Federation of Master Builders issue warning over workloads for small builders
Workload for small builders dipped in the final quarter of 2015, according to new data published by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). According to the FMB, the dip means the UK is already on the back foot when it comes to meeting George Osborne’s ambitious targets for housing. It follows research by the Royal […]
Housing Associations take first steps to right-to-buy purchase
Right-to-Buy schemes have today launched for tenants of five housing associations across England. The five pilot schemes have launched in co-operation with associations in Merseyside, London, Norfolk, Thames Valley and Oxfordshire. The Government are hailing the scheme as “historic” with 1.3 million tenants set to become able to buy the homes they currently rent at […]
One in four estate agents seeing rise in BTL enquiries as landlords race to beat stamp duty hike
One in four estate agents has seen a rise in prospective landlords looking to buy before the 3% stamp duty comes in on second homes in April, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). The survey of 263 ARLA members also says that the new private rental tax regime will have negative effects […]
How RiskView Residential makes time for conveyancers
Vanessa Moscardo-Parker, Account Director at Landmark Information Group, sat down with leading property data and service provider tmgroup to talk through RiskView Residential – a brand new all-in-one report for conveyancers now available through tmgroup. RiskView Residential – what is it and who is it for? V M-P: “RiskView Residential (RVR) is an all-in-one environmental […]
LFS Conveyancing Awards 2016 now open for entries!
The Law Firm Services (LFS) Conveyancing Conference and Awards are now accepting entries into this year’s awards, which promises to be the biggest and most prestigious event to date. Now in their 5th year, the LFS Conveyancing Awards are firmly established as the premier event in the conveyancing calendar and all conveyancing firms should be […]
Local Land Charges to move to Land Registry
In February 2015 the legislation that will allow the Land Registry to provide a digital Local Land Charges Service received Royal Assent. The Land Registry’s aim is to consolidate all separate Local Authority LLC registers to create a single, digital LLC service, making over 20 million records available online. It is also in support of […]
SRA hails performance after drop in complaints
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has welcomed a report announcing a further drop in complaints against its work. The report to the SRA’s board by the Independent Complaints Resolution Service says the number of complaints in 2015 dropped to 1,087. This follows a drop in 2014 to 1,209 from 1,315. The SRA puts this down […]
Have your residential chancel insurance on us
Order your searches through Searchpoint and let us pay for the Chancel Insurance Policy. How the scheme works Select which searches you require and add them to your basket Add the Chancel Policy to your basket Searchpoint will automatically include the case in the Chancel Policy Scheme. Searchpoint will pay the premium on your client’s […]
Council searches "most likely cause of transaction delays"
Council searches are the biggest cause of transaction delays for search users, according to research by SearchFlow. SearchFlow’s conveyancing sentiment survey on council versus regulated searches states 33% of conveyancers that only buy council searches blame a delay in transaction on local searches, with delays due to lenders second at 28%. Correspondingly, respondents only using […]
Rents rise accelerates to fastest rate since 2011
Rents across England and Wales are rising faster than at any point in the last five years, according to the latest Buy-to-Let index from Reeds Rains and Your Move. The average rent for England and Wales is now £794 per month, 3.4% higher than at the beginning of 2015. According to the index yields on […]
Land Registry completes 199,972 searches in December
Land Registry completed 199,972 searches in December, down from 206,321 in November according to statistics released today. In total 359,964 were applications in respect of registered land (dealings), a drop of less than 4,000 from November. There were 521,022 applications for copies of official registers or title plans, significantly fewer than the 677,160 in the previous […]
Worst of the worst (Conveyancer Slater – Tweet of the Week)
#Conveyancing process now ranks for me as more stressful than wedding, baby, new job… ANYTHING! — Chris Blackwood (@Blackwood_C) January 19, 2016
InfoTrack announces new brand advertising campaign empathising with conveyancing challenges
InfoTrack today announced a major brand advertising campaign to showcase its forward-thinking platform to conveyancers who, InfoTrack say, are often under unfair and needless pressures created by the arduous, often unnecessary processes within conveyancing transactions. The new campaign, beginning on the 1st February, encourages firms to use the service provider, whose aim is to challenge […]
VAT to be charged on Council (Official) Local Authority Searches
As an established search provider Searches UK have always charged VAT on their Regulated (Personal) Local Authority Searches despite this often creating a commercial advantage for regional councils offering Council (Official) Local Authority Searches without VAT. After a recent announcement from the CIPFA VAT committee who advised that Local Authorities should begin charging VAT on […]
Interview with Andrew Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen
Today – 21st January 2016 – marks Andy Sommerville’s 30 years in the search industry. The co-owner and director of Search Acumen shared the secrets of his longevity in the business – and his success – with Today’s Conveyancer’s Jane Common… On January 21st every year do you think ‘that’s another 12 months in the […]
Gross mortgage lending up 8% for 2015 say CML
Gross mortgage lending increased by 8% in 2015, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), bringing the total for the year up to £220.3 billion. 2015 was the fifth consecutive year for gross lending growth with 2014’s gross lending total coming to £203.3 billion. For December, gross lending dipped from £20.5 million in November […]
2015 saw slight rise in transactions according to HMRC
2015 saw just over 12,500 more residential property transactions compared with 2014, which represents growth of just over 1%. In total, the number of non-residential transactions over £40,000 was 1,231,260 according to HMRC’s latest statistics. In 2014, the total number of transactions was 1,218,750. December 2015 saw 11.6% more transactions than December 2014. However some […]
Supply issues persist in UK Housing Market
December sees 68,218 house purchase approvals, down 3.1% from 70,410 house purchase approvals in November Average monthly approvals across H2 2015 stand at 69,572, higher than H1 average of 64,047 On an annual basis, house purchase approvals climb 12.5% – from 60,650 in December 2014 Small-deposit lending stagnates towards the end of the year, remaining […]
House prices set to rise in 2016
Since December 2015 house prices have already risen by 0.5% and are set to continue rising throughout the year, experts predict. How high the rise will go is yet to be determined as factors such as interest rates and sliding stock markets should be taken into account, but most have predicted a rise of between […]
Housing stock in jeopardy, as unimplemented planning permission increases year-on-year
Results from a study published this month, commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA), have revealed the level of unimplemented planning permission for new build homes has been increasing year-on-year. The LGA represents more than 370 councils across England and Wales and their latest research shows in 2012/13, planning permission had been granted on 381,390 […]