The Diary of a High Street Conveyancer: July 5th 2024
I love the Olympics. I went to the Olympics in London in 2012 and was fortunate enough to be in the stadium when Mo Farah won his second gold medal and the Jamaican relay team broke the world record in the four by one hundred metre relay – that meant that I was lucky enough […]
An Accounting Error? Stamp Duty and blurring the boundaries
Law firms and mortgage advisers are increasingly referring clients to ‘specialist advisers’ for advice on their Stamp Duty, but this isn’t without its own problems… “…solicitors deal with SDLT day in, day out, so they should mug up on the subject and deal with it themselves, not abdicate their responsibilities to their client by fobbing […]
Base rate cut ‘signals confidence in a continued low inflationary environment’
The industry has come forward to comment on the Bank of England’s base rate cut, saying it signifies a ‘growing confidence’ in a low inflation environment after Labour started to head the UK government. The Bank of England has reduced interest rates from 5.25% to 5%, marking the first decrease since the start of the […]
Peddling to Perugia for mental health
In an effort to raise awareness and funds for mental health research, James Smith, as an Ambassador for the Mindstep Foundation, is cycling over 2,300 Kilometres from his home in London to Perugia, Italy. James is the son in law of Conveyancing Foundation Chairman, Lloyd Davies, and husband of Georgia Davies. The journey, which began […]
From Labour’s perspective- there are no sacred cows
Few can be in any doubt that Labour is keen for 1.5 million homes to be built over the next five years. From Labour’s perspective there are no sacred cows, greenbelt will be built on if housing need requires it, and golden rules will drive the provision of social housing. This is good news for […]
No wonder lawyers don’t rush to embrace technology
As a law firm owner with an unshakeable belief that technology is the only way to support and protect the practice of conveyancing safely and effectively, I find the drip-drip of negativity on social media against this approach rather wearing. That said, I am with Evelyn Hall when she quoted Voltaire as roughly saying “I […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer: 29nd July 2024
I, along with all of you, hate it when I get pages and pages of enquiries , many of which are not property specific, many of which are not relevant and the majority of which just waste my time. In the past, I have received those enquiries where you look at the computer screen and […]
CA announces September webinar on Client and Matter Risk Assessments
The Conveyancing Association (CA) has announced an upcoming webinar for member firms focused on client and matter risk assessments, scheduled for September. The session will take place on the 11th September at 10am and is entitled, ‘Client and Matter Risk Assessments: What You Need to Do to Ensure Compliance,’ hosted by industry expert, Norman Denton, Senior […]
Navigating the King’s Speech – A Cautionary Tale for NIMBYs
In the hallowed halls of Parliament, the King’s Speech reverberates – ‘My Ministers will get Britain building, including through Planning Reform as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing’. At last, a clarion call to build more homes and infrastructure to strengthen economic growth. Our new Government has made clear its […]
Koodoo and Smoove Partner
Koodoo, mortgage technology provider, has announced a new partnership with Smoove, utilising its eConveyancer platform. This collaboration aims to enhance the homebuying process by integrating Smoove’s network of local solicitors and advanced digital platform into Koodoo’s services. This partnership underscores Koodoo’s dedication to leveraging advanced technology to enhance internal efficiency and provide consumers with a […]
‘Pivotal planning shift to pro-development stance’ comes with warning
Property professionals have commended the government’s commitment to planning reform outlined in the King’s Speech and urged it to ensure that the next steps were taken carefully to avoid ‘industry confusion’ and a surge in planning challenges. Kathryn Jump, partner and living sector co-head at Shoosmiths welcomed planning reform but warned that without a proper […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer: 22nd July 2024
Linkedin has been flooded with talk about the Law Society SGM. But one thing has struck me – it can be summed up by the following quote from Robert Frost: “Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep […]
Special Edition: Property Trends Q2 2024
A general election, interest rates, mortgage rates and the European Championships… a perfect storm of economic, political and social issues have come together to continue to strangle the property market according to the latest Landmark Property Trends Report for the second quarter of 2024. The report tracks property listing volumes, Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC) […]
NLC say they are ‘delighted to see a real commitment from this government to prioritise Leasehold Reform’
The The National Leasehold Campaign say they are ‘delighted to see a real commitment from this government to prioritise Leasehold Reform’ in today’s King’s Speech. The organisation say their commitment to “Act quickly” to implement the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will be a relief for many leaseholders who currently remain […]
The King’s Speech promises legislation that will protect renters and leasehold reform
At the state opening of parliament, the King announced in his speech that renters will have ‘greater rights’ and draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reforms. MPs made their way to the House of Peers from the commons today to attend King Charles and Queen Camilla for the King’s second speech since being crowned monarch. […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer: 17th June 2024
The thing about social media is that it can become quite negative. I always worry about posting anything because comments can often get out of hand. A frustrated driver posts about how he was overtaken on a country lane and there are comments about the poster’s bad driving or insinuations that he was too slow […]
Can upfront information be TMI?
For those wondering from the title whether they have a new conveyancing abbreviation to remember, TMI is a fairly recent one I’ve discovered from the youngsters: ‘Too Much Information’! Admittedly it’s a bit punchier than NTSELAT which many of you will have come across recently, being the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team. […]
‘Re-branding of green belt to grey belt will be contentious’ says law partner ahead of The King’s Speech
The King’s speech this Wednesday will include the housing bill. Building more houses will be at the heart of the new government’s agenda and the housing bill will set out how this will be achieved. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced plans to overhaul the planning system and reintroduce mandatory housing targets. In response, Fergus Charlton, […]
Promises to ease ‘friction’ of homebuying with product that can ‘reduce property sales by 26 days’
A British residential property software company has launched a national home transaction infrastructure brand with the aim of giving industry professionals immediate access to digital services in a bid to ease the ‘friction’ of homebuying. Houseful, a London company which is owned by Silver Lake Partners and has property website Zoopla under it’s umbrella has […]
PEXA opens up doors to integration
Digital property exchange platform PEXA has said it has opened up its doors to industry integration with the launch of a new ‘API Hub’ which provides access to all their available APIs, speeding up and easing customer integrations. Describing the development as ‘significant,’ PEXA UK say the APIs are ‘key to powering the delivery of […]