Second reading of Leasehold and Freehold Bill
The second reading of the much heralded Leasehold and Freehold Bill is to have its second reading in Parliament today (11th December). The bill was released just weeks after the King’s Speech and was lauded by pressure groups as “momentous,” however it an embarrassing omission from the government, it acknowledged that a key element of […]
Building Safety Act – Clarity on Lease Extensions?
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has released an update to its guidance on the current confusion around the implementation of the Building Safety Act (BSA) and the extent to which the leaseholder protections apply in cases there is a lease extension. The “Qualifying date, qualifying lease and extent,” first published in July 2022 […]
HBSG has taken industry as far as it can without government intervention
The government needs to step in to mandate reforms that promise to revolutionise the home buying and selling process, a roundtable organised by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has heard. Speakers at the annual stakeholder event also highlighted recruitment issues in the conveyancing market, after the huge surge of work during the post-lockdown stamp […]
Building Safety Act: 10 years’ imprisonment for exploitation of leaseholders
Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published a letter to building owners and managing agents setting out their responsibilities under the Building Safety Act. Leaseholder protections under the Act came into force yesterday on 28 June 2022, at which point it became an offence to pass on costs […]
Industry reacts to arrival of Ground Rent Act
Following the arrival of the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act which came into force last week, Today’s Conveyancer has rounded-up the reactions of professionals across the industry. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act came into force last week (30 June) and is set to restrict ground rents on most new long residential leases in England […]
Competitions watchdog investigate Dye & Durham again
The Australian competitions watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have launched an investigation in to Dye & Durham’s acquisition of Link Administration Holdings, a 43% owner of e-conveyancing platform PEXA. In January 2022, Dye & Durham announced it had agreed to acquire Link for an estimated c$3.2bn. In a statement released on the […]
Queen’s speech: planning reforms to be tackled via Levelling up Bill
This year’s Queen’s Speech has today outlined several legislative changes and the overhauling of laws around levelling up, planning and economic crime that could affect conveyancers. At the state opening of Parliament this morning, Prince Charles delivered the Queen’s speech as the monarch missed the opening for the first time in almost 60 years as […]
Building Safety Bill receives royal assent
The Building Safety Bill which started its passage through parliament last July received royal assent on Friday. Among the changes, which are now law, is the creation of a new building safety regulator for buildings higher than 18 metres as well as “waterfall” protections introduced to ensure leaseholders avoid footing the bill for remediation costs. […]
National Leasehold Campaign welcomes CMA success on onerous ground rents
The National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) welcomes the announcement from the CMA detailing that, as part of their ongoing work into leasehold mis-selling, they have reached agreement with 15 freeholders that bought leases with onerous ground rent terms from Countryside. NLC founder and spokeswoman Katie Kendrick, a children’s nurse from Ellesmere Port said: “Today’s announcement demonstrates […]
Gove issues response to industry proposal on building safety
Michael Gove has issued a response letter to the Home Builders Federation on proposals to pay for building safety. In the letter to the Home Builders Federation on their proposals to pay for building safety, dated 7th March, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, stated that while the commitment that […]
New forms to drive better up front information
Conveyancing trade and industry bodies The Conveyancing Association, The Law Society, CILEX, and the Society of Licenced Conveyancers have thrown their weight behind new versions of LPE1, LPE2 and FME1 forms which are to be launched from 11th January 2022 14 trade and representative bodies, from across the legal, surveying, estate agency and property management […]
SRA consults on changes to fining powers
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a consultation on its approach to financial penalties for law firms and solicitors with the aim of resolving cases more quickly and reducing the need to refer to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) The consultation will review how the SRA can create more consistency across its regulated entities […]
New EPC Regulations expected in 2025
Further changes to minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) for commercial properties are expected across the UK. Changes to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings are the first in a number of new initiatives by the Government to improve energy efficiency across commercial lettings. Since 2018 a minimum EPC rating of E has been in place for […]
Gove pauses Leaseholder Cladding Loans Scheme
Leaseholders of flats below 18m who do not fall under the current government support schemes have been given a boost by Housing Secretary Michael Gove. Mr Gove appeared before the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee to answer questions on the government’s response to the tens of thousands of pounds leaseholders are having to pay for […]
5 providers sign up to “ID Trust Scheme” pilot
Five identity service providers have committed to the new MyIdentity trust scheme to make home buying and selling in the UK a safe digital process. The five identity service providers are: Digidentity, Nuggets, OBiD, Thirdfort, and Yoti. Their involvement assures consumers will have fully inclusive choices to prove their identity. The hub service provider is […]
AML update – the focus on AML is going nowhere anytime soon!
Our latest quarterly update webinar started with a view of the current anti-money laundering landscape including: The release of the Pandora papers, which have shown even more the extent to which the mega-rich employ different ways in which to hide their money and avoid paying tax on it; of particular concern to authorities is the […]
Financial Conduct Authority issues warning over remote working
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued new guidance to companies operating a remote or hybrid working model asking them to provide evidence that any lack of centralised location or remote working does not or is unlikely to affect the company’s ability to meet the threshold for the regulated activities it undertakes. The guidance states […]
£58m to put “beautiful homes on brownfield sites” and regenerate local areas
Following the Prime Minster’s conference pledge to put “beautiful homes on brownfield sites in places where homes make sense” the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) have announced that thousands of new homes will be built on underused and derelict land. 53 councils across England and Wales have been allocated £58 million from […]
SLC urges Government to act on cladding
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers has urged the government to take urgent action to protect all those affected by the cladding scandal in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. Board Member and former Chairman John Clay has written an open letter to the Secretary of State Michael Gove urging immediate action to support all […]
Failure to introduce “proper risk assessments” number one AML failure
A review completed by the Solicitors Regulations Authority into law firm anti-money laundering failures has identified a 40% increase in the number of potential AML breaches reported to the SRA, with the number one area of non-compliance is not having a proper risk assessment in place for AML matters. The SRA has published its first […]
