Brexit And Election Denting Consumer Confidence In Property
Brexit and the General Election are considered as the greatest risks to the UK housing market. According to The Building Societies Association’s (BSA) ‘Property Tracker Index’ for the final quarter of 2019, 43% of recipients deemed Brexit the greatest threat to the sector. Almost a third of those polled also perceived the result of the […]
Industry Experts Insist On Planning System Improvements
The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) along with local authorities have been handed a number of proposals to improve the planning sector. The British Property Federation (BPF) published its Accelerated Planning Manifesto, urging governmental officials to provide greater support and guidance to stakeholders in the early stages of the construction process. With […]
The UK’s Hidden Housing Crisis Impacting Elderly
400,000 ‘lifetime homes’ are desperately needed to provide the elderly with accessible and appropriate accommodation. Lord Best, Chair of the Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People, has suggested that a current lack of provision for older residents will cause an unforeseen housing crisis in the future. Despite the need increasing, few homes […]
Conveyancers Ready Themselves For Post-Christmas Buyer Surge
Even though most legal service workers are looking forward to a festive break, conveyancers should prepare themselves for an onslaught of additional work in the opening months of 2020. According to new research from Rightmove, five of the six busiest days of 2019 happened to take place in January and February with property experts predicting […]
Developments And Compliance Under Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive
On 10th January 2020, the fifth anti-money laundering directive (5AMLD) comes into force throughout the UK with the aim of significantly reducing money laundering and terrorist finance. The legal sector has struggled to fully comply with current regulations since their introduction in 2017. The Financial Conduct Authority estimates that £37 billion is laundered by criminals […]
Understanding Flood Risks For Property Transactions
Understanding flood risks for property transactions This article was submitted to be published by Groundsure as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
Affordable Housing Represents 73% Of New Home Building Starts
New data from Homes England has revealed that the amount of new housing developments being built are at a 10-year high, with 73% of home building starts being affordable housing. Between April and September 2019 there were 16,955 new homes started on development sites, with the majority of house building starts being affordable housing; a total of […]
Property And Construction Sectors Call For VAT Cut
Organisations spanning the construction and property sectors are writing and signing a letter to the Westminster Party Leaders asking for a reduction on VAT. The campaign is asking the next UK Government to reduce VAT from 20% to 5% on home improvements in the hope it would unleash investment in housing, stimulate the economy and […]
Climate Change Is Pouring Down
As the global climate undergoes rapid and unprecedented changes, the frequency and severity of flood events in the United Kingdom are due to increase. In the first two weeks of November 2019, the UK received a huge deluge of rain, which resulted in widespread river and surface water flooding. Subsequently, the Environment Agency (EA) issued […]
Property Market Shaken By £12.4m GDPR Fine
A warning shot has been fired towards property professionals as the largest GDPR fine has been issued to a company in the sector. German property company, Deutsche Wohnen, is reported to have retained old customer data, which is a breach of administrative obligations rather than a data breach which is a loss or misuse of […]
26 Companies Record Membership For LSSA
The Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA) have announced their highest ever membership, with the total amount of companies involved at 26. The LSSA recently welcomed GlobalX, Legal Workflow, Moneypenny and Yourkeys to the association. Craig Matthews, Chair of the LSSA said: “We welcome these four exciting companies to the LSSA. The number of full members of the LSSA is now at a […]
SearchFlow celebrates NLIS Hub’s 25 millionth milestone
SearchFlow – the UK’s leading provider of property search solutions and legal reports – is delighted to have ordered the 25 millionth digital conveyancing search via the National Land Information Service (NLIS) Hub, since it launched in 2001. The 25 millionth search was a LLC1 & Con29 for a property in Poole, Dorset, which was […]
Search Acumen Enhances Commercial Property Platform To Help Lawyers Inspect Public Data Sources
Commercial lawyers can now interrogate 40 property data layers via Search Acumen’s ForeSite platform New insights on coal mines, flooding and the City of London will expedite the due diligence process on commercial real estate transactions Orders via ForeSite have increased fourfold over the last year as Search Acumen has become data provider of choice […]
Mortgages Fall Below 6 Month Average In October
Mortgages dropped below the six-month average in October as political uncertainty continued to stifle market activity. According to the Bank of England’s data, UK lending for October fell by 1.8% month on month to 64,602 mortgage approvals. This figure remains almost 2,000 approvals short of the six-month average figure of 66,087. The figures could be […]
Grave Danger – Cemeteries As A Source Of Groundwater Pollution
Graveyards have long been considered scary places thanks to the corpses beneath our feet, but probably not because of the contamination risk they can pose to groundwater. A body might seem harmless (zombies excepted), but for those of us who choose to be buried, our bodies start to decompose within the ground and release around […]
The UK Housing Market: A Speculative Forecast
Despite the assumption that we will leave the EU in 2020, the economic and political background to the housing market will be more robust over the next five years, even though some uncertainty will remain initially, according to a recent ‘Living with 2020 vision’ report on UK & London Residential Forecasts. The UK economic growth […]
Your Guide to Professional Consultant Certificates (PCC) in New Build Conveyancing
When it comes to new builds and conversions, the role of the conveyancer acting on behalf of the purchaser is increasingly difficult if the building or refurbishment work is either yet to commence or is incomplete. This raises fundamental questions relating to the quality of the building work being or about to be undertaken, and […]
GlobalX Joins The Legal Software Suppliers Association
GlobalX is pleased to announce that they have recently joined the LSSA (Legal Software Suppliers Association). As the UK industry body representing legal software developers, vendors and suppliers, all members must meet its Code of Practice before being accepted. GlobalX CEO Martin Allwood said: “The LSSA’s Code of Practice expects its members to operate at the highest […]
Property Fraud And Fake ID Is Swamping The Conveyancing Sector
The intensification of property fraud and fake ID documents means that conveyancers are much more accountable when it comes to ensuring their clients are who they say they are. Over the past 18 years, property fraud and bogus ID documentation has estimated to have cost the UK Land Registry in excess of £73 million – […]
Interview With Gazeal’s Managing Director, Duncan Samuel
With the proposed implementation of Reservation Agreements being high on the Government’s agenda in a bid to reduce the risk of fall throughs across England and Wales, Managing Director and founder of Gazeal, Duncan Samuel, talks to Today’s Conveyancer about whether locking buyers and sellers in a legal binding agreement will help the homebuying sector; […]