Guidance for agents during lockdown 2.0

Today Parliament will vote on whether the national lockdown announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday will indeed come into force at 00:01am tomorrow. Whilst the logistics of the new lockdown was still being

Law Society warn, planning reform must not be hurried

Hurried planning reforms will not be sustainable and risk causing damage to the physical environment, the Law Society has warned. The Law Society has submitted its response to the government’s Planning for the Future consultation

Grenfell-style cladding leaves homeowners vulnerable

Homeowners who own flats that have the same type of cladding that was used on Grenfell Tower have reported that they’ve had to offload their homes at knockdown prices. New rules mean homeowners require an

1% rise in SDLT receipts 2019/20

Figures released by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have revealed that there has been a 1% rise in stamp duty land tax (SDLT), for transactions that completed in the 2019/2020 financial year. Residential SDLT was

SDLT Draft Legislation consultation

Consultation on Draft Legislation for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) has been opened, and is asking for views for people from across the board. The consultation description reads: “We welcome views and comments on the

HMRC chase potential CGT payments

According to Blick Rothenburg, a tax and advisory firm, HMRC are sending out 14,000 letters to people who have sold residential property during the 2018/19 tax year to check whether they owe Capital Gains Tax

Lockdown 2.0: what does it mean for the English housing market?

On Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that a second English lockdown would come into force in England on Thursday 5 November and would last until Wednesday 2 Decemeber. Although the lockdown hasn’t been progressed

Updated Practice Notes - 2 November 2020

Three Practice Notes have been updated today. These are: Large-scale applications and calculation of fees (PG33) Statements of truth (PG73) The guidance document HM Land Registry portal: electronic Document Registration Service (e-DRS) has also been

Paul Sams reassures Conveyancers that it'll be OK

Last week we shared the frank and honest video diary of Belfast solicitor Philip Armstrong, as he discussed the challenges conveyancers are currently experiencing, with the current boom in home movers hamstrung by the Covid-affected

UPDATE 1 Nov 2020 Further guidance has arisen today, with regards to whether the housing market can still continue during lockdown. Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government took to social

Application cancellations to resume this month

HM Land Registry (HMLR) have revealed that they will resume the cancelling of applications with outstanding requests for information (recquisitions) from this month. The cancellations will resume from 16 November and customers should have begun

Industry open later urges Chancellor to extend SDLT holiday

Property sector industry bodies have collaboratively come together and sent an open and frank letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, requesting a six month extension of the current stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday. Since the

Banks raise interest rates to combat application surge

All parts of the property transaction pipeline have understandably come under strain as both England and Wales have adapted their restrictive measures in a bid to tackle the first and second waves of coronavirus infections.

What financial support is available to the Conveyancing sector?

It’s safe to say 2020 has been a year like no other, and no amount of new year’s resolutions could have prepared us for what was to come. It’s safe to say that the legal

Feel Good Friday: My Home Move, X-Press Legal, Higgs & Sons

There have been lots of positive things happening across the sector this week, so we wanted to share these good vibes with you as part of our ‘Feel Good Friday’ news items. Here is a

Movers and Shakers - 20th November

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

LSB approves significant changes to how solicitors qualify

The Legal Services Board (LSB) has approved the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) application to make significant changes to how people qualify as solicitors in England and Wales. The changes include the introduction of a new

50% more transactions in pipeline

The latest Zoopla House Price Index has revealed that transactions are taking over 100 days from sales agreed to completion, but in the short term this could increase as people rush to complete before the

Industry report demonstrates digital steps in conveyancing

Legal tech startup Thirdfort has delivered an in-depth analysis of how the conveyancing industry is adopting digital solutions. The report is based on an industry-wide survey of over 150 managing partners, heads of conveyancing, partners,

Extension to Pracitising Certificate renewals

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has revealed that they have extended the renewal window for the Practising Certifiate until 20 November 2020. A statement on the SRA website revealed: “We have decided to extend the

CA ask government to look at SDLT holiday extension

Lloyd Davies is Operations Director at the Conveyancing Association (CA) has shared his views with Today’s Conveyancer about what he feels needs to be done to address the stamp duty and tax (SDLT) holiday. Few

Welsh fire-break lockdown restricts housing market

From 6pm on Friday 23 October, Wales entered a three week fire-break lockdown in a bid to tackle the growing cases of the coronavirus pandemic. This means that until Monday 9 November, the Welsh housing

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As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the closure of new claims to the Solicitors’ Indemnity Fund (SIF) has been postponed until 30 September 2021. Although, the postponement gives conveyancers another 12 months breathing space.

Conveyancing community share 'strange' enquiries

Professionals in the conveyancing community have taken to social media to share some of the amusing enquiries they have received from a client’s solicitor as part of the conveyancing process. Hannah Dowling, took to LinkedIn

LawTech, ethics and the rule of law discussion paper calls on the profession

Against the backdrop of Legal Geek’s annual virtual conference, the Law Society of England and Wales this week launched its LawTech, Ethics and the Rule of Law discussion paper, which seeks views on the ethical

Should SDLT be scrapped? Holiday showing positive results

Research commissioned by estate agency Benham and Reeves, has revealed that 20,238 property transactions have been made since the announcement of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Of the 20,238

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has today urged all conveyancers to work closely with their search provider to avoid any unnecessary delays in processing purchase transactions. With lead times to access data at

AML gaps highlighted in UWO case

At the end of last week, we brought you the news that a Leeds businessman had to surrender close to £10m worth of property as a result of an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO). This case

Property market beginning to settle - YPST

The latest figures from the Yomdel Propety Sentiment Tracker (YPST) has revealled that the property market is heading back towards normal levels for the seasonal time of year. The booming UK residential property market recorded

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) has called for changes to the legal regulatory framework to accommodate the growth of emerging lawtech solutions and the increasing use of remotely accessed legal services. It says

Three tier Covid restrictions system announced by PM

Boris Johnson has addressed both Parliament and the nation today as he’s outlined his latest measures in a bid to simplify and standardize the rules regarding the Coronavirus restrictions implemented in England. The cases of

Conveyancing vacancies exceed 900

Since the re-opening of the property market in May, no-one could have predicted the way the housing market exploded, with demand rising at an exponential pace. Pent-up demand and the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

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