GDPR Regulators Set To Enforce Harsher Fines For Non-Compliance
Since GDPR came into force eight months ago over, official regulators have been notified that over 59,000 GDPR data breaches have taken place across the EU. It has been six months since General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was brought into force on May 25th 2018. Under the new regulations, any firm that is breached and […]
Additional Derelict Dwellings Not Liable For SDLT Surcharge
Derelict, uninhabitable properties have never looked so appealing for property investors as a recent ruling means that additional property bought in terrible conditions could bypass the current excess stamp duty land tax surcharge (SDLT) of 3%. The 3% surcharge on additional dwellings has been lucrative for the government since its introduction in 2016, with £4.9 […]
Cyber Security During Mergers And Acquisitions (M & A)
On face value, one may question what company mergers, acquisitions, or takeovers have to do with cyber security. But for law firms charged with overseeing the safe completion of such transactions, cyber security should be a core consideration, for two key reasons. Firstly, there is a risk that during due diligence (the process during which […]
Wealth Locked In Homes Of Retired Owners Reaches Record Levels
The wealth locked within the homes of retired home owners has reached record high levels of £1.118 trillion. According to the pensioner property index by Key, equity release specialists, property wealth in homes owned by people over 65-years-old increased in value by £28 billion within the last six months alone. In the time since the […]
Building Juggernaut Persimmon Could Be Omitted From Help To Buy
Home building juggernauts, Persimmon, are being placed under the governmental microscope and could lose their right to sell Help to Buy homes when their current contract expires in 2021. Concerned by a myriad of recent decisions and activity by the company, a source close to James Brokenshire has suggested that he is becoming increasingly disillusioned […]
LEAP Chosen As Headline Sponsor For 1st Bold Legal Live! Conference
LEAP, one of the UK’s leading practice management software providers, has been announced as the headline sponsor for the first ever Bold Legal Conference to be held in London on 18th October this year. The conference called Bold Legal LIVE! is being hosted in association with the ESTAS Group who will be holding their annual […]
The Simplify Group And My Home Move Join Forces
The UK’s two leading conveyancing groups – My Home Move and The Simplify Group – today announced that they are combining to create a conveyancing powerhouse which will be the standout market leader. The combined organisation, to be known as Simplify, will benefit from the complementary strengths of the two groups to build on the […]
UK Property Transactions Fall By Over A Third
UK property transactions have been shrinking at their most alarming rate in over five years according to recent research. The study into UK residential property transactions, carried out by estate agent software platform, Reapit, has found that UK property transactions have fallen by over a third in the past three months. Property transactions between November […]
Memories Locked Within Family Home Too Precious To Leave
Whilst many people (20%) over 55-years-old fear that they are worse off than they had anticipated they would be at their particular stage in life, the majority (62%) have no interest in downsizing. According to the Sunlife Home Sentiment Report, over half (55%) of the 1,000 respondents, all of which were over 50-years-old, are so […]
Re-wilding Streams: Letting Nature Control Flooding
Government flood management investment, often reacting to events rather than in anticipation of them, has tended to focus on hard flood defences – channelling water faster elsewhere. But long term, is this just making things worse? Is there a more natural alternative to slow the flow as nature originally intended? In the 1970s and early […]
Paralysis Continues To Grip The Property Market
Search Acumen comments on HMRC’s Monthly Property Transactions Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments: “Paralysis continues to grip the property market, with activity remaining flat. First-time buyers are accounting for a significant chunk of the limited market activity, while those few who need to move, despite wider uncertainty, are also helping to keeping the […]
Leasehold And Ground Rent And HIPs, Oh My!
In the City of London earlier this month, tmgroup hosted the first of several audience-led ‘Back to Reality’ discussions on the challenges that will continue to impact the residential property market after 29th March. The event brought an audience of conveyancers, surveyors and lenders together, alongside a panel of residential property specialists – including representatives […]
Law Firm Announce Conveyancing Promotions After 10% Growth in 2018
One of the West Midlands leading independent law firms has made six promotions to help it build on 10% growth in 2018. Talbots Law, which employs over 200 people across its six offices in the Black Country and Worcestershire, saw annual fees rise to nearly £12m and took the decision to put in place the […]
First-Time Buyer Figures Hit Highest Levels Since 2006
Latest industry figures, from UK Finance, have indicated that 370,000 home owners acquired a mortgage for the first time in 2018. This figure is the highest number of first-time buyers entering the market since 2006, over a year before the financial crash and 1.9% higher than the figures for 2017. Additionally, new lending also increased […]
Buy To Rent Market Increases By 39% In 2018
The housing market has been privy to a 39% increase in the number of buy-to-rent (BTR) properties being built in the UK between Quarter 4 of 2017 and Quarter 4 of 2018. According to latest research figures, carried out by the British Property Federation, at the end of 2017, 31,250 homes were built for BTR […]
Going The Extra 133,000 Miles: Search Acumen Are First To Introduce Public Rights Of Way Data Within Property Insight Platform
For the first time, lawyers and property professionals can now digitally examine public pathways and footpaths that might affect transactions Instant access to Local Authority data now saves weeks in waiting time New dataset will help lawyers to make better, faster risk assessments to avoid costly reparations further into the property purchase The ForeSite […]
Giving Law Firms The Inside Track On Key Fronts
Running a law firm is hard enough, but the working environment for all legal service professionals has changed rapidly over the past year and is only going to continue changing as we approach the Brexit deadline of March 29th. In addition to the usual cash pressures that affect cash-intensive businesses like law firms, a hardening […]
New Online Tracker Informs Conveyancers of Japanese Knotweed Risk
A new Japanese knotweed tracking tool has been launched which provides an interactive online heatmap of Japanese knotweed sightings across the UK. Exposed: The Japanese Knotweed Heatmap will be a valuable resource for property professionals involved in residential transactions, including developers, surveyors, and conveyancing solicitors, enabling them to build a picture of local knotweed sightings and […]
Code For Completion Amendments Improve Buyer Protection
On Friday, last week, The Law Society published the latest version of the Code for Completion that will come into force on 1 May 2019. The amendments to the Code for Completion have been made in response to the implications following the infamous Dreamvar case which exploded last summer. The Court of Appeal upheld that […]
House Repossessions At Lowest Levels In 30 Years
Despite the anxieties regarding a slowing market and Brexit implications on the economy, repossessions fell to their lowest levels in thirty years according to recent statistics by UK Finance. You would need to go back to when Flock of Seagulls haircuts were in fashion to find lower figures than the 4,580 home-owner possessions experienced in […]