The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off sole practitioner Andrew Lee after finding he continued practising while his firm’s professional indemnity insurance had expired and misled both a client and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The Tribunal also found he failed to keep proper accounts and ordered him to pay more than £45,000 in costs.
The Planning Inspectorate has updated guidance and templates for serving notice on other landowners and tenants in planning and listed building consent appeals. The notice must be served within the 21-day period before an appeal is submitted, and a copy of the notice used must be included with the appeal.
New research from Thirdfort suggests compliance pressures are rising across conveyancers and legal firms, with most senior compliance leaders expecting anti-money laundering budgets and team sizes to increase over the next year. The survey also points to heavier workloads, fragmented systems and lower confidence in current compliance processes among larger firms.
Blinc-UK has launched a digital tenant referencing service priced at £8 per applicant, combining identity verification, Open Banking, HMRC income data and fraud screening in one report. The company says the product is designed to help letting agents respond to stronger tenant screening needs following the abolition of Section 21 under the Renters’ Rights Act.
The Environment Agency has updated guidance for requesting an ammonia screening assessment as part of intensive farming permit applications. The notice confirms that the existing ammonia screening tool is being replaced by SCAIL Agriculture, with updated screening distances and revised spreadsheet forms for pigs and poultry.
The Environment Agency is seeking information about a deliberate waste dumping incident in Nelson, Lancashire, where around 75 tonnes of mixed commercial and household waste were deposited at a mill yard. The agency says the dumping involved cloned vehicle registration plates and has left the landowner facing significant clean-up costs.
The Planning Inspectorate has updated its Rights of Way order-making authority checklist to reflect changes in document submission, electronic communication, accessibility requirements and supporting information. The revised guidance also clarifies expectations where an authority takes a neutral stance and asks authorities to retain a PDF copy of the submission bundle for future access.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has intervened to close Gowlings Solicitors Limited, a Preston-based conveyancing and family law firm, citing the need to protect clients and beneficiaries. The action follows a prior rebuke over a conveyancing undertaking relating to mortgage redemption, where the firm failed to obtain a redemption statement and the sale proceeds were insufficient to clear the mortgage in full.
Lendlord has launched a Property Register tool to help landlords in England prepare for a forthcoming government rental property database and manage ongoing registration obligations. The tool compiles existing portfolio data, flags missing information and tracks deadlines ahead of a regional rollout beginning from mid-December.
The Law Society of England and Wales has issued new guidance on the use of artificial intelligence, stressing that AI is not a legal entity and that professional responsibility remains with solicitors. The practice note advises firms to scrutinise AI tools carefully, review all AI-assisted work before use, and maintain clear governance, training and oversight.
The FCA has set out its intended approach to taking over anti-money laundering supervision from the SRA and other supervisors, with a phased transition expected to begin in late 2028 and complete by 2030. It says it will use a risk-based, intelligence-led model and aims to reduce duplication for compliant firms while focusing enforcement on those enabling financial crime.
Safeagent has criticised the effectiveness of Trading Standards and NTSELAT in dealing with a letting agency that allegedly continued to display safeagent branding after its accreditation and Client Money Protection cover had been withdrawn. The article argues that delays and limited enforcement action may have left landlords and consumers exposed to misleading claims about protection and compliance.
