News brought to you by the Today’s Conveyancer editorial team.
The Government has announced an additional £300 million in funding for the Housing Growth Partnership (HGP) which aims to build 10,000 new homes by 2025. Formed in 2016, HGP announced yesterday that a new £300
Employers in the legal sector have been provided with guidance by the Law Society and Cardiff University, outlining the reasonable adjustments firms and organisations could make to help them recruit and employ disabled staff. It
Coadjute, the real-time network that connects the property market, has announced plans to enable retail banks in the UK to issue a mortgage stablecoin on their network, working in partnership with global technology firm R3.
Following some expectations that there could have been a rise in interest rates, the Bank of England’s decision to hold the base interest rate at a record-low of 0.1 per cent has been welcomed as
Thursday 30th September sees the final day on which the Stamp Duty Land Tax relief is applicable. Relieved conveyancers up and down the country will be able to breathe a sigh of relief as the
The scale of criminal activity which leads to financial loss has been laid bare by UK Finance’s half year fraud update. In total £753.9 million was stolen through fraud, an increase of 30 per cent
Draft legislation has been published for a new tax that will be levied on large developers’ profits from buying and selling land with planning applications, to contribute to the government’s cladding remediation costs. Rishi Sunak
Meetings between the Government and regulators are set to discuss potential changes to the current redress structure, if the performance of Legal Ombudsman services does not improve. The LSB will hear initial feedback on whether
The overall value of UK housing stock has risen from £5.67trn to £6.42trn over the last year, with private property wealth reaching a new high of £4.87trn according to figures released by the Equity Release
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has won a further grant from the latest round of Regulators Pioneer Fund (RPF) to help connect those using new legal technologies with those who need their services. The award
The average time it takes to sell a property has climbed to 320 days according to the latest data release from the estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk. GetAgent.co.uk keeps a comprehensive record of transaction times
The importance of digital connectivity for the future of conveyancing The property market is a diverse ecosystem of multiple professions operating independently. Estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage brokers and lenders provide individual services throughout a property
A landmark survey into the experiences of LGBT+ lawyers and LGBT+ equality in the profession conducted by the Law Society of England and Wales has identified significant progress, but more is needed. “In the last
The National Paralegal Awards, hosted by the PPR is taking place on Thursday 23rd September 2021. This event is a virtual award show and is free to attend by registering here This year there are
The newly appointed Secretary of State for the newly created Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, has been tasked with solving the cladding scandal, latest reports suggest. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has
An Industry Working Group of experts has been formed to improve standards, reliability and security in electronic signatures. The Ministry of Justice has published details of a newly-formed Industry Working Group of experts that aims
The fall in construction output below the pre-pandemic level in February 2020 is a wakeup call that the construction industry is struggling according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). The comments come in response
August’s HMRC statistics show the anticipated busy run up to the end of the SDLT holiday on 30th September. The data is split into non-seasonally adjusted estimate, and seasonally adjusted estimates (which follow a regular
A report conducted by law firm RPC has revealed that fines for data protection breaches issued by The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the latest financial year have increased by 1580% compared to the previous
The UK property market will continue to be buoyed by the recent publication of Q2 statistics which show a strong mortgage market. The Bank of England’s “Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics” show the amount lent
The Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) has released its latest report on progress made in tackling money laundering by regulators over the past year. While this year’s report acknowledges that professional body
Today, the Legal Services Board (LSB) launched a consultation on a draft statutory statement of policy on empowering consumers. Developed following engagement with the legal services regulators and others across the sector, it outlines how
Hugh James has, this week, completed the UK’s first-ever property deal using the revolutionary new Qualified Electronic Signature (QES), which was recently approved by HM Land Registry. The landmark transaction forms part of a national
August saw an anticipated fall in the number of properties sold per estate agency branch as the SDLT holiday comes to a close at the end of August. But buyer demand and conveyancing pipelines remain
Just days before the ousting of the latest housing secretary Robert Jenrick, proposals to overhaul planning laws were quietly scrapped in what is thought to be a political move following Tory by-election losses to the
HM Land Registry (HMLR) has published details of changes to several Practice Guides in its latest update. Overseas companies and limited liability partnerships (PG78) This guide deals with the registration requirements for overseas companies, in
Investments in offices outside the capital for the first half of this year hit £3.58bn – 18 per cent above the long-term average for the first half of this year, Savills research reveals. Overseas investors
An independent report on custom and self-build housing conducted by MP Richard Bacon has found that some local councils have been “subverting” legislation that is designed to encourage self-built homes. The custom and self build
The Conveyancing Information Executive (CIE) has today published a detailed whitepaper, ‘Property Passports: the role of Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs)’, which addresses the practical challenges of transitioning the property industry to universally using UPRNs,
The ESTAs returns in October with the relationship between estate agents and conveyancers under the microscope. The unprecedented activity in the property market over the last 18 months has highlighted the relationship between agents and
The Autumn housing market will see a settling of the extraordinary growth seen so far this year but demand will remain strong as supply issues continue into the Winter months according to the August reallymoving
Housing Minster Robert Jenrick has been ousted as Prime Minster Boris Johnson conducts his cabinet reshuffle. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has been confirmed as the new housing secretary. As part of his role, Mr