Industry backs Call for Kindness
Since launching our Call for Kindness campaign, we’ve seen the sector really getting behind the initiative as we all continue to navigate through the next couple of tricky months. But we must remember we’re all in this together. The fact that the industry has come together demonstrates the need for recognition of our colleagues in […]
SDLT tapering prevents substantial cliff edge
The Chancellor’s Spring Budget last week was probably one of the most anticipated for a long time, as people waited for the news to see not only how the UK would begin it’s economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic, but what stance the Chancellor would take on the property industry and the stamp duty land […]
SLC announces release of its 31st Client Guide
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has for a number of years been compiling a comprehensive library of Client Guides for members to provide their clients covering a wide range of subjects. The Guides, which are kept up to date according to any regulatory or other change include guides on legal matters (such as joint […]
Helping connectivity in the home buying process
“Innovations that really take off are ones that have a low barrier to adoption, that seem logical and straightforward to use.” Dan Salmons, CEO, Coadjute The home buying process can often be seen as a cumbersome one. A process that seemingly hasn’t changed since the dawn of time. Many have tried and failed to revolutionise […]
A better way to avoid the cliff edge?
David Parton, who heads Shoosmiths’ UK residential conveyancing team, which last year dealt with more than 100 property transactions with values exceeding £1 million, comments on the Chancellor’s decision to extend the SDLT holiday in the Budget: “The extension of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday holding the nil rate bank until the end […]
Spotlight: British Conveyancing Award categories
Entries have now opened for the British Conveyancing Awards. With the extension of the ‘early bird’ entry, we wanted to share some of the categories with you. Category spotlight This week we’re spotlighting the following categories: Community Involvement Award This award goes to the firm with an organised approach to corporate social responsibility. The winner […]
Stamp Duty drawbacks: Search Acumen comments on Budget
Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments on the drawbacks of the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, extending the Stamp Duty holiday until June in the Budget: “Today’s stamp duty extension is not just welcome news for thousands of homebuyers-in-waiting. Extending the stamp duty holiday is also a tonic for thousands of conveyancers who have been under […]
Webinar: SDLT insights and key updates with Sean Randall
Sean Randall, Partner at Blick Rothenberg and self-described “stamp duty guru”, will be covering all SDLT Budget announcements, including the SDLT holiday extension, the new 2% SDLT surcharge for non-residents and giving an update on all relevant SDLT case law since September last year. The session will last no more than 40 minutes with an […]
SDLT extension causes mixed reaction
Yesterday, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his budget, in which the cliff-edge of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday has been extended by another three months. This adds further pressure, to an already pressurized system with conveyancers and other stakeholders working tirelessly to ensure Britain keeps moving, with seemingly little regard for people’s mental […]
Property market must move on after stamp duty holiday extension
The Chancellor’s Budget inevitably focused on extending much-needed support in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, as we move through 2021, the Treasury’s focus is likely to turn to closing the spending gap caused by the health crisis. The announcement of a three-month extension to the stamp duty holiday – and a higher tax threshold […]
Government statement clarifies SDLT ‘tapering’
The government has provided clarity on the stamp duty land tax announcements made by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in yesterday’s budget. The official note released by the government reads: “The temporary increase to the nil rate band for Stamp Duty Land Tax, which is the rate before you start paying SDLT on residential property has been […]
Budget 2021: SDLT extension to increase pressure on sector
The coronavirus pandemic has ripped a hole in the UK’s finances, and we all know that steps need to be taken to begin to set the UK on the right path once again, now there is light at the end of the lockdown tunnel. Addressing Parliament, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, focused on the roadmap and the […]
What should conveyancers expect in 2021?
The past 12 months have seen massive changes in ways of working for all of us, not least in the conveyancing market. The Solicitors Regulation Authority chair Anna Bradley, speaking at the SRA compliance conference in November 2020 commented on this: “People think of the legal sector as stuffy and old-fashioned and slow when actually, […]
Conveyancers braced for budget. What to look forward to
It is thought the Chancellor’s Budget today may not shine the light on any changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT), although experts believe any changes will happen in the autumn. It is believed that the changes – when they do come into force – will target buy to let and other additional homes on a […]
Groundsure CEO responds to Budget SDLT announcement
Dan Montagnani, CEO, Groundsure and Mining Searches UK Today the Chancellor announced the 2021 budget, including decisions on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). The 0% rate holiday on properties worth up to £500,000 has been extended until the 30th June – with a tapered return to pre-COVID19 SDLT rates by the 30th September: The nil […]
Conveyancers call for new approach to exiting SDLT holiday
SLC along with other conveyancing bodies advocates moving away from concept of ‘cliff edge’ expiry date The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC), alongside the Bold Legal Group (BLG) and the Conveyancing Association, has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak proposing that a completely different approach is taken to removing the Stamp Duty Land Tax Holiday exemption […]
Landmark Information launches Landmark Planning for enhanced due diligence
Landmark Information – the leading provider of information to the UK property market – has introduced a newly enhanced Landmark Planning report, which uniquely provides boundary data on the majority of the UK’s large planning applications as polygons. Property lawyers and homebuyers benefit from a visually clearer understanding of the extent or potential impact of […]
Judges confirmed for the upcoming British Conveyancing Awards
We are pleased to reveal some of the judging panel for The British Conveyancing Awards 2021. There are some familiar faces on the panel, whose task it is to pick the winners for this year’s celebrations. The judges are: Rob Hailstone is the founder of the Bold Legal Group and was formally a residential conveyancer with […]
Industry Bodies Petition Chancellor over SDLT
Three leading conveyancing membership bodies have written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak imploring the government to consider an “alternative” end to the SDLT holiday. Rob Hailstone, CEO of the Bold Legal Group (BLG), Mike Ockenden, Head of Secretariat at Society of Licensed Conveyancers and Beth Rudolf, Director of Delivery at the Conveyancing Association have responded to […]
Time to get a move on
As I write this we are just a week away from the Budget and, unless we’re all deeply mistaken, an announcement on a potential extension/taper/smoothing of the stamp duty holiday. If the rumour mill is anything to go by, we will get something of what the industry has been asking for – an extension to […]