The Moving Hub are looking ahead to further growth in 2021
The Moving Hub is a conveyancing network that connects conveyancers with qualified cases. During the last twelve months we have seen considerable growth, facilitating more transactions than ever before. Our revolutionary online portal doubles up as one of the most advanced conveyancing case management systems in the country. The Moving Hub’s panel of conveyancers benefit […]
Taking steps to improve social mobility in the legal sector
Many of the UK’s most lucrative business sectors have traditionally favoured job applicants with the hallmarks of upper-class education such as private schooling, and attendance to Oxbridge or Russell Group institutions. Research shows that this continues to be an issue, along with general diversity. Even today, many industries and sectors are male-dominated, with an under-representation […]
No extension to SDLT holiday says Treasury
The Treasury has announced that there will be no extension to the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday, with the deadline looming for 31 March 2021. Petitions began to be created imploring the government to extend this break for many, as backlogs will prevent people from completing their transactions before the deadline. One petition was […]
Don’t forget to take time to recharge over the festive period
2020 has been a year like no other, and everyone has had a really tough year. The conveyancing sector is one of the legal arms that has been under a lot of pressure to deliver a service to clients, whilst dealing with backlogs as a result of the coronavirus, and an increase in transactions due […]
Agents are reminded to be wary of fraudulent conveyancing
Property fraud is one of the more lucrative ways a fraudster can earn large sums of money. In these increasingly busy times, the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority (SRA) have released a warning to agents about this type of crime. By carrying out property conveyancing work, residential property teams may be exposed to the risk of this […]
Breaking News : Chancellor extended furlough scheme for an extra month
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the furlough scheme for an extra one month until the end of April next year. Rishi said the move would provide “certainty for millions of jobs and businesses”. The further extension will mean the government will continue to pay 80% of the wages of workers who have been furloughed. Mr […]
Video conferencing calls – love or loath them, what are the hidden benefits for solicitors?
Alongside the rising fear of the pandemic, the year 2020 has seen a meteoric rise of the video conference meeting – not only as a business obligation but also as a social necessity. Much has been written about the downsides, but hold up – are there any opportunities or hidden advantages for law firms and […]
Law Society think moving now before SDLT deadline is ‘longshot’
Solicitors’ leaders are urging consumers to have realistic expectations about achieving their dream move before the looming stamp duty holiday deadline. Many people are keen to conclude their sales and purchases prior to Christmas, while others entering the housing market in the New Year will still be hoping to take advantage of the stamp duty […]
Hackney Council offering partial land search
Following on from a cyber attack which disrupted their systems, Hackney Council have released a statement offering partial land searches. This isn’t great news for those who rely on the Local Authority for searches to get their transaction through before the stamp duty land tax deadline on 31 March 2021. The statement on the Hackney […]
IPSA Launches New Conveyancing Searches Solution
IPSA (The Association of Independent Personal Search Agents) is the leading UK trade association for personal search agents and membership includes some of the largest search firms in the country as well as many independent companies and sole traders. All IPSA members are registered with, and regulated by, the Property Codes Compliance Board, and any […]
Explaining Biodiversity Net Gain
You may have noticed the phrase ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ appearing more often recently. It’s because it’s one of the key phrases in the government’s proposed Environment Bill. In Spring 2019, following a consultation period, it was announced that Biodiversity Net Gain would be included in the Environment Bill, the legislation being introduced to replace the […]
Lawyer Checker announce survey results and Tech Hamper winners
Lawyer Checker are delighted to announce the two winners of our exclusive gift hamper giveaway just in time for Christmas. The winners were chosen at random following our client survey to existing and non-users which we sent out in November. With over 250 responses received, we’d firstly like to say a big thank you to […]
Increased risk searches proves conveyancers unprecedented workload
Conveyancers are facing unprecedented challenges as fresh data reveals a significant rise in prospective completions. The extreme difficulties of coronavirus have impacted greatly on the conveyancing industry causing the profession immense pressure and stress. Exclusive risk management solution provider, Lawyer Checker has seen first-hand the effect on the sector. Lawyer Checker are best known for […]
Land Registry advises conveyancers how to avoid requisitions
HM Land Registry have provided informative videos for conveyancers to help avoid the most common reasons for requisitions after data revealed that nearly 20% of registration applications require them to raise a requisition. In addition, due to requisition rates varying widely between individual firms, it can be up to as much as 50% of applications […]
Send us your Christmas and festive pictures
According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Christmas 2020 is a time to be ‘jolly careful’, as we continue to battle the coronavirus. Here at Today’s Conveyancer we’d like to spread some Christmas cheer and share your festive photos on our social media channels. You can send your photo to press@todaysconveyancer.co.uk. We hope you have a […]
How have lenders been coping with the challenges of home working?
Lenders had to respond fast to the Covid-19 pandemic to cope with high levels of mortgage payment holiday applications followed by increased demand for mortgage lending. As an example, over the past three months Lloyds Banking Group has received more mortgage applications than any time since the lending peak of 2008. Most of the lenders […]
LexisNexis releases latest version of Gross Legal Product Index
Today, LexisNexis has released the latest version of the Gross Legal Product index. Just as GDP measures a basket of goods and services that track the level of output in the overall economy, the Gross Legal Product Index (GLP) tracks a basket of metrics which are representative of legal activity levels. Following the same measures […]
Could a Flood Performance Certificate become compulsory?
Flood Re, which is a group of government and insurance industry representatives want to introduce a Flood Performance Certificate (FPC) for every home, similar to the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that is already a mandatory requirement for properties. The reasoning behind the move, would be to encourage more people to install property flood resilience measures […]
New Build Numbers Down in First Half of 2020
Housing programmes delivered by Homes England saw an overall decrease in starts and completions in the first half of 2020-21 compared to the same period last year, according to official statistics released today (8 December). There were 11,313 new houses started on site and 11,358 homes completed through programmes managed by Homes England between 1 […]
Concerns over missed CGT amid high-paced residential property market
A specialist in the residential property search market is calling on the industry to be mindful of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) liabilities as the volume of houses being listed for sale and the speed at which they are selling continues to hit record numbers. “HMRC has issued a reminder of the change it made to […]