Diary Of A Highstreet Conveyancer – Tuesday April 15
Tuesday So today was the first day back after the Easter break. Many firms were closed for Easter Tuesday, an old tradition I remember from many years ago, but seemed more poignant this year. As I have come to expect, the phones were quiet. There was a steady influx of emails but not as many […]
Purchase Mortgage Searches Fall 82%
Purchase mortgage searches have fallen by 82 per cent over the past four weeks. According to weekly mortgage data provided by Twenty7Tec, up to the week ending April 11 purchase mortgage searches had also reduced by a third on the week previous. Searches for mortgages were down 27.21 per cent on a weekly basis and […]
One In Nine Mortgage Holders Seek Payment Holiday
One in nine UK mortgages are now taking advantage of a mortgage payment holiday. According to UK Finance data, over 1.2 million mortgage holders impacted by Covid-19 have applied to their lenders for a mortgage payment holiday. Since March 25, the number of mortgage holiday applications has tripled from 392,130 to 1,240,680 with more than […]
poweredbypie Accelerates Introduction Of Online Communication Tool: Document Portal
With many law firms now working from home, search and software provider poweredbypie, has announced an accelerated introduction of its new online communication tool Document Portal. Document Portal enables simple and secure electronic exchange of all documentation within the conveyancing process, particularly helpful when email is not secure and meeting clients in person is not […]
Supreme Court Look At A Pair Of Urns
The Supreme Court are considering their judgement after hearing arguments about the constraints placed on a landowner when objects in a property are listed separately to the whole of the building (Dill v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and another [UKSC2019/0001]. The case concerned two 18th century lead urns on limestone pillars […]
Diary Of A Highstreet Conveyancer – Thursday April 9
Thursday This was the first Maudy Thursday for as long as I can remember (and that is a long time!) where I have had no-one moving house. I had to complete the grant of a lease extension but that was it. People assume that conveyancers just do house moves – but there is a whole […]
Experts Discuss Transactions, Social Distancing And Furloughing
The property sector is facing unprecedented challenges at the moment. Covid-19 has decimated the home buying and selling process with searches and new mortgages almost halving in four weeks. Similarly, lenders are now reluctant to offer finance until social distancing regulations are lifted and survey valuations and home viewings can resume. Economic forecasts have predicted […]
Law Society Issue Furlough Guidance
The Law Society of England and Wales has published fresh guidance helping firms looking into utilising the government’s Job Retention Scheme by furloughing their staff. In recent weeks, many conveyancing departments have seen new instructions and agreed sales decline by as much as 70 per cent, with further falls expected in the weeks ahead. The […]
70% Decline In New Listings Since Lockdown
Sales agreed and new listings have plummeted by 70 per cent since government lockdown restrictions according to Zoopla and GetAgent data. Having researched keyword data used since social distancing measures were imposed in the final weeks of March, GetAgent found that Google search volume had more than halved since mid February (54 per cent fall) […]
Helping To Provide A Road To Recovery Post Coronavirus
We are reading so much about COVID-19 and we are all experiencing first hand the impact on ourselves, our families/friends. There is of course the further impact it is having on us all professionally and whether you are a business owner or employee the future appears bleak at the present time. As a Business and […]
Index Announces Integration With Thirdfort
Index is delighted to announce a partnership with Thirdfort. Here at Dye & Durham, the parent company of Index, we continually look at ways to expand our client offering. Following a successful integration with Thirdfort via the Index Platform, our Law Firm Clients are now able to remotely onboard their clients in minutes using the […]
Stamp Duty Holiday Imperative Post-Lockdown
RICS has urged the government to enforce a stamp duty holiday once the social distancing restrictions are lifted in a bid to improve consumer confidence and encourage the UK to start moving as soon as they are able. Medium and long-term measures to re-ignite a property market which was starting to improve this year will […]
CA Defer Payments On All Training Courses
The Conveyancing Academy, which is endorsed by both the Conveyancing Association (CA) and the Society of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) for the provision of continual professional development and training, has made the decision to defer all course fees for 12 months. The majority of conveyancing departments have been forced to respond to current challenges by taking […]
NCA Will Appeal Discharged UWO
A High Court ruling has discharged three properties which were frozen by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in May last year using an Unexplained Wealth Order(UWO). Towards the end of May last year, three properties worth in excess of £80 million, were seized by the High Court as anti-corruption and Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO) were […]
CLC Offer Regulated Firms Practice Fee Break
In light of the financial difficulties impacting conveyancing departments at the current time, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is allowing any firms it regulates to defer their regulatory fee payments. Practice fees and payments to the Compensation fund can be deferred for the months of April, May and June to help firms cope financially […]
CLC Deferring Regulatory Fees
CLC to support firms during coronavirus crisis by allowing them to defer payment of regulatory fees The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is to give the firms it regulates the option of deferring the regulatory fees they pay to help them cope with the coronavirus crisis. The CLC shares the Government’s determination that businesses that […]
Blue Billy – Chemical Deposits In Contaminated Land
In the 19th century, London grew at an unprecedented speed and was transformed into the world’s largest city and the capital of the British Empire. Between the smog and squalor, a foul-smelling substance was first identified on the sites of old gasworks and coke works. Up until the 1970s coal gas production provided the rapidly […]
Incredibly Difficult Time For Conveyancers
There’s no point trying to sugar-coat the current situation for conveyancing firms. We all know these are incredibly difficult times and trying to carry out your work, do right by your clients, while at the same time attempting to ensure your firm and employees make it through this period safely and with their jobs intact, […]
Diary of A Highstreet Conveyancer – Tuesday April 8
Tuesday These few days before the Easter break tend to be really busy – I would guess that the Thursday before Easter is the third busiest day of the year for people moving house after the days before Christmas and August Bank Holiday. Would you be surprised to learn that I have no one moving […]
New Listings Down 82 Per Cent
Recent figures suggest that new listings were 82 per cent down last week when compared with the week before lockdown. The data, released by Housevault, found 1,695 properties listed for sale over the past seven days in spite of governmental advice to delay home moves. The data also suggests there were 3,293 UK sales in […]
