Successor practice rules – “marry in haste; repent at leisure”
There can be few law firms of any size who, over the fifteen years of the open insurance market, haven’t considered a merger or acquisition. Organic growth can be elusive in a fluctuating economy, and joining hands with a local competitor can result in a new force stronger than the sum of its parts. The […]
Britain’s housing stock worth £7.76 trillion at the end of 2015
Britain’s 28.6 million homes grew in value by nearly £1.4 billion per day during 2015 Brentford and West Drayton are areas with largest increases in 2015 (24% and 17% respectively) But Wales is the region with the lowest price gains over the past 12 months, at 2.2% Edinburgh, Bristol and Glasgow amongst top online property […]
House prices up 5.6% for year in England and Wales, but volumes fall
House prices continued to rise into November with prices up 0.4% since October 2015, and 5.6% since November 2014. The rise takes the average house price to £186,325. The information from Land Registry also shows that despite growth in prices, volumes have fallen with the latest data for September showing a decrease of 8% year […]
Jonathan Smithers, Michael Day and Land Registry's Graham Farrant predict for 2016
With the New Year almost upon us here are predictions for the conveyancing market from the President of the Law Society Jonathan Smithers, Michael Day, Managing Director at Integra Property Services and traceWise, and Land Registry’s Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar, Graham Farrant. President of the Law Society, Jonathan Smithers, said: “The Chancellor’s recent […]
OneSearch Direct puts 3.5 million searches on the horizon for 2016
OneSearch Direct, the UK’s largest local search data company, is celebrating a successful 2015 with the news that they have processed over 3.4 million searches since its inception in 1992. Searches include Regulated Local, Drainage and Water, Ancillary, and even Official Council searches obtained via the OneSearch Direct ordering platform. It has been an exceptional […]
Interview with Angelo Piccirillo, partner at AVRillo
Angelo Piccirillo is partner and co-founder of AVRillo, which has enjoyed an award winning year. Jane Common at Today’s Conveyancer asked Angelo what the accolades means to AVRillo – and how he plans to keep winning them… What’s your background Angelo: how did you get into in conveyancing? “Well, I’m one of three brothers and […]
Victorian dust-yards: an early example of recycling in the UK
Whilst most people regard recycling as a recent phenomenon, it has been practiced in many forms for centuries. A number of studies have identified large scale recycling systems arising from the 19th-century Sanitary Movement.2 However, in London, an often overlooked but very effective and well-organised system appears to date back much earlier to the end […]
Home.co.uk predict low price growth for Wales, North East and Yorks as East & South East race ahead
House prices are set to rise by an average of 9% in 2016 across England and Wales according to Home.co.uk. The predicted acceleration in price growth (prices grew 8% in 2015) is being put down to a further restriction in supply. Across the UK however price growth in Wales, Yorkshire and the North East are […]
Marsh & Parsons's Peter Rollings predicts a "flood" of home buyers ahead of rates rise
Peter Rollings, CEO at London-based estate agents Marsh & Parsons, is predicting a “flood” of home buyers in the New Year ahead of an increase in interest rates. Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, had hinted that UK interest rates could rise in the first quarter of the year however that expected rise from its […]
Letting agents pessimistic over Buy to Let changes
Four in ten letting agents are predicting rental stock supply will fall over the next five years – the highest propertion of agents to predict so this year, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). According to the report fewer agents are reporting rent increases, 23% for November, the lowest proportion this year, […]
Residential transactions drop 5.7% but strong end-of-year continues
Residential property transactions have dropped 5.7% month-to-month according to the latest information published by HMRC. The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for November 2015 was 101,960 residential and 8,970 non-residential transactions. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of residential property transactions decreased by 5.7% between October 2015 and November 2015. However this […]
Land Registry to change dispute resolutions process from January
Land Registry have announced measures to end “long running, unresolved disputes.” They now say any unresolved dispute between an applicant and objector must be passed to a First-tier Tribunal after six months if an agreement can’t be reached. The new policy will come into force from the beginning of 2016. The announcement reads: “From January […]
SearchFlow launches the most comprehensive mapping system with land registry’s latest dataset
Conveyancing search provider, SearchFlow has upgraded its online mapping system and ordering platform to incorporate Land Registry’s latest release of boundary data on freehold and leasehold properties. The latest datasets on property boundaries are being phased into SearchFlow’s auto mapping service, following the Land Registry releasing its national polygon datasets showing the boundaries of 14 […]
It’s Chriiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaas!
Don’t panic. Our FREE Express Search Service will help you get those completions sorted by the end of the year. Send multiple search requests on one email – let us do the work. Time is short, everyone needs to complete the transaction “yesterday”. We know that the last thing you are doing right now is […]
LegalinX provides flood reports vital for future home buyers
With entire villages being evacuated and hundreds more left without power in the aftermath of Storm Desmond, how confident are you that your client’s new property doesn’t sit in a flood affected area? As the clean-up goes on, the hardship will continue for many residents as the price of flood insurance will inevitably increase with […]
Help to Buy ISA guidelines published
The Treasury has published the long awaited conveyancers’ guidelines for the Help to Buy: ISA. The Treasury say they “introduced the Help to Buy: ISA Scheme in order for the Government to help individuals to save for their first home. Savers will look to apply for bonuses from the ISAs in the New Year. However […]
Andy Sommerville predicts Land Registry privatisation to be "abandoned for a second time"
The privatisation of the Land Registry will be abandoned for a second time according to Search Acumen’s Director, Andy Sommerville. Making predictions for 2016, Andy Sommerville sees the suggested privatisation of the Land Registry as a non-starter due to industry opposition as well as the risk it would put “all of the progress made to […]
Land Registry completes 206,321 searches in November
According to statistics released today, Land Registry completed 206,321 searches in November, down from 211,221 in October. Overall, 363,700 were applications in respect of registered land (dealings). 677,160 were applications to obtain an official copy of a register or title plan, 206,321 were searches and 93,721 were transactions for value. Number of searches processed by […]
Weekly fraud roundup
Here are the most recent scam alerts issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Website for “Rowlands Solicitors” A website is claiming to represent “Rowlands Solicitors” and “The Trustworthy Solicitors”, rowlands-solicitors.co.uk. However the SRA state they do not authorise or regulate any firm by either name. The website lists the telephone number 01962 844 632 […]
One in twenty homebuyers find deposits underneath the tree
Just over 5% of homebuyers relied on a gifted deposit this year, up from 4.71% in 2014. First time buyers are regularly turning to the bank of Mum and Dad, according to research by My Home Move. The research also revealed that nearly half (47%) of buyers using government measures designed to help first time […]
