@WiswasBelle @NLC_2019 That’s not the right narrative; margins are actually quite tight in conveyancing & what happened is that by choosing the ‘repetition & volume guys’ (that’s an unusual piece of candour in select committee evidence) as recommended solicitors the national housebuilders pushed ...1/
@WiswasBelle @NLC_2019 ...margins down further & that undoubtedly had an impact on the quality of service. There is also no doubt that the legal profession did not acquit itself well in identifying onerous ground rents & that those, who as a result received bad conveyancing advice, have not always.. 2/
@WiswasBelle @NLC_2019 ... been well advised about remedies In the mistaken belief that poor practices might afford those who provided a substandard service a defence. Inherently bad practice is not a defence to negligence but some people have been put off suing as a result. The initial cause ...3/
@WiswasBelle @NLC_2019 ... of the problem was the house builders who introduced onerous provisions into new build leaseholds & sold freestanding dwellings as leasehold when there was no justification for doing so other than to maximise their revenue streams ...4/
@WiswasBelle @NLC_2019 ... it is the national house builders which have made the large profits from new build leaseholds & they have still barely been held to account; being able for example to charge for varying leases that should have not have been marketed in the first place & getting a ....5/
@WiswasBelle @NLC_2019 ... windfall when, to escape onerous ground rents leaseholders enfranchise. Really it is the house builders at whom your ire should be directed. That is not to defend those who gave poor advice; some reports on title I have seen were truly woeful; they barely did more than ...6/
@WiswasBelle @NLC_2019 ...parrot the lease (if that) & left laymen to spot problems to which the reports did not draw attention. The legal profession is at least tightening up training (I was involved in part of that for @TheLawSociety in 2018) & @CAtradebody in particular has been really strong ...7/
@WiswasBelle @NLC_2019 @TheLawSociety @CAtradebody ...not only in giving guidance to prevent the repetition of past mistakes but to identify new questionable practices being developed by the national house builders, such as burdening new build freeholds with rentcharges/quasi-rent charges (which could be the next mis-selling...8/
