Journalist and managing editor of the Today’s Media publications: Today’s Conveyancer, Today’s Family Lawyer and Today’s Wills and Probate
UK Finance has launched a collaborative industry pilot project to deliver the first UK live transactions of tokenised sterling deposits (GBTD). The tokenised deposits are a digital representation of traditional sterling commercial bank money which
A housing analysis from The Skipton Group reveals a crisis of an ‘alarming nature and scale’, with millions of adults living with parents and 98% of them unable to afford to buy a property in
The latest remortgage figures from conveyancing service provider LMS show negative trends in all key performance metrics. However, CEO Nick Chadbourne (pictured) said the dip is to be expected and activity should build over the
Ward Hadaway has appointed 39 legal specialists across its Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle offices, as part of the Top 100 law firm’s long-term strategy to increase its market share and extend its client base.
An analysis of the potential use of brownfield land for housing by the countryside charity CPRE suggests there is enough of the land available to meet virtually all of the government’s 1.5 million new homes
A survey of over 1,000 homeowners of all age groups across England suggests the vast majority are concerned about rumoured plans to introduce a new system of property tax. Most respondents of the survey by
A third of first-time buyers are purchasing semi-detached properties with the intention of staying put in ‘forever homes’, according to research from Barclays. Mortgage data from the high street lender reveals semi-detached properties account for
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reported to be considering a proposal to spread stamp duty payments over several years, as property tax speculation continues to cast a cloud over the housing market. News of the plans
A report from Santander which examines the ‘frozen in time’ process of buying and selling a home suggests failed transactions cost the economy ‘a conservative calculation’ of £1.5 billion each year – a combined total
The ONS has published its Housing Purchase Affordability analysis covering the UK in the financial year ending 2024, which shows slightly improved ratios of house prices to household incomes but a long-term trend of ‘homes
Property industry experts have been united in their reaction to the Bank of England’s decision to hold the base rate at 4%, agreeing it was widely expected and offers stability to homeowners. Matt Smith, Rightmove’s
Full year financial results from legal and professional services business Knights reveal revenue of £162 million for the year to 30 April 2025 – an increase of 8% since 2024. The group has completed a
Rightmove’s latest House Price Index shows an annual fall of 0.1% in average new seller asking prices across the UK, which the company attributes to continued underperformance in London and the South East. Monthly, prices
The latest UK House Price Index shows an annual increase of 2.8% in the 12 months to July (provisional estimate), down from 3.6% in the 12 months to June. The average monthly growth in July
The ONS Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.8% in the 12 months to August, unchanged from July. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.3%, the same rate ast August 2024. The Consumer Price
An experienced planning lawyer has been appointed to advise Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the next phase of the government’s planning reforms. Catherine Howard, partner at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, specialises in major infrastructure projects
An analysis of Land Registry data by eXp UK has revealed that while just 17.4% of homes sold across England and Wales between January and July achieved a price of at least £500,000, more than
A survey by invasive plant specialist Environet suggests many homebuyers are unaware that the presence of bamboo can hinder the sale of a property, with only 38% of respondents saying they would be deterred from
Yorkshire firm Lupton Fawcett, which has had a presence in the county since 1895, has been acquired by Flint Bishop as part of the latter’s ‘ambitious growth strategy’. The transaction, due to complete at the
Housing secretary Steve Reed has launched his tenure with a vow to ‘build, baby, build’ and a commitment to ‘leaving no stone unturned’ in the pursuit of meeting the government’s target to build 1.5 million
A survey of residential conveyancing professionals reveals ‘a sector caught between confidence and confusion’ and bearing ‘all the ingredients for transformation but lacking the recipe to transform them effectively’. The Residential Conveyancing Pricing & Attitudes
Data shared by property platform View My Chain suggests a quarter of agreed sales in the UK this year have fallen through, with 214,052 sales failing to complete between January and August. The analysis, using
A managing partner who blamed a junior colleague for multiple breaches of conveyancing protocol in a residential property transaction has been fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £28,000, following a hearing at the
AI legal tech company Lawhive has acquired Woodstock Legal Services, in the first acquisition of a traditional UK law firm by an AI-native platform. The acquisition will allow Lawhive to target the £25 billion legal
An independent review into customer handling procedures at HM Land Registry has made eight recommendations for improvements, but found no fundamental issues that caused significant concern. The main purpose of the review, which was carried
The August Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows a market under pressure, the organisation says. The monthly sentiment survey of chartered surveyors operating in the residential sales and lettings
Newly appointed economic secretary Lucy Rigby and housing minister Matthew Pennycook have called on lenders to make first-time buyers their top priority, in a roundtable meeting hosted by the Treasury yesterday. The roundtable, which included
Data from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) shows planning permission was granted for just 44,520 new homes in England during the second quarter of this year, the lowest quarterly figure since 2012. Just 1,410 sites
The government has published its draft Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provision) Regulations 2025 for technical consultation, after bringing forward targeted amendments to close regulatory loopholes, address proportionality concerns and account for
The Q2 statistics from the Bank of England Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Return (MLAR) show an increase of 0.3% in the outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans compared to the previous quarter. The total
Digital property exchange platform PEXA has processed over £200 million in UK remortgage transactions, just seven months after reaching the £100 million milestone and four times as fast. The increase demonstrates the appetite for technological
The latest UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report from Moneyfacts reveals the combined choice of higher loan-to-value mortgages (90% and 95% LTV) is at its highest count in 17 years. Combined, the deals represent 19% of