Purchase Mortgage Searches Increase By 109% In 4 Weeks
Over the past four weeks, the number of searches for purchase mortgages has increased by 109 per cent as the reopening of the property market stimulates buying and selling. According to mortgage data from Twenty7Tec, both weekly and daily figures have increased significantly. Daily figures for mortgage searches have increased by a fifth (22.36 per […]
Countrywide Begins ‘Phased’ Re-Opening
Countrywide have announced they are beginning a ‘phased’ approach to re-opening their branches, after the Government gave the green light for the English property market to re-open after weeks of reduced activity in lockdown. The large corporate agent, however felt the need to defend it’s position in the way it was opening it’s branches, when […]
RICS April Sentiment Highlights Severity Of Lockdown Uncertainty
What a difference a week makes! It has been seven days since the property market was released from the lockdown and early indications suggest that market activity is buoyant and constantly increasing. However, eight days ago the sentiment was very different and the RICS Residential Market Survey for April highlights the precarious and damaging situation […]
Post-Lockdown Property Market Bouncing Back
Recent Rightmove data indicates that the property market needs to prepare for an immediate surge in demand after home-mover visits to the site exceeded 5.2 million on Wednesday 13th May. This figure represented a 4 per cent increase on the same day in 2019 with indications suggesting the market is reacting positively to the governmental […]
Payment Holidays Prevent Rising Mortage Possessions
Homeowner mortgages in arrears increased slightly between the final quarter of 2019 and the opening quarter of 2020. There were 72,380 homeowner mortgages in arrears of more than 2.5 per cent in the opening quarter of the year according to UK Finance. This figure represented a 6 per cent fall in mortgage arrears from the […]
‘Be Kind’ Key Message For Mental Health Awareness Week
Today, Monday 18th May marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week 2020, which is themed around acts of kindness. Following a celebrity death earlier in the year, the over arching sentiment in 2020 of ‘Be Kind’, began to trickle down through all walks of life. Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, […]
Diary Of A Hightstreet Conveyancer – Friday May 15
Friday I had one completion today – the sale of an empty property. All went well so nothing to report there. But there are days when things don’t go as planned and you find yourself having to review the terms of the contract, the small print of the Conditions in the contract which we all […]
Legal Mental Health Charity Releases Latest Covid-19 Data
Legal mental health charity LawCare has released data on all COVID-19 related contacts it has received to date for Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May). Forty eight legal professionals have contacted the charity with issues related to COVID-19 since 10th March, making up over a third (37%) of all contacts to their support service. The […]
Ask An Expert: Surveyor Perspective Of Post-Lockdown Market
Since lockdown, the property market freeze has created a worrying environment for all stakeholders in the home buying and selling process. The inability for surveyors to complete physical surveys and valuations, in particular at the early stages of lockdown, caused lenders to lose confidence in approving mortgages on many properties, creating a sense of increased […]
Out Of Office Message Etiquette And Security Considerations
The property market freeze has placed an incredible strain on all businesses and stakeholders involved in the home buying and selling process. Law firms have been forced to make difficult decisions in order to save their businesses with many employees placed on the government’s staff retention scheme. Communication delays have been an unfortunate consequence of […]
Property Market is back, but so are the hurdles for Conveyancers
The announcement by Housing Minister Robert Jenrick that conveyancing transactions in England can resume from 13 May 2020 presents both opportunities and problems for property lawyers. With an estimated 373,000 transactions on hold, conveyancers may soon see renewed pressure to complete deals quickly. As always, Stewart Title remains ready to assist busy conveyancers with our […]
It’s Getting Rough At The Guildford Frontline
The following article first appeared on Peter Ambrose’s Linked In account and has been kindly shared with Today’s Conveyancer So we learned yesterday that there is such a thing as good news. After deleting the BBC news app from my phone and browser I had been living a news-free existence for the last couple of months. […]
Diary Of A High Street Conveyancer – Thursday May 14
Thursday I had expected that chains would start to move and perhaps there would be some renewed optimism but that is not what I am seeing – I appreciate that it is only a few days since the market has opened up but I am surprised at how quiet it still seems to be. But […]
Digital Conveyancing – A Call for Action Not Words
by David Jabbari, Solicitor, CEO of Muve Hardly a days goes by without another prediction that we are on the brink of a fully digital conveyancing process. This is usually linked to excitement about a fairly minor improvement to a part of the process, such as the current interest in digital or e-signatures, or extensions […]
What About The Scottish Property Market?
It’s been a couple of days since the announcement that the property market in England could begin to resume activities since the whole of the UK went into lockdown on 23rd March. However, the announcement that came out at the beginning of the week, only encompassed the English property market, as the devolved powers in […]
Movers and Shakers – 15th May 2020
Here at Today’s Conveyancer, we wanted to share with you the good news we’ve had within in the industry of professionals joining firms and those who have moved up the promotional ladder. This week we’ve seen the following announcements with regards to appointments and promotions: David Bridge – left BPL and joined Kiteleys as the […]
Property Market Restart Has Immediate Impact On Mortgages
The reopening of the property market has had an immediate positive impact on mortgage activity according to recent data. Whilst Twenty7Tec’s mortgage statistics for the week ending May 13 suggested that both search and document volume was falling on a weekly and fortnightly comparison, the figures for Tuesday, the day it was announced that the […]
Re-opening Of The English Property Market
It’s understandable if you, as a conveyancing practitioner, have felt slightly caught on the hop by the announcements and measures announced over the past week or so. To quote Monty Python, “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition…”, and, despite the fact that we had been actively working to demonstrate to Government the value of the industry […]
SearchFlow Welcomes Government’s Green Light For House Moves
With the Government publishing revised laws that permit house moving activities to recommence in England from today, SearchFlow – the UK’s leading provider of conveyancing search solutions – is welcoming the changes that have been introduced. The Housing Secretary last night announced that estate agents, conveyancers and house movers could re-open, on the condition that […]
Diary Of A Highstreet Conveyancer – Wednesday May 13
Wednesday Yesterday evening, I saw that the Housing Secretary was set to re-open the housing market. I was somewhat surprised especially as the indications on Monday had been that agents would not be able to reopen until the beginning of June. But there it was – on the ten o’clock news, and on the BBC […]
