The Partnership Newsletter December 2012

"It's behind you!!" With pantomine season upon us, that infamous phrase perfectly describes our thoughts about the property market in 2012. Frantically busy Fridays followed by deathly quiet Mondays and an almost non-existent early autumn bounce leading to a remarkably strong November, suggests the word "patchiness" to sum up the year. With lenders challenging of the sanity of even the most experienced buyers, we've found that everyone has had to work much harder than ever before. As tough climates flush out weaker companies, we're hopeful this will make our life easier in 2013 so we don't have to deal with some of the less able competitors out there. Our only worry is that the Daily Mail ruins the current optimism by shouting out "oh no it isn't!" on January 1st. EPCs not required on property particulars This anti-red-tape campaigning government that introduced the ridiculous notion of including a copy of the first page of the EPC on property particulars has just announced that from January 9th 2013 they are changing this policy. Naturally. From that date, the first page of the EPC does not need to be included on advertising, which includes brochures. The official guidance states that the coloured charts should be included although it is not clear that this is mandatory and "it is recognised that this is not always possible". In short, the requirement is rather elastic.

Free Client handbooks now available

We believe that if clients have a better understanding of the legal process of house buying and selling, this will reduce stress levels so we have produced a free conveyancing guide. Following on from the outstanding response to our unique agent handbook, a new Client Edition is now available to all our referrers to give to clients. There is an online version available for browsing purposes but if you would like copies of this booklet, just send an email to us and we'll put a set in the post to you

The Partnership goes from strength to strength

Our reputation for efficiency and a uniquely agent-friendly approach has lead to a significant growth in sales, with results up 250% over last year. To meet this growing demand, we continue to recruit enthusiastic and dynamic solicitors and assistants to join our company. In just the last few weeks, Lucy Eldred has joined as a solicitor, Ceri Bromwich as an administrator and Tim Kirkconel will be joining us in January as a Legal Assistant. We'll take a rest over Christmas before the recruitment process starts again, and then start the joyous process of looking for new larger offices to cater for all these new desks!

Nationwide thwarts the latest efforts to put lipstick on the financial services pig

Well ... at least we thought there were some rules, but it seems that lenders can play quite fast and loose when it comes to advising their clients.

First, it was HSBC that broke the mould by selecting their clients' lawyers for them.  For one of the world's most conservative banks it was a brave move.  Someone in head office decided that if their clients wanted to get a mortgage with HSBC then they wouldn't be able to choose their own solicitor to represent them.

Suffice to say, it didn't go down terribly well, and even BBC Radio 4 listeners got to hear about the issue.

Bowing to the inevitable pressure from estate agents who were obviously frustrated by the huge delays that this decision caused, HSBC revisited the idea and allowed a few more solicitors to represent them.

So that's the old news.

Now, it seems that Nationwide have decided to embark on a similar, but altogether more aggressive course.   Not content with refusing to allow any law firms that haven't represented them for more than four years ago, now they have dictated that they will "encourage" their clients to use their recommended lawyers. 

If any client has the temerity to try and select their own lawyer, Nationwide (and their brokers) will do their utmost to dissuade them from this free choice.  We've seen a significant increase over the past few months in clients being strong-armed by the lender and their brokers alike to use their own lawyers.

These lawyers all receive work through a panel, LMS, for whom, no doubt, this is good business. 

Unfortunately, for both the lawyers that receive this panelled work, the fees are necessarily reduced (after all, LMS have to get paid) and for Nationwide's clients, they inevitably suffer the consequences that arise out of solicitors working for reduced fees.

Sadly, the FSA, (the Financial Services Authority, rather than the Food Standards Agency, but equally known for their toothlessness) cannot do anything about this.

It seems that while lenders can act against their clients' wishes, the efforts to rehabilitate the disgraced financial service industry and still akin to putting lipstick on a pig.