LSB plans to galvanise efforts to reshape legal services

A new report by the Legal Services Board (LSB) gives an in-depth review of the legal services sector following ten years of independent regulation. The State of Legal Services 2020 report is informed by data,

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said it had agreed the announcement that buildings without cladding did not need the EWS1 assessments, but it added that it would still need to review the government advice before deciding what guidance to issue to surveyors. Sean Tompkins, RICS chief executive, said there had been an "acute market shortage of fire engineers" to carry out the checks. "We are aware of the severe impact this has had on some homeowners and we agree that buildings without cladding should not be subject to the process," he said. Mr Jenrick also said the government was paying to train 2,000 more assessors within six months to speed up checks on blocks which did have cladding. But some cladding experts questioned whether the £700,000 in government funding would be enough. "Do they think they can just give these people a two-day training course for £350?" said Adrian Buckmaster, director of Tetraclad. "You can't train experience in the built environment."

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has revealed that homes without cladding would no longer need an ESW1 external wall safety certificate. The safety measures were introduced as a result of the Grenfell tower disaster, following the

HM Land Registry Local Land Charges Annual Conference 2019

Data released by HM Land Registry have demonstrated that the number of applications they receive each month has continued to rise, with over 57,000 more applications processed in the last month than in October. The

Solicitors’ leaders are calling for urgent action to be taken to ease growing pressure in the residential property market ahead of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday deadline on 31 March 2021.

Solicitors’ leaders are calling for urgent action to be taken to ease growing pressure in the residential property market ahead of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday deadline on 31 March 2021. The Law

The entrance to the s

The Supreme Court has ruled that negligent conveyancers shouldn’t be able to avoid liability because it later emerges that their client was engaged in mortgage fraud. The Court revealed that if a conveyancer did this

Third of sellers will now miss SDLT holiday deadline

The Advisory, a property consultancy firm, have revealed that with less than 21 weeks to go before the end of the SDLT holiday, around 30% of buyers are going to be unable to complete in

Local Land Charges and the future

In a blog published on the HM Land Registry website, Mark Kelso, Local Land Charges Programme Director, shared his views on delivering local land charges and planning for the future. He writes: “Back in March,

Feel Good Friday: MoneySuperMarket

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

Breaking News : Chancellor extended furlough scheme for an extra month

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the furlough scheme until March 2021. This news comes on the back of England beginning it’s four week lockdown today (Thursday 5 November). The BBC website said: “The move follows

What does leaving the EU mean for businesses?

As the coronavirus pandemic takes centre stage, the Brexit transition is still rumbling on behind the scenes. But with the deadline nearing, it is worth taking into account what the changes can mean to businesses

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

Updated Practice Notes from the Land Registry

The Land Registry have released their updated practice notes for the following guides/documents: Extension of leases (PG28) Private trusts of land (PG24) Coronavirus (COVID-19): useful information for conveyancers (PG80) All of the updated notes can

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

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