What do you do with an environmental report that is referred?
An Environmental search is now considered a necessary part of a search bundle when purchasing a new property. The environmental search will identify if there is a potential risk of contamination but what do you do if the report is referred? Standard procedure, once upon a time, was to contact the Local Authority for confirmation […]
Law Society publish Standard Conditions of Sale (5th Edition)
The Law Society have published a specimen of the Standard Conditions of Sale(5th Edition) on their website. The new conditions are for use in connection with residential property transactions only. Today’s Conveyancer, bringing you the latest conveyancing news and updates.
More properties come to market
According to the RICS May 2011 UK Housing Market Survey, economy fears and a distinct lack of mortgage finance have kept housing market activity levels at low levels. There was hope that spring would see an increase in housing market activity levels but this failed to materialise, probably not helped at all by a long […]
Is consumer confidence returning?
The latest Building Society Association’s (BSA) Property Tracker survey has indicated that consumers are slightly more confident about the future of the housing market, with homebuyers indicating that falling house prices are less of a concern than job security or raising a deposit. The proportion of those surveyed who indicated that they thought now was […]
Peppermint and Warner Goodman collaborate on Peppermint Portal
Warner Goodman LLP, a law firm with over 150 years under its belt and 120 staff over 3 offices, are working alongside Peppermint Technology towards a live release of Peppermint’s Portal. The Portal, together with the firm’s IRIS Videss system which is already in place, will offer a secure self-service function allowing clients to complete […]
STL launch a new report that could uncover hidden property value
With the government fully committed to unlocking more land for future development STL have launched a new report, DevAssess. The new report gives a professional opinion on potential future development opportunities within a 75m radius of the property and includes the local neighbourhood. Any hint of development plans could have a significant bearing on whether […]
Eight out of ten regions show a house price decrease
According to the latest LSL House Price Index eight of the ten regions within in England and Wales have falling house prices, based on the average annual change over the last three months. Despite the falling prices average figures are currently above zero, mainly due to the continued price rises in Greater London and the […]
Tightening of lending criteria leads to further struggles for first time buyers
According to e.surv, Chartered Surveyors, first time buyers have been hit by a further tightening in lending criteria, this has left fewer first time buyers achieving that first rung of the property ladder in May. Approvals for homes valued at £125,000 or under only accounted for 23 per cent of all approvals for May, the […]
‘Moving With the Times’ guest speaker judges right time for change
Harry Hill, one of the keynote speakers at this year’s ‘Moving With the Times’ National Conveyancing Conference, has shaken up the conveyancing market with his latest venture. Hill, the founder of Rightmove and former Chief Executive of estate agency giant Countrywide, has himself moved into the rapidly developing sector of online conveyancing. In-deed, the initiative […]
Land Registry data released for April 2011
This month’s Land Registry data shows that some 190,000 Land Registry applications were made by account holders during April 2011, 16 per cent lower than the figures for this time last year. Today’s Conveyancer obtains information every month from Land Registry to see which organisations made applications and which organisations made applications relating to transfers […]
NHBC to streamline acceptance of Buildmark Warranty process
Boyd Hackett, NHBC’s Commercial Projects Manager, recently spoke exclusively to Today’s Conveyancer about eAcceptance, the new online Buildmark acceptance process. NHBC are currently developing eAcceptance, the new system designed to allow conveyancers to take complete control of Buildmark warranty. eAcceptance gives instant online access to policy documentation such as the CML (Council of Mortgage Lenders) […]
Conveycentric launch COMPLETIONmonitor
Conveycentric, in partnership with St Giles Legal and Professional Risks, have announced the launch of COMPLETIONmonitor, an online software tool that will grow and develop based on an individual lender’s specification within a property transaction. The concept of the software is to concentrate on the biggest “risk areas” for conveyancing, flagging up key areas such […]
Dealing with Stress
LawCare helps lawyers deal with health issues that can be common in challenging business times. Given everything that is going on in the conveyancing market we thought it would be appropriate to give LawCare some coverage. What is stress? In technical terms, it is when the pressures experienced by the individual are perceived as exceeding […]
An Antidote to “Tesco Law” and “Solicitors from Hell”?
Many conveyancing firms are worried how they will fit into the changing legal sector with alternative business structures enabling external capital to finance significant marketing activity in what is already a very competitive market. The old methods of word of mouth and reputation may be tried and trusted for many firms but the internet and […]
Landlords hopeful as demand soars
LSL Property Services Plc’s latest landlord sentiment survey shows an increase in optimism within the buy to let market with 49 per cent of landlords stating that now is a good time to invest, while just 1 per cent believed that now was a good time to reduce their portfolios. Over the next twelve months, […]
No Sale No Fee offered by OneSearch Direct
OneSearch Direct have recently announced that they are to offer a No Sale, No Fee deal on selected Personal Local Authority Search and Personal Water and Drainage Search bundles. Michael Tolland, Finance & Commercial Director, said: “OneSearch Direct recognise the importance of value in these straitened times. As customers will testify, our searches have always […]
Goldsmith Williams receive Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation
Liverpool based Goldsmith Williams are the latest firm to be awarded the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) practice standard. The firm, who have also recently announced an upcoming event, The Legal Services Act — Taking the law into your own hands, have received the award following a robust assessment to ensure that, as a […]
Landlords fail to protect sensitive data
The Land Registry have reportedly paid out a record amount of money because landlords are not registering alternative correspondence addresses. Head of Legal and Policy at the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), Liz Richards, believes that the £26 million paid out since 2006 could have been avoided if landlords had taken a few simple […]
Law Society issue warning to Conveyancers and CQS
The Law Society has warned conveyancing solicitors that should they choose to ignore the Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), they do so at their own risk. The number of accredited firms has now tipped the scales at over 200 firms and this has prompted the Law Society to remind its members that mortgage lenders, consumers […]
OneSearch Direct well on way to 2 million searches
OneSearch Direct, since their launch in January 2002, have successfully processed more than one million Personal Local Authority Searches, the one million barrier being smashed in December 2009, around 390 Personal Local Authority Searches per day. OneSearch Direct are looking forward to continuing their current success and also providing conveyancers with the ‘accurate, speedy and […]
