Land Registry announces Local Land Charge Searches prototype details
The Land Registry has announced which local authorities will take place in a prototype to see if local charge registers can be consolidated into a digitised central register. The local authorities are: Sefton, Liverpool, Denbighshire, Newark and Sherwood, Swindon, Havant and Watford. The prototype is due to end by December 2013 and will run in […]
11% fall in new home starts
The latest data from the Department for Communities and Local Government has shown that new home starts were some way off the target level during 2012. Annual housing starts totalled 98,280 in 2012, down by 11% compared with 2011. Annual housing completions in England totalled 115,620 in 2012, 1% higher than in 2011. Seasonally adjusted […]
Countrywide reveals plans to float, 2012 results and new appointments
The UK’s largest estate agents and property services group Countrywide has announced its intention to float on the stock exchange. The public will have the opportunity to buy ordinary shares in a newly-established English-incorporated company, the holding company of the Countrywide Group. The intention is that the new company will apply for admission of its […]
The residential property survey – what consumers need to know and why the conveyancer has a vital role to play
The majority of us in the property profession will be aware of the importance of commissioning a survey when purchasing a property, along with the potential pitfalls associated with failing to uncover something, which could later turn out to be very costly to put right. However, it seems that this same level of knowledge and […]
Mincoffs Residential Conveyancing Department Bucks the Trend
Mincoffs are pleased to announce two new appointments to their Residential Conveyancing department. Danielle Hutchinson joins the team as a conveyancer and has over six years’ experience. She is currently completing the Council for Licensed Conveyancers course, with a view to qualifying as a licensed conveyancer. Sandra Matthews also joins the team in a support […]
PSG Kick Start their most active year of CPD Events ever
February marked the start of PSG’s calendar of over 30 free CPD events across England & Wales in 2013. PSG Kingston and PSG Brighton and Southampton hosted four seminars, which commenced a year of events aimed at supporting lawyers and conveyancers to achieve their annual CPD requirements. These events were a real success and attended […]
Administration announcement for CQS firm
Hot on the heels of Cobbetts collapse in Manchester the Law Society Gazette last week announced that Atteys is to go into administration and we are being informed that conveyancing staff are contacting other local firms seeking employment elsewhere. The firm has always been highly respected for its conveyancing practice and our thoughts are clearly […]
Consultation on “right to light”
The Law Commission has announced a consultation into the right of landowners to receive light through defined apertures in buildings. If land owners are affected by the right then they need the consent of the benefiting owners to make any changes, for example erecting buildings which block the light. The “rights to light” can allow […]
SLC announces partnership with Legal Eye
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has announced a new partnership with compliance experts, Legal Eye. The partnership will allow SLC members to secure a significant discount when purchasing compliance packages. SLC members can now access a 15% discount across Legal Eye services, including its one day compliance review and its more comprehensive two day […]
Repossessions continue to fall
Repossessions in the final quarter of 2012 fell to the lowest rate since the final quarter of 2007, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The number of properties taken into possession by first-charge residential mortgage lenders fell from 8,200 in the third quarter of 2012 to 7,700 in the fourth quarter. Annually […]
Mortgage redemption by phone call results in Court of Appeal case.
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that solicitors are in breach of trust in a remortgage transaction unless they get a valid redemption statement from the existing lender. Mark Redler & Co Solicitors (MRC) admitted negligence when they acted for AIB on a remortgage transaction and failed to obtain a valid redemption statement. At the […]
Is the elderly care cap actually a good deal?
The government announced on Monday that the costs of personal care for the elderly in England will be capped from April 2017 at £75,000. Health Minister Jeremy Hunt told the House of Commons that the "historic" reforms would save thousands of people from having to sell their family home to pay for care. People who […]
Buy-to-let at four year high
Gross buy-to-let lending was up 19% from 2011 to £16.4 billion, the highest level for four years. Buy-to-let lending accounted for 11.5% of total gross mortgage lending in 2012, up from 9.8% in 2011, according to data released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Over the last quarter there were 36,700 buy-to-let loans advanced, […]
SRA warns of con artists using Global Solicitors name
The following warning has been issued by The Solicitors Regulation Authority: "The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a warning involving con artists claiming to be from Global Solicitors. The SRA has received information that members of the public are being sent letters purportedly from Tim Neary and/or Mark Jerusin at Global Solicitors, Dreen, House, […]
Final Entry Date brought forward for LFS Conveyancing Awards
Law Firm Services have announced that the final entry date to enter the conveyancing awards will now be 31st March 2013. This is to allow sufficient time for the judging process to take place. Richard Mathias, Sales Director of LFS said “ we have had a superb response to this year’s awards and we already […]
Increased subsidence risk due to rainfall
According to Searchflow, the property search provider, UK homeowners could be at risk of over £291m in subsidence damage if there is a dry summer this year. Long range forecasters are predicting a hot and dry summer, which following the second wettest year on record in 2012 could lead to a surge in subsidence cases. […]
LSB make recommendation on estate administration
The Legal Services Board recommended to the Lord Chancellor yesterday that estate administration not be regulated. The LSB had initially proposed that estate administration activities should be included in the list of reserved activities. However, it concluded that statutory regulation would not be an effective or proportionate way to prevent criminal behaviour. In the same […]
SRA Warning: misuse of Rowlinson Solicitors name
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a warning of con artists claiming to be from legitimate solicitor Lynne Rowlinson at Rowlinsons Solicitors Limited. The SRA has been informed that a number of individuals across the country have been sent emails purportedly from Lynne Rowlinson, alleging the recipient that they may be entitled to the […]
Are you appealing to foreign investors?
Chinese, Malaysian and other Far Eastern investors are pushing up demand for new build investment properties across many UK cities. But are you doing enough to win their business? The property markets in Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities are currently experiencing huge oversupply, meaning yields are low. According to buy to let specialist Assetz […]
Housing market fairly stable
The RICS January 2013 Housing Market Survey has shown that prices have remained fairly static whilst transactions have slightly increased. Of these transactions the number of new buyer enquiries fell. As ever there is significant regional variation with London and the South East continuing to have record high price balances. The headline national price balance […]