Flood Re’s Chief Executive shares the value of FPCs
Towards the end of last year, we ran a story on Flood Performance Certificates (FPCs), and asked whether they would become compulsory, in a similar way the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is when it comes to property transactions. Just before the festive break, I had the opportunity to speak to Andy Bord, Chief Executive of […]
2021 – Time for property professionals to stretch their mind?
Business always favours the customer’s needs eventually. In 1973, a high street bank survey discovered that the public wanted longer opening hours and shorter queues. In response, most of the banks opened an hour longer and put more cashiers on duty. Barclays however delivered the first ATM and blew the customers’ expectations out of the […]
The Leasehold Group criticises Government’s leasehold reform proposals
The Leasehold Group of Companies has warned Government’s leasehold reform proposals ‘fall well short of what is needed’ to reform sector. They described the Government’s proposed reforms to the leasehold system as “window dressing” and has called for more detail to be provided without delay. (re timescales/how reforms will be implemented). The Government has announced […]
Conveyancers are granted more time to respond to requisitions
HM Land Registry is allowing conveyancers more time to reply back to requisitions by extending the period of time for responses. The new extension granted by the Land registry to respond to requisition for most applications gives property professionals 40 days to reply to a request will come into effect from 11 January, If the […]
Law Society warn more work is needed to incentivise commonhold
Government’s Leasehold Reform proposals announcement have been welcomed by the Law Society of England and Wales but more commonhold incentivisation is needed. Solicitors’ leaders are warning that for commonhold ownership to flourish, there must be incentives for developers, lenders and buyers. Leaseholders are given a lease by the freeholder or landlord to use and occupy […]
The future of legal cashiering in safe hands
The surge in property transactions has placed huge pressure on conveyancing firms and their staff, a subject which is being shared widely on Today’s Conveyancer and throughout social media. One of the areas of concern for practitioners is the growth of scam and fraud alerts, a significant risk in conveyancing given the large volume of […]
Busiest ever start to the year as home-hunters seek New Year moves
The impending end to the stamp duty holiday, more people re-evaluating where they live and the housing market staying open have all contributed to Rightmove recording its busiest ever start to a new year. Despite the new lockdowns beginning this week in England and Scotland, visits to Rightmove continued to grow across Tuesday and Wednesday, […]
A Time to Reflect
Written by Dr Tom Quirke, Managing Director, SearchFlow As we start the first working week of 2021, it’s a good time to take stock and reflect on what the past 12-months have taught us, and also to look ahead and consider how this might shape the year ahead. 2020 was a year like no other […]
CoPSO seeks intervention from central government on searches
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has written to Robert Jenrick the Secretary of State at MHCLG asking for his intervention to address the growing issue of delays in the provision of searches to homebuyers and their conveyancers. According to CoPSO data more than 35% of local authorities are taking more than 20 working […]
PM reveals new English lockdown
Tonight, Monday 4 January 2021, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that England will follow Scotland into a lockdown. Although the measures don’t come into effect officially till Wednesday, the PM implored people to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives and start the lockdown immediately. The Prime Minister has been facing […]
Good luck to all Conveyancers
When the clock struck midnight and we welcomed in the new year, albeit slightly differently to how we may have welcomed the dawn of a new year before, the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) final furlong was moving ever closer into sight. Since the announcement of the SDLT holiday in July 2020, you have all […]
Conveyancing Industry: Looking forward to 2021
We have certainly had a turbulent ride in 2020 with the pandemic causing unprecedented chaos and disruption and changing the legal landscape, therefore what are your predictions for 2021? What do you think will happen in the sector in 2021? David Jabbari, Solicitor and CEO of Muve, commented: ” I have decided that predictions, to […]
Merry Christmas everyone!
Everyone at Today’s Conveyancer would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We thank you for all of your support during this year. We wish you many happy returns and all of the best for 2021. Here are a selection of some of the festive pictures we were sent.
Advisors should tell expats about 2% SDLT surcharge
Dudley Building Society is imploring professionals who advise expats and overseas investors in the UK property market to remind them of the 2% stamp duty surcharge which comes into force on 1 April 2021. Those who fail to complete their property purchases before 31 March 2021 will face higher stamp duty levies than those who […]
The use of Search Insurance
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has today written to the Law Society, The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC), CILEx, BLG and CA and provided them with a note setting out when Search Insurance may be used as prescribed in the Search Code. With delays in the provision of searches now being a major […]
Welsh Land Transaction Tax shock increase
Starting today (22 December), a 1% increase in Land Transaction Tax (LTT) – the Welsh equivalent of Stamp Duty Land Tax – on second homes has begun. Meaning second-home owners pay a 4% levy when they buy homes up to £180,000. For homes bought over £1.6m, LTT increases to 16%. The change has been made […]
Stamp Duty: Why it might pay to wait and not rush to meet the deadline on March 31st
The Stamp Duty deadline is approaching on March 31st, with many potential buyers rushing to find a home before then to help increase savings on their property. However, it might pay to wait until after the Stamp Duty Holiday ends in March, and not rush to buy a property before then. There are many reasons […]
Conveyancers considering leaving the profession due to mental health
Key leaders in the legal profession reveal conveyancers are suffering mental health problems because of the unprecedented workload they are enduring to meet the March 31st stamp duty holiday deadline. The conveyancing industry is under immense pressure and currently experiencing a vast amount of work due to pent up demand from SDLT holiday and delaying […]
A look back on conveyancing in 2020
2020 has undoubtedly been a year like no other, and in some respects is one that many of us will be happy to see the back of. Turn the clock back 12 months, and not many people would have been prepared for the consequences a worldwide pandemic would have on both the UK and the […]
Land Registry’s LLC Programme is tranforming the service
HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme is bringing the service into the 21st century by transforming hundreds of local authority LLC registers into a central digital service. HM Land Registry (HMLR) said: “HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme is transforming 314 local authority LLC registers across England into a central digital […]