Social Housing Stock Sales: Should you be getting in on the act?
The Department for Communities and Local Government released figures today that show official statistics of dwellings sold under Right to Buy schemes across England. Figures show that throughout 2012/2013 sales of dwellings by Local Authorities under the Right to Buy scheme has increased considerably from 444 in quarter 1 to over 2,000 in quarter 3, […]
Subsidence: The Spring Effect
So, spring is on its way (although it appears that winter is not going to go too easily) and nature starts to come alive after its winter sleep. With the start of the tree growing season not too far away (generally recognised as the end of April) tree roots will then start to absorb water. […]
Bold Legal Group find “Lenders aren’t all bad”
Rob Hailstone writes “Have you ever found your firm taken off of a lender’s panel through no fault of your own? If you have, fear not, the situation can sometimes be resolved very quickly.” Rob Hailstone, founder of the Bold Legal Group recently received the email below from BLG members PCS Legal, a firm of […]
6500 conveyancing firms operated in 2012 – how many 2013?
Despite a rising market with nearly 5% more applications to Land Registry than in 2012 the pace of consolidation in the market is becoming very clear. 689980 applications were made to Land Registry for transfers for value in 2012 each one representing a conveyancing case and work for conveyancers. The top ten Land Registry account […]
Sunday Times warns of slow mortgage processing times
Whilst slow mortgage processing times cause conveyancing chain issues there may be a silver lining for conveyancers. In bad news for conveyancers, yesterday’s Sunday Times highlighted a number of issues in mortgage processing times. According to the Sunday Times article, HSBC has admitted that it is taking an average of 56 days to complete mortgage […]
Remortgaging market still down on last year
Monthly gross remortgage lending has increased 6.2%, meaning it now represents 28% of the market. The latest LMS Remortgage Report shows that remortgaging increased by £168m to £2.9bn in January. Even with the increases, gross remortgage lending is still 26.2% lower than it was at the same time last year, meaning tough times for those […]
The Future of Conveyancing: Say It Ain't So!
Mr Poor and Miss Unfortunate, are looking to buy their dream home in Yate (other towns villages and cities are available) First time buyers, Mr. Poor and Miss Unfortunate had been enticed by the Punter Procurement department of the Inter Galactic Estate Agents.com to provide Conveyancing services on their dream home, from their sister company […]
Should the Law Society set up a Bank?
As yet another Banking crisis appears over the horizon and trust in the sector is damaged once more I ask myself “should the Law Society create a Bank”? What do you think? Of course there are pros and cons and I am sure it is not easy as demonstrated by Dave Fishwick in the Channel […]
Commercial Property Lawyers under Increased Pressure to Avoid Costly Farmland Remediation Issues
Soaring farmland prices heap pressure on lawyers to conduct thorough due-diligence Remediating contaminated land costs 40 times more than its purchase price Part 2A of Environmental Protection Act could leave cost of remediation with new land owners SearchFlow launch comprehensive environmental search for rural land transactions The rising price of farm and agricultural land […]
Borrowers increasing mortgages to support other spending
25% of homeowners who remortgaged in January did so in order to free up capital to pay off other debts, according to research from LMS. They found that 66% of those increasing their mortgage did so by up to £10,000. Homeowners had a variety of reasons for releasing equity, 57% to fund a home improvement, […]
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 […]