Law Commission Recommendations to Reform Land Registration Act Could Contribute to Conveyancer delays
Following our article last week on how the recent proposals on reforming the Land Registration Act of 2002 could prevent fraud, many people now fear that additional standards and protocols will create increased delays to the home buying process. The report published last week suggested that conveyancers had a ‘duty of care’ to carry out […]
CLC propose new reforms to help improve consumer choice
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has applied to the Legal Services Board (LSB) to improve their rules and regulations in the hope that it will create transparent information offered to legal services users and ultimately enhance their consumer choice. The proposed changes move beyond fee transparency introduced by the SRA and will encourage CLC […]
Housing Gazumping restrictions wanted by public according to recent report
A survey of over 2000 UK adults uncovers that 55% of people view gazumping restrictions as their top priority in new housing reforms. These numbers increased to 64% of people surveyed that currently owned residential property and had been through the house buying process. The practice of placing an increased offer on a property, when […]
Recent reports claim estate agency closures are on the rise: is this a threat to conveyancers?
Multiple reports, published in the past year, indicate that estate agents are in severe financial trouble. A report produced by Moore Stephens indicates that 19% or 7000 estate agencies are struggling to survive in current market conditions. Further to this, 4,928 estate agencies out of 25,560 are showing signs of ‘financial distress’. A myriad of […]
Interest rates placed at decade high: what does this mean for the property market?
Following a steady increase in borrowing and spending, the Bank of England announced that UK interest rates are set to rise from 0.5% to 0.75% for the first time since they were lowered during the aftermath of the financial collapse in 2009. The unanimous decision was made on the prediction that the UK is transitioning […]
Transparency More important than ever in the Legal Services Sector – but we’re still not getting it right!
The time was where if you had a legal problem, you would automatically turn to a solicitor. Paying for the services of a solicitor was not given a second thought, especially if there was the chance of legal aid. In recent years, this has all been turned on its head, with the implementation of The […]
Law Commission not going far enough with attempts at leasehold reform
Recent recommendations by the Law Commission on reforming leasehold property have been compared to ‘window dressing’ by those opposed to the reforms. Louie Burns, managing director of lease extension specialists, Leasehold Solutions, believes that the reforms offer a lot more rights to owners of freehold property. Burns commented: “Whilst we welcome any changes that will make leasehold fairer […]
Mortgage Lenders Ground Home Owners’ Plans to rent out property on Airbnb
Despite Airbnb announcing 2017 profits of $93 Million and growing exponentially in recent years, UK home-owners are finding it extremely difficult to gain consent from mortgage lenders to rent out their homes; even for extremely short-term circumstances like those used for Airbnb. According to the TelegraphMoney report, many lenders forbid the home-owner from renting out […]
Government Stamp Duty Cuts Vindicated by Recent Statistics
The government have recently announced the quarterly statistics on stamp duty; claiming that 121,500 households have benefitted from the stamp duty cut. This equates to a saving of over £284 million. Currently, first-time buyers purchasing houses costing less than £300,000 are immune from additional stamp duty costs; with any housing priced under £500,000 also receiving […]
Negligent Conveyancers could be liable for millions over title fraud
Conveyancers who fail to take reasonable steps to confirm clients’ identities under Law Commission recommendations to reform the Land Registration Act may be liable for millions of pounds to the HM Land Registry. Looking at the Land Registration Act 2002, the Commission says the registry has paid almost £60m in indemnity payments over the past […]
Solicitor suspension appeal rejected by the high court
An appeal on behalf of a solicitor, suspended for offences related to property by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), has been rejected by the High Court. The offences included lack of integrity and recklessness. The decision withstanding, it was noted that three of the six conditions imposed on Kulwant Singh Manak by the SDT were […]
Is the government considering a post-Brexit Britain following the new NPPF announcements?
The national planning policy framework (NPPF) was quietly announced on the day that parliament disbursed for their summer vacation. While they hoped to quietly distribute the report through the back door, some are critical of the reports lack of changes from the original paper published in March. Others also worry that the content of the […]
Shared Ownership: the impact on conveyancers and its long-term viability for first-time buyers
As of April this year, the government have relaxed eligibility rules meaning households earning less than £80,000 and £90,000 in London can now use shared ownership schemes to own property. When the average national price of an entry level property now costs £140,000, should the first-time buyer look towards government shared ownership schemes as a […]
Northern Ireland ‘memorandum of understanding’ could be blueprint for England and Wales
In March this year, solicitors, surveyors and estate agents in Northern Ireland agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to improve communications between all parties. The agreement, which offers “another layer of reassurance of ‘best practice’ in home-buying and selling”, could now be used as a template for the conveyancing process in England and Wales. […]
Webinar: Dealing with your New Conveyancing Enquiries
Every single day, residential conveyancing departments receive telephone calls from prospective clients looking for a quote. But every single day, the majority of conveyancers lose new business because of the way these calls are handled. Those receiving enquiries often feel that is an administrative task, rather than an important business development role. How quote calls are dealt […]
Land registry releases data showing a slump in housing transactions
Only 24 hours after the Land registry released data showing a 20 per cent slump in housing transactions, new figures from the Equity Release Council throw some light on why older owners may no longer be moving house so frequently. The data shows that the equity release market is moving closer to the psychologically-important threshold […]
Be Careful – It’s a Jungle Out There!
Japanese Knotweed Indemnity Policy Now Available Whilst the presence of a garden is often something that buyers look for, not all plants are friendly to home owners. Buyers and especially lenders will always be rightly concerned when a seller’s replies to a Property Information Form indicate that there is a risk that Japanese Knotweed (“Knotweed”) […]
Home moves by homeowners drop by 10% in a year
11 July 2018: The UK’s homeowners are staying put, with the number of home moves within the owner-occupier sector plummeting by 10% between 2016 and 2017, according to new analysis by home move website reallymoving.com, as Brexit uncertainty bites and homeowners become increasingly reluctant to take on new debt. Reallymoving.com has analysed the English Housing […]
Estate agents should adopt progress tracking and provide real-time updates say homeowners
A recent report suggests that homeowners would like the estate agency market to become more like Amazon and Uber by providing real-time updates and tracking progress.
Government outlines ‘ambitious programme of court reform’
The government have reported that work has begun on “a very ambitious programme of court reform, which aims to bring new technology and modern ways of working” to the system.