Pannone joins LMS to offer Euro-conveyancing service

A Manchester law firm is set to help high-flyers and pensioners buy homes on the continent, cutting conveyancing costs by more than half along the way.Pannone & Partners will join Legal Marketing Services (LMS) from next month to offer conveyancing services for home-buying in Spain and France.

The firm will charge 0.5% of the property purchase price, compared to 1-2% in Spain and up to 3% in France.

The pair have also selected a group of UK-qualified lawyers in France and Spain to offer the Web-based service, and if it proves successful the scheme is likely to be opened to buyers in other European countries and the US.The venture arose after studies estimated that around 100,000 Britons will buy property in France and Spain this year, either because they are emigrating or because they want a holiday home.'Low inflation means there is more spending money around,' said Joy Kingsley, Pannone's managing partner.

'As people are looking more closely at their quality of life, investment in property abroad is an obvious consideration, particularly as property in France and Spain is well priced.'Denise Ballard, managing director of LMS, said she hoped the service would illustrate that conveyancing could still be a profitable exercise if lower prices were offset against a larger volume of work.

'There is simply no excuse for French and Spanish lawyers to charge such high prices,' she said.Paula Rohan