Digitisation firmly on the agenda for government and lenders
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers came together at their first in person conference in 2 years. With a packed schedule, the event brought over 200 conveyancers together at The Riverside Centre in Derby. The day focused on addressing some of the practical challenges facing conveyancers, as well as providing an update on the work being […]
Average UK house price could reach £370,000 in next five years says Savills
Property group Savills predicts that average house prices across Britain are set to exceed £370,000, with some properties rising by more than £40,000, in the next five years. In addition to sharp increases, research suggests that the north-south divide in property prices will also shrink over the next five years, with high prices in the […]
Equity in UK homes reaches all-time high
Research and analysis conducted by Canada Life, the assurance and financial services organisation, shows that UK homeowners now have over £740 billion of available equity release. Canada Life’s analysis of figures for Q3 2021, taken from the Halifax price index, show that this is the first time that available equity release has reached such a […]
Multiple Dwellings Relief (MRD) – Part 1, the basics
One of the hot topics around SDLT these days is MDR which I intend to deal with in 3 articles. This week Part 1 outlines the main issues. Next week Part 2 covers what is a dwelling for MDR and how it applies to annexes. Part 3 covers MDR and building projects and also the […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer; 15th November 2021
I was all set to write about additional enquiries but for the second week running, I have been diverted by other news in the conveyancing world. But all conveyancers know that this sums up what our daily lives are like – we go into the office thinking that we will do A, B and C, […]
Society of Licensed Conveyancers come together for annual conference
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has advised that there are still places available for this year’s annual conference, which will go ahead as a physical event at the Riverside Centre in Derby on Wednesday 17th November. The conference is hosted by property expert Kate Faulkner with speakers from the newly-renamed Department for Levelling Up, […]
Commonhold: public sceptical reform will ever happen
Fewer than one in ten leasehold practitioners have seen an increase in enquiries about commonhold since the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced their intention to establish a Commonhold Council in January. The previous Secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, outlined proposed leasehold reforms on 7 January 2021, including the […]
Simplify Outage: Update 10th November
The CLC have this morning commented on the outage that has affected the Simplify group of companies, including Premier Property Lawyers. A message on the CLC website says: We are advised by the Simplify Group that following preliminary investigation of systems outages, it is now aware that certain parts of its business (including Premier Property […]
Law Firm Goes Green and Helps Clients put down Future Roots
An Oldham Law firm is looking to make a huge environmental impact, as well as provide clients with a nice moving in gift at the same time. Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers this week launch their ‘Planting Roots for the Future Campaign’. As part of the scheme, on completion of every house purchase the North […]
Thames Water Property Searches are here to help you through a busy autumn.
As we head into the last quarter of the year – traditionally a busy period for conveyancing with buyers and sellers keen to move before Christmas – it’s important to prioritise research into any potential issues affecting a property’s true market value. A plethora of factors has led to an increasingly fast-moving housing market as […]
Should conveyancers auto enrol clients onto the Land Registry Property Alert service?
A recent case in which a homeowner had their property “stolen” by a fraudster has placed property fraud at the top of the agenda again for conveyancing firms. The fraud, which was reported on the BBC’s “You and Yours” programme, pocketed the fraudster £131,000 after a fraudster impersonated the legal owner of a property and […]
HMLR announce price increase from Feb 2022
HMLR have announced that their fees are to rise from 31st January 2022 for the first time since 2009. The increases have been levied against applications for first registration and for the registration of transfers, leases and mortgages of property (scales 1 and 2). In an effort to continue to move the industry toward greater […]
Squid Game, ‘green light, red light’ – The journey to regulation!
After 9 months we are finally approved and regulated by The Council of Licensed Conveyancers. It hasn’t been easy, on occasion it felt we were participating in a new level of Squid Game, ‘green light, red light’ I hear you shout. After the ‘tug of war’ through PII renewal we ended up with two quotes […]
Why checking photo ID is crucial
It is not the first time that someone’s house has been sold from underneath them by property fraudsters but nevertheless the tale of Reverend Mike Hall’s house being sold while he was working away is shocking. Reverend Hall was astonished to find the locks changed and a stranger happily carrying out renovation work when he […]
Recent case highlights importance of source of wealth investigation
Last week the NCA published news of a mother and her two UK-based sons agreeing to hand over their London properties worth more than £1.6 million, in response to a NCA civil recovery claim that linked their purchases with suspected money laundering. Within the details of the case are some key reminders of the type […]
Interest rate rise delayed
Borrowers have sought to take advantage of low interest rates as the Bank of England held interest rates at 0.1% at lunchtime. A rate rise has been anticipated and The Bank of England has not ruled on out before the end of the year as inflation is expected to rise to just under 4% in […]
“Sheer frustration” sees panel manager launch conveyancing service
A panel management provider has launched it’s own conveyancing arm in response to what it describes as a “worrying shortage of firms willing to commit to delivering a market-leading service.” Elite Conveyancing started life as a conveyancing panel manager which introduced strict protocols designed to encourage firms to work more closely, thereby reducing timescales and […]
A guide to understanding Contaminated Land Legal Indemnity Insurance
Many purchasers only have to hear the words ‘contaminated land’ and they are wary of proceeding with their planned purchase. Conveyancing solicitors report that in these increasingly environmentally aware times, with the importance to home buyers of gardens where they have the ability to grow their own produce, contaminated land is a big concern for […]
Quicker conveyancing fuels record transaction volumes
Smaller sales pipelines have sped up home moves by as much as a month according to property portal Rightmove. With the conveyancing “log-jam” starting to ease, the average time from a sale being agreed until a purchase completes has dropped from an average of 154 days in July to 127 days in October. The average […]
Changes to the Commercial Drainage and Water Enquiry
Whatever your commercial property transaction may be, don’t sign on the dotted line without carrying out an official Commercial Drainage and Water Enquiry first (rebranded as the CON29DW Commercial). One of the many searches carried out by Thames Water Property Searches, they are an essential component of the conveyancing process whether you’re purchasing a shop […]