Legal
Watch: A quick explainer on electronic signatures from HM Land Registry
The Land Registry started to accept electronic signatures in July, in a tech-savvy move accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Estate agents must reveal referral fees to customers or face a ban, says Trading Standards
Estate agents who continue to conceal referral fees from customers could be banned from the industry, says National Trading Standards.
Back to the drawing board: What to do if your architect serves up flawed designs?
What are your rights if an architect makes a mistake, leading to an expensive problem? Michael Young runs through the options available to developers placed in a tricky position...
The Pitfalls of Burrowing: On the dark art of negotiating non-negligence claims
HNW insurance specialist Dominic Cunningham explains why carrying out refurbishment and extension projects in Prime Central London can be a risky business, and what developers can do to safeguard themselves...
PCL solicitor suspended over AML failings
A Mayfair-based solicitor has been suspended for nine months for failing to have an appropriate anti-money laundering policy in place.
HMRC hits Purplebricks with £260k fine over AML breach
£266,793 penalty was levied for 'failures in having the correct policies, controls and procedures, conducting due diligence and timing of verification'.
A Matter of Taste: Can personal preferences permit you to refuse to approve a neighbour’s building plans?
A High Court case over an ultra-modern new-build house in Holland Park shines a light on a tricky matter of taste.
Ten ways to tackle corruption in the planning system
Transparency International has identified five key corruption risks in the English planning system, and has suggested ten practical steps that could keep local authority decisions more legitimate.
Exclusivity in residential property transactions: Is there another way?
Farrer & Co's legal team outlines four potential solutions to a persistent problem in the conveyancing system...
Interior designer in £1m spat over super-prime Notting Hill townhouse revamp
High society design & build firm Lucinda Sanford Ltd is embroiled in a high-stakes High Court legal dispute with aristocratic property owner Lord Russell over the £4m refurbishment of a super-prime home…
HM Land Registry now accepts electronic signatures
The Land Registry now accepts "witnessed electronic signatures". Individual can now sign legal documents electronically, as long as witness is present at the time to also sign the documents electronically.
Estate agents are ‘de facto agents of the Russian state’, claims Parliamentary report
There's "a growth industry of ‘enablers’ including lawyers, accountants, and estate agents who are – wittingly or unwittingly – de facto agents of the Russian state", according to the Intelligence…