Ask An Expert: Rob Hailstone Answers Your Questions
As the eyes and ears of 700 conveyancing organisations as founder and head of the Bold Legal Group, Rob Hailstone is well respected within the conveyancing sector. And in Lawyer Checker’s latest Ask an Expert Key Relationship Manager Tom Lyes invited Rob to answer questions posed by attendees. The interview, which can be seen below […]
Keep The Momentum Of Digitisation Going Urges Industry Data Provider
The property sector must maintain the progress it has made in a very short space of time urges Search Acumen’s Andy Sommerville in an interview with Today’s Conveyancer discussing the release of their latest Conveyancing Tracker. Search Acumen’s Conveyancing Market Tracker was launched 5 years ago, tracking the volume of transactions completed by law firms […]
First-Time Buyer Mortgage Applications Reduce In Lockdown
The mortgage slowdown during lockdown seems to have impacted prospective buyers more than homeowners. Those looking to purchase a property for the first time seem to have delayed their home move during lockdown or were forced to reconsider homeownership because of their changing circumstance. Applications made by first-time buyers reduced by 35 per cent in […]
20% Increase In Formal Complaints To Property Ombudsman
The property Ombudsman experienced a 20 per cent spike in formal complaints last year according to its annual report for 2019. Similarly to other years. communication and record keeping were the most complained about elements of a client’s legal service. These issues were followed by complaints handling with law firms, marketing or advertising concerns and […]
Client Facing Sectors Resume Physical Viewings and Valuations
The housing market has been open for a week and activity has been steadily increasing since the announcement that the sector was released from lockdown. In the past week we have had governmental updates on how to safely complete the home moving process and cross-sector guidance on how to safely operate within current social distancing […]
Active Conveyancing Firms Fall To Lowest Recorded Levels
The number of active conveyancing firms in the UK has fallen to its lowest ever levels since the tracker was launched in 2011. At the start of 2020, there were 4,135 active conveyancing firms. However, by the end of January, as Covid-19 started to take hold in the UK, this figure had fallen to 3,726 […]
Conveyancing Hit Four Year High And Seven Year Low In Q1
Search Acumen Conveyancing Market Tracker – Q1 2020 edition 236,641 transactions registered in England and Wales during Q1 2020, up 5% from 226,444 in Q4 2019 – helped by a brief post-election bounce – but down 8% year-on-year January recorded the greatest number of monthly transactions (104,325) since April 2016 March saw just 55,381 transactions […]
Diary Of A High Street Conveyancer – Monday May 18
Monday As days disappear and the old days really do seem like the good old days, I think it is a good opportunity to think about how conveyancing is done. And take the time to reassess our office processes and how we can make life better not only for each other but for our clients […]
Assistance For Firms In The Property Sector Impacted by Covid-19
It’s almost impossible to escape the impact of COVID-19, particularly for firms within the property industry. The entire sector has been significantly affected, from property investors, construction companies and developers, to estate agents and conveyancers. With many construction projects on pause and estate agents and housebuilders having closed their sales offices, the industry is undoubtedly […]
Purchase Mortgage Searches Increase By 109% In 4 Weeks
Over the past four weeks, the number of searches for purchase mortgages has increased by 109 per cent as the reopening of the property market stimulates buying and selling. According to mortgage data from Twenty7Tec, both weekly and daily figures have increased significantly. Daily figures for mortgage searches have increased by a fifth (22.36 per […]
RICS April Sentiment Highlights Severity Of Lockdown Uncertainty
What a difference a week makes! It has been seven days since the property market was released from the lockdown and early indications suggest that market activity is buoyant and constantly increasing. However, eight days ago the sentiment was very different and the RICS Residential Market Survey for April highlights the precarious and damaging situation […]
Post-Lockdown Property Market Bouncing Back
Recent Rightmove data indicates that the property market needs to prepare for an immediate surge in demand after home-mover visits to the site exceeded 5.2 million on Wednesday 13th May. This figure represented a 4 per cent increase on the same day in 2019 with indications suggesting the market is reacting positively to the governmental […]
Payment Holidays Prevent Rising Mortage Possessions
Homeowner mortgages in arrears increased slightly between the final quarter of 2019 and the opening quarter of 2020. There were 72,380 homeowner mortgages in arrears of more than 2.5 per cent in the opening quarter of the year according to UK Finance. This figure represented a 6 per cent fall in mortgage arrears from the […]
‘Be Kind’ Key Message For Mental Health Awareness Week
Today, Monday 18th May marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week 2020, which is themed around acts of kindness. Following a celebrity death earlier in the year, the over arching sentiment in 2020 of ‘Be Kind’, began to trickle down through all walks of life. Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, […]
Diary Of A Hightstreet Conveyancer – Friday May 15
Friday I had one completion today – the sale of an empty property. All went well so nothing to report there. But there are days when things don’t go as planned and you find yourself having to review the terms of the contract, the small print of the Conditions in the contract which we all […]
Legal Mental Health Charity Releases Latest Covid-19 Data
Legal mental health charity LawCare has released data on all COVID-19 related contacts it has received to date for Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May). Forty eight legal professionals have contacted the charity with issues related to COVID-19 since 10th March, making up over a third (37%) of all contacts to their support service. The […]
Ask An Expert: Surveyor Perspective Of Post-Lockdown Market
Since lockdown, the property market freeze has created a worrying environment for all stakeholders in the home buying and selling process. The inability for surveyors to complete physical surveys and valuations, in particular at the early stages of lockdown, caused lenders to lose confidence in approving mortgages on many properties, creating a sense of increased […]
Out Of Office Message Etiquette And Security Considerations
The property market freeze has placed an incredible strain on all businesses and stakeholders involved in the home buying and selling process. Law firms have been forced to make difficult decisions in order to save their businesses with many employees placed on the government’s staff retention scheme. Communication delays have been an unfortunate consequence of […]
It’s Getting Rough At The Guildford Frontline
The following article first appeared on Peter Ambrose’s Linked In account and has been kindly shared with Today’s Conveyancer So we learned yesterday that there is such a thing as good news. After deleting the BBC news app from my phone and browser I had been living a news-free existence for the last couple of months. […]
Diary Of A High Street Conveyancer – Thursday May 14
Thursday I had expected that chains would start to move and perhaps there would be some renewed optimism but that is not what I am seeing – I appreciate that it is only a few days since the market has opened up but I am surprised at how quiet it still seems to be. But […]