News

Four new members appointed to the CLC’s governing Council

5 October, 2016

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the specialist property law regulator, has today announced the appointment of four new members to its governing Council, which has been chaired by the Rt Hon Dame Janet Paraskeva since April 2015. The Council has a lay, non-lawyer majority and includes professional lawyer members currently working in conveyancing or probate. [Read more]

Reform of the regulatory framework for legal services

12 September, 2016

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers reacted to the publication today by the Legal Services Board of A vision for legislative reform of the regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales. Chair of the CLC, the Rt Hon Dame Janet Paraskeva said: ‘The CLC is very encouraged that the Legal Services Board (LSB) has recognised the [Read more]

Help to Buy ISA

24 August, 2016

There has been some confusion about the operation of the Help to Buy ISA scheme. The Treasury’s guidance for conveyancers sets out that the draw-down of the Help to Buy ISA bonus should take place immediately prior to completion. The savings themselves can be withdrawn by the homebuyer earlier to use as part of the [Read more]

CLC cuts regulatory fee rates, reports on a successful PII round

28 July, 2016

The CLC, the specialist property law regulator, has today confirmed that it will reduce regulatory fees rates for firms by 20% with effect from 1st November 2016. The announcement follows a consultation on the proposed reduced rates and a formal decision by the governing Council. The proposals will now be passed to the Legal Services Board [Read more]

New apprenticeships in law planned for Wales

26 July, 2016

Aspiring lawyers in Wales will soon have a new way to begin their careers as apprenticeships in conveyancing and probate are due to go live in early 2017. Three qualifications will be on offer.  The first two lead to recognition by the CLC as a Conveyancing Technician or a Probate Technician. It’s a great start [Read more]

Exciting roles on our governing Council

21 July, 2016

Specialist property law regulator seeks new Council members We are looking for new members for our governing Council to fill roles that will soon become vacant as members come to the end of their maximum terms. The majority of the new roles will begin in April 2017. There are vacancies for two lay (non-lawyer) members and [Read more]

Making the most of the Legal Services Act 2007

14 July, 2016

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers today urged the SRA to dismantle a major barrier to firms exercising freedoms created by the Legal Services Act 2007. Responding to the SRA’s consultation, ‘Removing barriers to switching regulators’ the CLC welcomed proposals for waivers of the automatic requirements for run-off cover to be purchased when a firm transfers [Read more]

CLC Commentary in Legal Press

6 July, 2016

The Chair of the CLC, Dame Janet Paraskeva and Chief Executive, Sheila Kumar, have had articles published in the legal press that look at regulation, market entry and competition. The articles look at the regulatory burdens placed on lawyers by a range of organisations that are not subject to the rigour of oversight by the [Read more]

Council for Licensed Conveyancers consults on changes to education and training

28 June, 2016

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has today launched a consultation on proposals that will see delivery of education and training move away from the regulator. The Council will continue to set the standards to be achieved to apply for a licence to practise as a Licensed Conveyancer or Licensed Probate Practitioner. The CLC has [Read more]

New CLC Professional Indemnity Insurance Framework approved by the Legal Services Board

15 June, 2016

CLC-regulated firms can now purchase PII cover from insurers that have signed up to the CLC’s Participating Insurers Agreement.  That agreement sets out the minimum terms and conditions of PII cover.  These have been enhanced to include run-off cover of £2m at no cost at the point of closure of a practice. These changes take [Read more]

Profession says CLC provides value for money, supports innovation

6 June, 2016

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers is publishing today, Monday 6th June, the findings of its Stakeholder Perceptions Report 2016.  The report tracks changes in views about the specialist property law regulator since the last survey in 2014. The survey was carried out by independent research firm IFF. CLC lawyers reported that the CLC’s performance has improved [Read more]

CLC welcomes LSB report on the cost of regulation

24 May, 2016

CLC Reaction to LSB’s Report on the Cost of Regulation Reacting to the publication today of the Cost of Regulation report by the Legal Services Board, Sheila Kumar, Chief Executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers said: ‘I am very pleased that the LSB’s work on costs of regulation has found that the profession’s views of both the fees and [Read more]

