Think tank warns against Help to Buy
Leading economic think tank The Adam Smith Institute has warned that Help to Buy will not end the housing crisis. The institute believes that the government’s plans to increase liquidity in the housing market will do little to solve the UK’s long-run housing supply shortage — and actually lead high housing prices. They believe […]
45% increase in first-time buyers
There were 26,100 sales to first-time buyers in July, the highest level since November 2007. According to the latest First Time Buyer Monitor from LSL Property Services, the number of first-time buyers rose 45% year-on-year in July. The improvement was put down to a sharp increase in the affordability of mortgages. The average mortgage rate […]
Financial Ombudsman releases complaints data
The Financial Ombudsman Service has released the latest six-monthly complaints data relating to individual financial businesses. The data details complaints handled by the ombudsman service between 1 January and 30 June 2013. Two types of data are included; the number of complaints received about individual financial businesses and the percentage of complaints the ombudsman upheld […]
Scheme to give loans to owners of empty homes
A new scheme hopes to bring England’s 710,000 empty properties back to life by offering loans up to £15,000 to their owners. The National Empty Homes Fund (NEHLF); a joint initiative between the charity Empty Homes, Ecology Building Society, central government and 39 participating local authorities, hopes to help solve the national property shortage through […]
Executive Director Samantha Barrass to leave SRA
Samantha Barrass has been appointed chief executive of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission and will leave the SRA in February. The move makes a return to financial services for Ms Barrass, who had a successful career in the UK financial services sector prior to joining the SRA in 2009. During her time at the SRA, […]
Move with Us partner hits £2m revenue
Move with Us Partner Network member, Newton Fallowell, has earned more than £2 million of revenue from corporate property sales and conveyancing transactions. Newton Fallowell, an independently owned group of estate agents in the Midlands, first joined the partner network in 2002. As part of the network, independent estate agents are supported with a range […]
CLC response to Ministry of Justice review
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has submitted its response to the review of regulation of legal services being run by the Ministry of Justice. Their submission focuses on changes that could be made in order to reduce the burden on the legal sector and to support innovation and the development of new services to consumers. […]
Last opportunity to sign up to regional conveyancing road shows
With less than two weeks to go, the Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has announced that places for its late summer road shows are filling up fast and is urging those who are yet to secure their place to register now. The regional road shows, which are being run in conjunction with Legal Eye, will […]
Zoopla Property Group acquires Trinity Mirror Digital Property
Zoopla Property Group Ltd (ZPG) announced yesterday that it has acquired Trinity Mirror Digital Property Ltd (TMDP), from Trinity Mirror plc. Trinity Mirror Digital Property owns a portfolio of property websites including SmartNewHomes.co.uk, HomesOverseas.co.uk, Email4Property.co.uk and Zoomf.com. Zoopla will invest in developing and marketing SmartNewHomes.co.uk and HomesOverseas.co.uk as standalone portals as part of its multi-brand […]
Licensed conveyancer becomes partner in law firm
A licensed conveyancer at a Kent law firm has become the first in his profession to be promoted to partnership. Alan Johnston, joint head of property at Stephens & Sons in Chatham, has worked for the firm for 28 years and was promoted to partner following recent legislative changes. The changes allow non-lawyers to make […]
New “aborted transaction” insurance product launched
A new type of insurance, “Residential Abortive Transaction Insurance”, has been launched which covers if a property transaction fails to complete for any reason beyond your control, during any part of the transaction chain. Northcott Beaton Insurance Brokers (along with DAS — Europe’s largest Legal Expenses Insurer) has developed the policy which covers both buyer […]
Free CPD Points! Book Now…
With well over a Thousand Delegates already registered for PSG’s CPD events throughout September, time is running out to book your place. There are 26 seminars, each providing 3 SRA accredited CPD points, which will take place at venues across England and Wales and for those who can’t attend PSG have complemented the face to […]
Are you up to date?
The legal sector has seen significant changes in recent years. In 2007 the conveyancing sector took a massive hit due to the housing market crash which affected the entire market causing many law firms to close down, whilst others struggled to survive in the market they were left in. Most recently changes in legal […]
Last chance to book SLC road shows
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has announced that places for its late summer road shows are filling up fast. Anyone who has not yet booked is advised to do so now. The regional road shows, run in conjunction with Legal Eye, will start on 10th September in Dartford, followed by events in Peterborough, Sheffield […]
CLC announces 2013/14 Licence and Practice Fees
The CLC has today announced that it is proposing to make no changes to licence and practice fees for the year beginning November 2013. The methods for calculation of fees and the levels of fee will remain the same as those for the current year. This is subject to approval by the Legal Services Board. […]
Co-op head further into the red
The first half results for Co-operative Legal Services show a £3.4m loss in the first half of 2013. Losses were put down to the “start-up nature of the business”, however the figure is in comparison to £700,000 in profit for the same period in 2012. In March 2012 Co-op Legal Services became one of the […]
House prices up 3.5% from last year
According to the Nationwide House Price Index house prices increased by 0.6% in August, a 3.5% from the same time last year. August was a slightly flattering month for comparison, however the three month on three month measure of house prices, which is a better measure of the underlying trend, rose by 1.4%, its strongest […]
SearchFlow announces 23 new ‘Your Area, Your Risk' CPD seminar dates
SearchFlow, the UK’s leading information and data provider for the property transaction market, has released a new set of dates in September and October for its major CPD seminar programme. Building on the success of previous seminars, this new campaign adds topics to focus on the environmental impacts of new energy sources such as fracking, […]
Agent predicts average price for London two-bed will hit £1m
According to research from estate agent Marsh & Parsons the average price of a two-bedroom property in London could hit £1m by next March. Their research shows that following a 14% appreciation over the last year the current average value for a two bed in “prime London” is £909,203. If growth continues at this rate, […]
Estate agent insolvencies up 57%
Over the last 12 months to June the number of estate agent insolvencies increased 57%, from 49 to 77 firms. According to research from accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy LLP the increasing number of estate agents becoming insolvent is due to prolonged stagnation in the property market. Wilkins Kennedy says that the need for High Street […]