Conveyancing Fraud Red Flags
This week a particularly shocking case of a man’s house being ‘stolen’ was reported by the BBC. The staggering realisation that a person’s house can literally be sold without their knowledge is headline grabbing. But when we look at the way this potential crime could have happened, it’s easy to see when the right circumstances align […]
Quicker conveyancing fuels record transaction volumes
Smaller sales pipelines have sped up home moves by as much as a month according to property portal Rightmove. With the conveyancing “log-jam” starting to ease, the average time from a sale being agreed until a purchase completes has dropped from an average of 154 days in July to 127 days in October. The average […]
“Stolen” home highlights ID verification failure
A BBC investigation has uncovered how a homeowner’s identity was stolen resulting in his property being sold with the perpetrator pocketing the £131,000 proceeds of sale. Talking to BBC Radio 4’s “Your and Yours” the Reverend Mike Hall explained how he was working away and had been alerted to the fraud by neighbours who contacted […]
UK and US survey reveals ESG concerns and priorities for corporates and law firms
A survey of over 200 senior leaders in US and UK corporates and 100 law firms found Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) priorities are clearly more important now than 12-months ago, yet only 11% of corporates suggested that it is due to having targets in place to improve ESG performance. The study, commissioned by data […]
Changes to the Commercial Drainage and Water Enquiry
Whatever your commercial property transaction may be, don’t sign on the dotted line without carrying out an official Commercial Drainage and Water Enquiry first (rebranded as the CON29DW Commercial). One of the many searches carried out by Thames Water Property Searches, they are an essential component of the conveyancing process whether you’re purchasing a shop […]
Knights announce acquisition of Archers Law LLP
Knights has announced the acquisition of one of the North East’s longest standing law firms for just over £5m, expanding their operations and adding a 17th location across the country. Archers Law LLP is a full service law firms established in Teesside in 1860. From it’s Stockton on Tees office it serves one of the […]
What did Budget mean for Conveyancers?
Rishi Sunak’s latest budget spoke positively about the way in which the UK is responding to the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. And while we’re not out of the woods yet, the latest budget launched a with a stirring defence of current policy. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revised growth forecasts up […]
Buyer demand steady as listings stall
The number of buyers registered per estate agency branch has climbed again in September, up 5% from August and now stands at 458. Property sales activity levels remains buoyant with the number of sales agreed per branch rose from 9 in August to 11 in September according to the latest figures from NAEA Propertymark. However, […]
How technology is helping conveyancers tackle money laundering
Money laundering is a growing risk in the UK property market, as the Pandora papers demonstrate. The failure of some conveyancers and estate agents to properly verify buyers’ identities, and comply with the relevant AML regulations, means they risk supporting the laundering of dirty money. New AI, Open Banking and facial recognition technology can automate […]
Simplifying conveyancing: making our digital channels easier to use
Our absolute priority at HM Land Registry is to make our services faster for our customers. While improvements are being made through recruiting more caseworkers and streamlining our internal processes, we believe real improvement needs to ensure we are making the most of digital technology in the way we provide our land registration services. Our […]
Estimated £205m for cladding remediation
It is estimated that the Residential Property Developer’s Tax (RPDT) could contribute around £205m to support efforts to deal with unsafe cladding. In yesterday’s budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed further details of the tax which was announced back in February. The RPDT will be introduced in April 2022 and will be levied on housebuilder’s whose […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer; 1st November 2021
I was disappointed to read a report this week that conveyancers are now reducing their fees. The report contained a quote which said that as pressure eased on the system after June, conveyancing costs have dropped. My instant reaction was no! No! NOOOOOO! Followed by WHY? We have all worked so hard over the last […]
Assessing Development Risk
DevAssist offers in-depth development risk reports for property purchases. With nearly one-third of DevAssist’s reports identifying properties as having a high risk of development, is it time for more conveyancers to be offering information that identifies and analyses the risk to protect clients’ investments? We spoke to Paul Addison, Managing Director of DevAssist to find […]
