FTBs aren’t as reliant on Bank of Mum and Dad
Recent figures suggest that first-time buyers (FTBs) are no longer as reliant on financial gifts from family members, usually parents, commonly known as the Bank of Mum and Dad (BoMaD). Data from the English Housing Survey, shows that the proportion of FTBs who had financial help from their family and friends in the 201-20 financial […]
Property Law: The Year Ahead
Chris Loaring, Managing Director of Landmark Legal considers what trends property lawyers and conveyancers may see as we move through 2021: “When reflecting on 2020, it was certainly not the year we had expected or planned for, yet despite the unexpected twists and turns of the last 12-months, the property market completed the year with […]
Parliament debates suspended, what about SDLT?
It has been reported that Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the House of Commons has temporarily suspended debates in Westminster Hall, meaning MPs may not get a chance to debate an extension to the stamp duty holiday, despite an online petition passing the 100,000 threshold which would trigger such debate. When debates are set to re-commence, […]
Property prices predicited to fall in the first quarter
UK’s provider of instant quotes for home moving services, reallymoving, has predicted property prices will fall by 6.2% in the first quarter of 2021. The downturn is anticipated to gain momentum every month from -1.2% in January, -2.5% in February, and -2.6% in March. Rob Houghton, chief executive of reallymoving, said: “Considering the wider economic […]
Avoid Completion Chaos
‘We all know that midday on a Friday is not the right time to start transferring funds where there is a chain involved.’ Aconveyancing’s founder and director, Natalie Moore, talks through the challenges she has witnessed with firms taking on too much work, leading to broken chains and how she prepares her team for busy […]
Reform of the Mental Health Act must be properly funded
Proposed changes to the mental health system must be properly funded to be effective, the Law Society of England and Wales warned following publication of the Mental Health Act White Paper. Law Society president David Greene said: “It is clear the current system means that all too often compulsory detention and treatment is, or feels […]
Cladding disgrace must be resolved as insurance premiums soar
Homeowners must be helped out of the cladding crisis according to a leading property firm. Apropos, a UK-wide letting firm, believes that the continuing slow response from government to the plight of hundreds of thousands of homeowners unwittingly trapped in their homes with dangerous cladding must be resolved this year. Individuals trapped by potential cladding […]
What has Brexit done to house prices?
While a ‘deal has been done’, Brexit and its implications for the UK remain a hot topic. However, one area that seems to have remained impervious to any Brexit related decline is the UK housing market. Despite claims by the Bank of England that a worst-case scenario when leaving the EU could see house prices […]
Property market steadies as coronavirus lockdown bites
With coronavirus deaths and hospital admissions surging to record highs, the UK property market slowed as despite progress with the vaccination programme people once again adapted to the grim situation and acclimatised to life under a new strict lockdown that could last months, the latest data from the Yomdel Property Sentiment Tracker (YPST) showed. Estate […]
Online learning platform from LEAP
LEAP University, which launched in 2019 is an online learning platform that enables users to train and refresh their skills in using the LEAP software via an ever-expanding directory of courses. This includes creating matters and cards, capturing matter level information, generating documents and sharing correspondence. The university is available to every LEAP user and […]
Passwords, Phishing and the Dark Web
Continuing with our compliance theme, Matthew Locker, a Cyber Security Consultant at Apstorm has shared his ideas on how law firms can remain compliant in the modern world. In today’s digital society, passwords have become a necessary evil and are the guardians of some of our most important information, e.g. online retail, banking, email accounts, […]
Activity surge by new buyers, despite slim chance of beating tax deadline
Housing market activity in the first few weeks of January often sets the tone for the whole year, though the 2021 outlook is somewhat muddied by the challenges of the pandemic and by the 31st March stamp duty holiday deadline. However, two main things stand out. Firstly, sellers who have come to the market in […]
Agreed house sale collapse numbers begins to rise
Figures released by the property portal Rightmove have shown an almost 10% increase in the number of agreed house sales collapsing between July and December 2020. Some professionals in the sector are predicting that these figures will grow higher, as the deadline for the stamp duty land tax holiday gets closer and then lapses. They […]
Home building data show sector is recovering
Government support for housing market and construction industry has led to a very healthy increase in the number of completed homes. Stats released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Robert Jenrick MP showed the number of new homes developers have started building have more than doubled compared to the previous quarter […]
Speeding up the conveyancing process
The world of conveyancing has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. The March 2020 lockdown created pent-up demand which was then amplified by the SDLT holiday, combine that demand with new ways of working and the result is the most challenging period most in the conveyancing profession can remember. It is more important than […]
Search Acumen launches data reports and insurance to help beat the stamp duty crunch
Search Acumen, the property data insight and technology provider, has launched new data reports and insurance to enable real estate lawyers to identify risk upfront and help clients progress transactions ahead of the stamp duty cut off. The new product provides immediate access to all relevant property due diligence information necessary to progress a transaction […]
MPs add their voices to call for SDLT extension
The Northern Research Group (NRG) – backed by over 50 Conservative MPs have written a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, making a number of demands, including the extension of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday. The NRG has echoed similar worries to other bodies stating that families and businesses face a series of cliff […]
Financial risks and compliance: what firms need to know
Alex Holt, Director of Business Development for The Cashroom has shared his thoughts with Today’s Conveyancer about the financial risks and compliance firms need to adhere to. For a law firm providing conveyancing services to its clients, there is no scarier part of their business than their finance function. Within that mysterious business area lies […]
Responding to a Cyber Security Breach
Continuing with our compliance theme, Matthew Locker, a Cyber Security Consultant at Apstorm has shared his ideas on how law firms can remain compliant in the modern world. The legal sector is rich in sensitive data and financial transactions, unfortunately, this makes it an attractive target for many cyber actors including, criminals, activists and possibly […]
Top Tips in creating a robust risk management framework
In this short video Legal Eye shares five tips for ensuring that your risk management system is up to date and fit for purpose in order to protect your law firm. This article was submitted to be published by Legal Eye as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this […]
