Why extending the stamp duty holiday may not be the best idea

“The stamp duty holiday has provided a fantastic boost to the housing market by driving demand for properties after the first national lockdown”, Simon Nosworthy from Osbornes Law says. “With that in mind it would make total sense for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to give in to the clamour and extend the scheme which has seen […]
Consultancy Programme paves way for progressive working during the pandemic

Traditional Law For centuries, the legal career path has heavily focused around working and meeting clients within the office. As much as we as Solicitors enjoy this client and colleague interaction, this often structured and formal approach within Law firms, as well as the well-known long hours, has often created a challenge in maintaining a […]
Chancellor must avoid using property market to fund coronavirus costs

The Chancellor must avoid using the property market to fund coronavirus costs according to a leading property management firm. Apropos, a UK-wide letting firm, believes that the Chancellor is about to implement widely trailed increases to capital gains tax (CGT) which will have an unprecedented negative impact upon the private rented sector (PRS) and the […]
Is the property market in an extended lockdown too?

In 2020, life as we knew it was turned upside down as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world. There were major changes in every aspect of daily life including work patterns, shopping habits, schooling, socialising and travel. The property market was also hit as the first lockdown meant that no house viewings or surveys could […]
Outsourcing – The Underestimated Business Model in Conveyancing

Outsourcing is a business model that has shown its worth especially during the coronavirus pandemic, especially in conveyancing firms/departments where good quality work has been delivered by outsourced companies. This article aims to dispel some of the myths surrounding outsourcing and why in today’s climate, where conveyancing is such an aggressive market to profit from, […]
Founder of The Bold Legal Group takes a light hearted look at lockdown

I live in Torquay and am lucky enough to live very close to the sea, the town centre and the railway station. Until the first lockdown I was happy working from home and sharing an office with my wife. She wasn’t quite so happy with that arrangement; I have no idea why. When lockdown arrived, […]
Should law firms rethink their agile working strategy?

2021 dawned with positive news for a change. With vaccination programs up and running in many parts of the country, there is a sense of optimism in the air, even as we continue to endure this latest lockdown. Most of us have gotten used to working from home by now – the ‘office at home’ […]
Recruiting during a pandemic

2020 was looking to be an interesting year for the housing market in the UK until the global pandemic hit and everything changed. The housing market was basically frozen in time before starting again in earnest in May, swiftly followed by the announcement by the chancellor of a nine-month stamp duty holiday until the end […]
AML Risks – why did I agree to be the MLRO?!

This is a question I ask myself many times each day since being appointed the MLRO for Weightmans in May 2020! Faced with the current economic uncertainties caused by the pandemic, Brexit, new AML risks identified by the SRA in its Risk Outlook 2020/2021 including the shift from face to face to on-line identification/verification procedures, […]
The SDLT ‘Cliff Edge’ is just one of thousands, isn’t it?

It is amazing to see so much chatter and debate about the SDLT deadline and how everyone is going to make it; whether it should be extended or feathered out or remain a ‘cliff edge’. But everyone appears to have forgotten that every single transaction has a ‘cliff edge’ irrespective of SDLT, that is invariably […]
HMRC & ASA Crackdown – Don’t throw out the Baby with the Bathwater!

In late December, it was announced that HMRC and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) had joined forces to clamp down on misleading marketing as part of stamp duty land tax avoidance schemes. The collaboration has set out the requirements, detailing that promoters must be clear about the potential consequences of stamp duty and other tax […]
The cladding issue must be addressed immediately

The Grenfell Tower tragedy horrified Britain. Subsequent enquiries have highlighted issues with materials used, construction standards and supervisory roles, to name but a few, and enquiries are on-going. In the meantime, people are living in multi-story buildings with no clear resolution to the issue of cladding on buildings. Future plans are on hold for some […]
Avoid Completion Chaos

‘We all know that midday on a Friday is not the right time to start transferring funds where there is a chain involved.’ Aconveyancing’s founder and director, Natalie Moore, talks through the challenges she has witnessed with firms taking on too much work, leading to broken chains and how she prepares her team for busy […]
Cladding disgrace must be resolved as insurance premiums soar

Homeowners must be helped out of the cladding crisis according to a leading property firm. Apropos, a UK-wide letting firm, believes that the continuing slow response from government to the plight of hundreds of thousands of homeowners unwittingly trapped in their homes with dangerous cladding must be resolved this year. Individuals trapped by potential cladding […]
With HM Land Registry’s Safe Harbour Standard, conveyancing will lead the way in digital ID

Digital identity checks have been a key focus for the UK Government over the past year, with various initiatives having been announced throughout 2020, and with HM Land Registry’s recently unveiled ‘Safe Harbour Standard’ the conveyancing industry will be leading the way in terms of best practice. HM Land Registry launched a draft set of […]
CMA review of legal services

Last month I highlighted how increased transparency is at the heart of most of the work currently being done to try and improve the landscape for consumers, and a report by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) shortly afterwards has driven this home. The CMA first looked at competition in the legal market in 2016, […]
Let’s see detail on leasehold reform

Plans unveiled to reform the leasehold housing system affecting thousands of homeowners have received a cautious welcome by legal expert Adkirk Law. Costs of extending residential property leases or purchasing the freehold of their property – to be brought before Parliament this year – could save some homeowners up to £9,000 The move comes following Adkirk […]
2021 – Time for property professionals to stretch their mind?

Business always favours the customer’s needs eventually. In 1973, a high street bank survey discovered that the public wanted longer opening hours and shorter queues. In response, most of the banks opened an hour longer and put more cashiers on duty. Barclays however delivered the first ATM and blew the customers’ expectations out of the […]
Moving Towards A 21st Century Conveyancing Process

In all likelihood the words, ‘COVID-19 has been a game-changer’, will figure a lot in both the here and now, and in the future. That will certainly be the case for the conveyancing sector, where we were seeing a fairly progressive approach being taken to the changes required prior to lockdown, but where now the […]
Nudge Theory Is Now More Prevalent

For those of us from a certain generation the words ‘Nudge, nudge…’ will undoubtedly be followed by ‘…wink, wink, say no more…’ as we conjure up images of Eric Idle and a bemused Terry Jones in their famous Monty Python sketch. However, from a psychology point of view ‘nudge’ means something rather different and, in […]