CLC Consults on lower regulatory fee rates

12 May, 2016

In March 2016 the CLC announced that it would look to reduce by 20% the regulatory fee rates for the firms it regulates.  Today, the CLC has published a consultation paper on its proposals for setting fee rates for the regulatory year beginning 1st November 2016, including the reduction for firms.  Individual regulatory fees will remain [Read more]

LSB endorses CLC’s approach to regulation

10 May, 2016

The Legal Services Board has published individual reports on the regulatory standards of the front line regulators as well as a thematic report drawing on all of the individual reports. They can be read here. The CLC is pleased that LSB recognises the ‘real improvement against all of the standards since 2012/13’. The LSB agrees with [Read more]

Consultation on new arrangements for Professional Indemnity Insurance

5 May, 2016

Consultation on new arrangements for Professional Indemnity Insurance Proposal to move from a Master Policy Scheme to a Participating Insurers Agreement Insurers to provide six year run-off cover at no cost to firms at time of closure Help for firms transferring from regulation by the SRA to the CLC The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has [Read more]

CLC targets 20% fee rate cut for firms

23 March, 2016

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has today published its Financial Statements for the year 2015 and announced that it plans to reduce regulatory fee rates for all firms by 20%, effective from November 2016. The Financial Statements and the Annual Report published in February evidence a year of wide-reaching change, including the CLC’s staffing restructure, investments in improved [Read more]

Spoof email

17 March, 2016

It has come to our attention that there is a malicious spoof email circulating which purports to come from the CLC-uk.org domain. The email is titled ‘INVOICE’ and contains a MS word document attachment.   Should you receive an email from the CLC containing any of the following : An email from: Maddi Cross A [Read more]

Reporting on 2015, planning for the future

15 February, 2016

The CLC has published its Annual Report on the year 2015 and its business plan for 2016 setting out as priorities three major strategic projects New routes to qualification leading to licence as a CLC lawyer becoming available in 2016 Reviews of regulatory arrangements and financial protection arrangements under way A review of regulatory fees [Read more]

Legal Services Market Study: CLC response to statement of scope

3 February, 2016

The CLC has published its response to the statement of scope set out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for their proposed market study of legal services. Read the CLC’s letter to the CMA

CLC reacts to Chancellor’s Announcements on Legal Services

30 November, 2015

The Chancellor announced today that in 2016 the Treasury will be consulting on Removing barriers to entry for Alternative Business Structures Making legal services regulators independent from their representative bodies and Injecting innovation into the process of home buying Responding to the announcements Sheila Kumar, Chief Executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers said: ‘Simplifying the [Read more]

Dame Janet Paraskeva sparks debate on PII, Lenders Panels and calls for genuine choice of

19 November, 2015

PII and run-off requirements seen to be inhibiting firms’ choice of regulator Lenders panels could be anti-competitive and a barrier to market access Incomplete separation of representative and regulatory bodies muddying regulation Read the full speech Dame Janet Paraskeva, the new Chair of the specialist property law regulator, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), highlighted [Read more]

Deadline passed for Licence Renewal

1 November, 2015

The deadline for submission of licence renewal applications was 31st October 2015. If you are one of the few who have not submitted their individual or firm’s renewal application you must take immediate action to do so. Renew your licence now

Changes in CLC Education

6 October, 2015

Council for Licensed Conveyancers and Scottish Qualifications Authority announce strategic partnership in legal education The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), the specialist property law regulator, and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), an Ofqual recognised awarding body, have today announced a partnership for the delivery of a suite of qualifications, enabling those who achieve them to [Read more]

Apprenticeship Standards in Conveyancing and Probate ready to roll

3 September, 2015

New apprenticeship standards in conveyancing and probate published following approval by the Department for Business, Industry and Skills Developed by practitioners with the support of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers Assessment bodies going through approval process so that apprenticeships can begin Innovative apprenticeship standards creating accessible new pathways to recognition for legal professionals have been [Read more]

August Newsletter Published

28 August, 2015