Take 5 Week in full flow
A campaign urging people to remain vigilant to impersonation fraud has got underway this week. The “Take Five to Stop Fraud” campaign urges people to Stop, Challenge, Protect when asked for their information or money. The campaign comes as new figures from UK finance show the number of impersonation scam cases more than doubled in the first […]
Why it’s time for lawyers to part with paper
Lawyers do not become legal practitioners to do paperwork, but when managing heavy workloads, it can sometimes be hard to think about innovation and adopting new processes. This can lead to frustrations as a result of inefficient practices that impact service delivery and slow down transaction times. Covid-19 has only served to aggravate the pitfalls […]
New Build Property and Environmental Compliance Risks
With modern construction practices and stringent planning processes in the UK, it is a common assumption that new or recent housing developments will have been constructed to an appropriate standard, with the correct measures in place to ensure that homes are free of future contaminated land liability. But, is this a safe assumption to make? […]
Law firms outperform pandemic expectations
Most law firms made it through the pandemic unscathed. Around three quarters of responding firms said their revenues and profits were level with or higher than their projections for 2020-21. Despite national restrictions and market uncertainty, 31% of firms were able to outperform their revenue expectations. And while firms are bullish about the future with […]
First Homes scheme arrives in the North-East
A third First Homes development site has been unveiled in Newton Aycliffe in the North of England. The announcement follows that of two First Homes sites in Bolsover, Derbyshire and Cannock, Staffordshire, where work began earlier this year. The new flagship government housing scheme announced its third development in Newton Aycliffe, Durham, which aims to […]
CLC proposes to re-charge LeO costs based on performance
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is planning to start recharging the cost of the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) based on how many complaints each law firm generates, rather than spread the cost across the profession. The cost of LeO (£14.5m this year) is recovered from all of the legal regulators in proportion to the number […]
SDLT – Too Hot To Handle?
This is the first a series of articles intended to highlight some of the SDLT issues facing practitioners involved in property transactions. The series aims to enable practitioners to understand where apparently innocent transactions are more complicated than initially presented by clients so that they know what additional information they need to ask clients and […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer; 13th September 2021
So what are my pet peeves at the moment? What would I like in my wish list for things that other solicitors/estate agents should stop doing to make the process better in what is a very difficult time Unnecessary enquiries please do not ask me if I have verified my client’s identity – if I […]
How to create more time for your conveyancers through digital transformation
Numerous conveyancing companies are still reluctant to embrace AI and automation, despite the huge benefits digital transformation can unlock. Process and workflow automation increases efficiency, reduces cost, minimises error and improves the experience for customers and employees. All of this inevitably leads to increased revenue and profit. In this blog, we’re looking at some of […]
Mortgage market showing signs of greater stability
The mortgage market shows signs of stability as the property market heads towards the end of the stamp duty holiday on 30th September. From 1st October, the nil rate band will revert to the standard amount of £125,000. Data released by mortgage technology provider Twenty7tec, shows that the mortgage market remain strong following the end […]
RICS Chair Departure Imminent
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ Chair Sean Tomkins is reported to be resigning from the role amid the release of Alison Levitt QC’s independent review into the organisation’s conduct and internal accountancy issues. In an interview in Property Week it has been revealed that discussions are ongoing as Tomkins prepares to resign at the […]
Ordnance Survey confirmed as Industry Partner of Conveyancing Information Executive
The Conveyancing Information Executive (CIE) has today announced that Ordnance Survey (OS) has become an Industry Partner of the trade body organisation. Ordnance Survey is Great Britain’s leading mapping and location data business, with unique experience being built up since 1791. Their geospatial databases are widely used to underpin risk assessments that are critical in […]
How is your firm planning to mark the end of Stamp Duty Holiday?
The last eighteen months have been a particularly busy time for conveyancers, with some of us only just coming up for air as the Stamp Duty holiday deadline looms in the next few weeks. On one hand, our industry has been incredibly fortunate during this pandemic to be maintaining and in some cases, growing businesses. […]
Upto 400,00 transactions affected by lender down valuations
The impact of rising house prices has seen nearly 400,000 transactions down valued in the lat year by surveyors working on behalf of mortgage lenders, who believe the price agreed by both buyer and seller was too high. The latest analysis by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has identified that across the […]
SearchFlow launches ESG Due Diligence reporting service for Lawyers
SearchFlow, one of the UK’s largest providers of legal due diligence data for residential and commercial property transactions, has today announced the launch of a new Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) due diligence report service to support real estate lawyers in accurately assessing ESG risk during M&A and investment deals. As an extension of its […]
Planning Inspectorate Wales will transfer to Welsh Government
The staff and functions of Planning Inspectorate Wales are set to transfer from English to Welsh Government from 1 October. The new division will be called Planning and Environment Decisions Wales – Penderfyniadau Cynllunio ac Amgylchedd Cymru. Existing planning appeals and casework currently handled by Planning Inspectorate Wales will transfer to the new service from […]
Blockchain making progress in agency market
Blockchain technology provider Coadjute has announced further progress with estate agency software vendors as it ramps up its efforts to connect the disparate parts of the home-moving process. Claiming to halve the time it takes to move home, it has announced Agent Hub, Power Bespoke, Rex and Veco by Eurolink will all join existing providers, […]
Updated CON29DW launched
DWSN and the Law Society launch an updated CON29DW Commercial as part of changes to drainage and water searches for residential and commercial properties. DWSN and the Law Society are committed to regular updates for both the CON29DW and CommercialDW searches to reflect legislative and industry changes. As part of that commitment, DWSN and The […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer; 6th September 2021
So the start of September… and it is all so reminiscent of the start of June. Suddenly, there is an air of panic, will people be able to move before the end of September in order to save stamp duty, even though it is not as much as they would have saved in June? To […]
How can conveyancers build resilience and avoid burn-out?
Although it seems that the level of transactions has calmed down somewhat post June 30 and the end of the first stamp duty holiday, it has not perhaps been the “cliff-edge” that some predicted. As we work towards the next of the SDLT deadlines at the end of September, house prices have only dipped very […]