SRA highlights issues for compliance officers
The SRA held a COLPs and COFAs conference last week where they identified key areas of risk for compliance officers to focus on. SRA Executive Director Samantha Barrass highlighted financial instability as a key risk, saying that whilst some firms were taking a responsible and diligent approach to managing their finances, others were recklessly putting […]
Gross mortgage lending increases
The latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders estimate that total gross mortgage lending increased to £11.6 billion in March. This is an increase of 9% from February but 8% lower than £12.6 billion in March 2012; however the first-time buyer stamp duty holiday expiration makes meaningful comparison difficult. Gross lending for the first […]
House of Commons answer on Help to Buy scheme
William Bain MP tabled a question in the House of Commons relating to the number of people who could potentially benefit from the Help to Buy scheme in the UK and individual regions. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was asked to estimate the number of people likely to benefit from the proposed Help to Buy […]
Average rent hits £735
The latest Buy-to-Let Index from LSL Property Services plc. has revealed a 0.5% increase in average rent in March, taking UK rent to an average of £735. This increase followed a four-month downward trend and bought average rent to 4.2% higher than a year ago. As usual the strongest growth was seen in London where […]
ETSOS partner with Lawyer Checker
Conveyancing search supermarket ETSOS has announced that it is now partnering with Lawyer Checker, an online service developed to reduce uncertainty in identifying the legitimacy of the vendor conveyancer. Lawyer Checker has been integrated into the ETSOS ordering platform, enabling users to gather information on the conveyancer to whom they are sending money and so […]