and less than 10% were finding it easy to fulfil their obligations. Read the original poll here.

To try and explain these findings, if we cast our minds back to the release of the Contaminated Land Warning Card in June 2001 and more recently the Flood Practice Note in May 2013, both had been widely discussed and were making headlines before they came into effect. However, the Practice Note on Capital Allowances has come into effect with much less fanfare.

"So what?" you may think, "this is a complex tax area, so isn’t it dealt with via tax specialists?"

The answer is yes but actually, later in the process, conveyancers are involved and are required to be proactive from the very start, thanks to the Practice Note.

Since April 2014 - so, nearly a year ago - whether you are acting for a buyer or a seller you should be raising the issue of Capital Allowances with your client as early as possible in the transaction. Why? Well, it can take time to put all of the documentation together but, more importantly, failing to advise the client could result in delays or financial loss to them.

Also, to reinforce the point, after 1 April 2014 if you sell a property but haven’t identified the available allowances and the client then claimed them via their tax return the unclaimed allowances are lost for the seller, the buyer and any future owner of the property.

Without unnecessary scaremongering, non-compliance of the Practice Note and subsequent loss of the Capital Allowance could lead to some quite high claims from clients, potentially running into tens of thousands of pounds.

So, what can be done? The best place to start is to read the Law Society Practice Note and some information from HRMC.

You should also look to add some information into the client care letter. But how can you easily demonstrate that you have advised your client and discharged your duties in this area?

My answer would be in the same way you do with the contaminated land and flooding: with a search that can be passed onto the client to help them in this matter and get them underway with some information which they can pass onto their tax advisors.

TM have launched a commercial search at £50 and a residential one at £15 which, with some additional information from the client, can be returned in hours.

Not only can your client start their claim early in the transaction, or cost-effectively show that there isn’t a claim but, as a solicitor, you can very easily demonstrate that you have carried out your duties as set out by the Law Society.

If you would like some more information on this new search please contact your account manager or the TM Group helpdesk on 0844 249 9200 and helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk. 

Convey Law

"Convey Law stood out as a conveyancer which is doing things differently - no mean feat in such a compliant and regulated industry." - Read more

Property remains by far and away the work type that attracts the most claims against solicitors. Over the last few years, property claims represent around 40% of all claims, although this peaked at 60% in 2010.

Due to the high level of claims, it is no surprise then that underwriters rate both residential and commercial conveyancing as the highest-rated work that a law firm undertakes.

Accreditation such Lexcel and CQS will be viewed positively, but the single biggest factor is that risk management cannot just a tick-box exercise; it has to be engrained within the culture of the firm.

Strong case management processes and procedures, case supervision and checklists are all important and, with PII renewal on the horizon, it may be timely to let underwriters know how you manage various risks in the conveyancing process.

There are many ways to help reduce the level of risk associated with conveyancing transactions, here's five of them:

Six TM Group employees took part in a sponsored 15km walk from the historic Wiltshire stone monument, Avebury, to raise money for a local charity.