New Ground Report For The South West
Cornwall Consultants collaborates with national environmental information specialist to bring new Ground Report to the South West – Innovative new Ground Report will bring clarity to mining searches across the region – Cornish mining expert, Cornwall Consultants and national mining and ground report specialist, Terrafirma, have announced a collaboration that sees the launch of a […]
Government Could Withdraw Leasehold Properties From Help To Buy
Leasehold properties have been vilified in recent months as confused tenants accused residential property developers of mis-selling the homes as ‘virtual freeholds.’ Hundreds of developments have suffered from housing developers selling leasehold properties, only to then resell the land onto a third party management companies that are able to set exorbitant ground rents and charge […]
Small Businesses Value Price Transparency
A recent survey, carried out by YouGov and Europe Economics for the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA), questioning more than 4,000 small businesses, business owners and managers has looked at how price transparency would impact on their decision to use legal service providers. The results found that small businesses are particularly sensitive to price. 60% of […]
6% Of Law Firms Suffered A Data Breach This Year
The Law Society have released their findings into the use of Professional Indemnity Insurance. Worryingly, 32% of law firms reported being targeted by cyber fraudsters in the last year. In particular, law firms have reported significant increases in spam emails and sophisticated phishing attempts. This equates to a 25% increase in cyber attacks compared to […]
Conservative Policy Increases Stamp Duty For Foreign Buyers
The Government have announced plans to increase the Stamp Duty Land Tax on foreign buyers. The policy aims to increase the current additional tax from 1% to 3%. During the unveiling of the new tax, the Prime Minister claimed that 13% of London based homes were bought by foreign buyers; a percentage that is taking […]
RICS supports stamp duty reform to benefit entire housing chain
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has called for a stamp duty cut to “rebalance the UK housing market and reignite activity across all tenures”. The petition, which forms part of calls for a more comprehensive housing tax overhaul, follows the publication of the latest RICS Residential Market Survey. The survey is used by […]
The Surge is on: Subsidence Claims rise 400% after Heatwave
Subsidence damage is set to soar after our record-breaking summer heatwave, according to two key indicators, leading to a significant rise in insurance claims this autumn. We reported earlier in the summer that the lack of rainfall was starting to impact on clay soils through dramatic levels of shrinkage and cracking. Tracking the widely […]
10% Decrease In First Time Buyer Market Share
The National Association of Estate Agents Propertymark (NAEA) have found that first time buyers (FTBs) looking for homes have reached a three year low in August. June boasted a strong month for FTB market presence where they made up 29% of the overall total. Similarly, July’s figures continued to rise to 30% marketshare. However, the […]
HMRC Publish Stamp Duty Increases for 2017-2018
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) has been a constant staple of the housing markets dietary requirements in recent years. Over the weekend, HMRC released the Annual Stamp Tax Statistics for 2017-2018. The key statistics indicate that first time buyers (FTBs) have continued to prosper from the stamp duty relief. Over the year, 69,100 transactions were […]
Conveyancers Should Have Funds The Day Before Completion
The Society for Licenced Conveyancers (SLC) is calling for all its members to do everything in their power to avoid additional delays in the home buying process. In particular, the SLC believe that conveyancers should have all monies, including mortgage funds, in place the day before completion. Having acknowledged that the majority of conveyancers insist […]
Coming to a location near you: ‘Preparing Your Firm For 2019 and Beyond’ – free national roadshow
Bold Legal Group, InfoTrack, Lawyer Checker, LEAP, Perfect Portal and Riliance have partnered to present a series of complimentary seminars, featuring talks on industry hot topics including GDPR, fraud, price transparency, best practice, improving the home buying and selling process and much more. Free to attend, you can hear the talks from industry experts to […]
Home Buyers Taking Longer Before Making An Offer
In a time of political uncertainty and anxieties concerning the future of our country as we exit Europe, it is unsurprising that potential buyers are viewing property for 23% longer before making an offer. A new report, by Hybrid estate agents, compared the 2018 results with those carried out in 2016. The results highlight a […]
CLC Price Transparency Guidance Announced
If you are a member from the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), then the deadline for price transparency has been officially set for December 6th. Yesterday, the CLC released their official guidance and pricing templates that will meet the minimum standard requirements in relation to quality, price and service transparency. In addition to the guidance, […]
Today’s Conveyancer Roundtable deliberates referral Fees
Representatives from the UK’s most respected conveyancing firms, innovative suppliers to the sector, technology experts and industry commentators gathered yesterday to discuss the key topics concerning the sector. Hosted by Chris Harris, Managing Director of Lawyer Checker and owner of the Practical Vision network, attendees included partners, directors and senior representatives from Law Firm Services, […]
Is Section 21 change the start of tenants being offered increased protections?
The start of improved reforms that will give tenants more rights will come into force over the next few months. Keen to highlight a desire to improve the rights of private tenants, the Government have written a Tenants Fees Bill that is working its way through parliament. However, from Monday, new and stricter guidelines as […]
£1.9 billion announced to tackle housing shortage
The government has announced two new streams of investment to tackle the current housing crisis and ensure homes are built in areas where they are needed most. The packet of measures includes a £1.3bn Land Assembly Fund. This money will be used to acquire land which requires work and get it ready for the market. […]
Roundtable Discussion on environmental issues and the role of a conveyancer
Representatives from the UK’s most respected conveyancing firms, innovative suppliers to the sector, technology experts and industry commentators gathered on Tuesday to discuss the hot topics concerning the conveyancing sector. Hosted by Chris Harris, Managing Director of Lawyer Checker and owner of the Practical Vision network, attendees included partners, directors and senior representatives from Law […]
Consumer Confidence in Housing extremely low
The Building Societies Association’s (BSA) Property Tracker Index has found that consumer confidence in the housing market remains low. The figure for September sits at the negative figure of -4% which is a 3% decrease on June’s figure of -1%. In fact, the last time the public posted any positive feelings around the right time […]
Families Continue to Live in Leasehold Nightmares
Getting the keys to your new home following the arduous home buying process is usually a milestone memory of joy that is difficult to replicate. However, for the thousands of people trapped in unreasonable leasehold agreements, their home can become an unsaleable prison. The majority of stories seem consistent, highlighting a clear mis-selling of leasehold […]
The Difficulty in Recruiting and Retaining Talented Conveyancers
With the imminent arrival of price transparency and the need to highlight an expert staff and superior services, the importance of retaining skilled talent has never been more vital. Recent surveys suggest that there is a shortage of candidates looking to take up a career as a conveyancer. Furthermore, there is a growing skills gap […]