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8 March, 2023
Increasing the proportion of qualified lawyers to unqualified fee-earners in your practice helps to reduce risk and improves practice generally. It demonstrates to the CLC, lenders and others that there is a commitment to quality and high standards. The apprenticeship and traditional study routes both great ways to upskill existing staff. Find out about approved [Read more]
10 February, 2023
The Legal Services Board (LSB) needs to focus on improving customer information in more pressing areas of practice than conveyancing, where there is already significantly more information available than in other areas, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has said. The conveyancing sector, it says, must concentrate on the transformation of the home buying and [Read more]
16 January, 2023
Firms will be aware of the rising risk of cyber attacks, and the current challenge facing the Royal Mail (which may well have also affected your or your clients’ operations). All legal firms naturally hold sensitive data, making them an increasingly attractive target for cyber criminals. And conveyancers of course sometimes face additional risks due [Read more]
16 January, 2023
The CLC will shortly issue a Regulatory Return to all CLC-regulated practices. It asks for information on a range of activities over the last calendar year to help the CLC develop and focus its monitoring and compliance work. Managers should be able to answer the majority of the questions without research, but might need to [Read more]
12 January, 2023
The CLC has extended the fee waiver for CILEx lawyers converting to CLC regulation, until the end of April 2023. More than 130 CILEx lawyers have begun the application process since the waiver was introduced in December 2022 and 42 CLC Licences have been issued already. FCILEx lawyers who qualified in conveyancing and/or probate can [Read more]
16 December, 2022
We have seen a fake email purporting to be from the Chief Executive of the CLC, Sheila Kumar. It did not come from a CLC address but from this address: offiuse25@gmail.com Please let us know if you or any colleagues receive any similar fake email. Email us at CLC@clc-uk.org
9 December, 2022
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is proposing major changes to its Continuous Professional Development (CPD) requirements, moving towards an outcomes-focused approach. In its latest consultation, the CLC sets out a new set of principles which will involve changes for individuals, as well as introducing a universal CPD requirement for CLC firms. These proposals will [Read more]
15 November, 2022
Firms regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) will not face any increase in application fees, licence fees and regulatory fee rates for the coming year. The announcement follows an open consultation which ran over the summer and asked firms to respond on five areas, covering turnover bandings, Practice Fee rates, Compensation Fund Contribution [Read more]
4 November, 2022
Resorting to disciplinary action is a symptom of regulatory failure but ‘assisted compliance’ is not the easy option, the chair of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) said today. Speaking at the SLC annual conference in Derby, Dame Janet described assisted compliance – a collaborative approach to achieving compliance – as “a unique strength of [Read more]
20 October, 2022
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is making greater use of its enforcement powers as it looks to ensure it is a proportionate regulator, chief executive Sheila Kumar has said. Meanwhile, CLC chair Dame Janet Paraskeva says it will step up efforts to encourage firms and lawyers from other parts of the legal profession to [Read more]
28 September, 2022
The annual CLC stakeholder roundtable found that the property market continues to run hot – and that leadership is needed to ensure that the conveyancing process is modernised to cope The period from the housing market reopening in June 2020 after the first lockdown and the end of the stamp duty holiday in September 2021 [Read more]
23 September, 2022
Increase in the nil-rate thresholds for residential property The Chancellor has announced that, with effect from today, the SDLT nil-rate threshold for residential property has been increased from £125,000 to £250,000. The nil-rate threshold for First Time Buyers’ Relief is also increased from £300,000 to £425,000 and first time buyers can now claim relief on [Read more]
5 August, 2022
FCILEx lawyers who qualified in conveyancing and/or probate can apply to transfer to CLC regulation with no further training or occupational requirement. You will become either a Licensed Conveyancer and/or Licensed Probate Practitioner. You will enjoy the benefits of being an Authorised Person in terms of the Legal Services Act 2007 and will be regulated [Read more]
2 August, 2022
The new Register of Overseas Entities is being introduced by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act and launched on 1 August 2022. It will be held by Companies House. The register forms part of the government’s strategy to combat economic crime. Overseas entities that bought property or land on or after:– 1 January 1999 [Read more]
14 July, 2022
Cyber-attacks, sanctions, cryptocurrency and anti-money laundering are among the new issues highlighted in our second annual Risk Agenda, published today. The agenda brings together a list of the biggest risks faced by the CLC’s regulated community, which emerged during its regular monitoring and inspection work throughout the year. It includes advice to help practices stay [Read more]
23 June, 2022
From 2023, firms regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) will have to submit at least one application for professional indemnity insurance (PII) two months ahead of the renewal deadline, under plans approved by the Legal Services Board (LSB) in early June. Insurers receiving applications will then be required to respond no less than [Read more]
14 June, 2022
The number of women and people of colour in senior roles within conveyancing is still unsatisfactory. Despite the many initiatives aimed at lowering barriers to entry and ensuring fair career progression across the entire legal profession, change is very slow – particularly for those who are vulnerable or have protected characteristics. The CLC has now [Read more]
10 May, 2022
The CLC is part of the Regulatory Response Unit of Lawtech, part of Technation. We’ve worked to develop a joint statement supporting the use of digital identity technology in the legal sector, because there seem to be misconceptions and in some areas a reluctance to move to new ways of working. The CLC has [Read more]
10 March, 2022
The CLC has issued an Advisory Note on the fast-changing situation in relation to UK sanctions. It will be updated as necessary. Read the Advisory Note on the UK Sanctions Regime
16 February, 2022
The CLC has launched a consultation on changes to existing rules and the addition of further rules to to ensure that they are capable of governing a range of constitutional and procedural matters. This will include amending the constitution of the independent Adjudication Panel by codifying current practice and clarifying its powers. Read more and [Read more]
4 February, 2022
The CLC has been extremely concerned by the issues at the Conveyancing Academy and the experience of students and their employers. However, the Conveyancing Academy is overseen by the SQA. The CLC has no management or control over the Conveyancing Academy or any of the other education providers approved by the SQA. This is not [Read more]
17 January, 2022
A consultation has been launched on possible changes to professional indemnity insurance (PII) cover for conveyancers and probate lawyers. The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is updating its policy on PII, a vital element of consumer protection that all the firms it regulates must have. The last review was carried out in 2016, prompting [Read more]
17 December, 2021
We want to remind students and employers that the assured educational route to qualify for licence as a CLC lawyer is via the SQA level 6 Diplomas in conveyancing and probate that are regulated as part of the Register of Regulated Qualifications that are offered by providers approved by the SQA. In addition to the [Read more]
4 November, 2021
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has won approval to overhaul how it calculates and collects regulatory fees from the practices it regulates, so it can now recharge more of the cost of the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) to the firms that generate disproportionate levels of complaints. The oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board, has approved [Read more]
29 October, 2021
The CLC has today published its first annual report as required by the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019. The report sets out in the detail, with the help of some useful case studies, how the CLC’s risk-based approach has assisted regulated in achieving compliance with AML requirements and improving the risk profile [Read more]