Familiar failings as Barclays outage delays transactions
Conveyancers were left in limbo again on Friday as an outage at Barclays bank left many firms and individuals unable process payments and complete transactions. On Sunday the bank confirmed services were up and running and it was ‘bringing balances up to date for some of our customers and addressing any outstanding issues.’ The outage […]
Busiest start for three years say Zoopla
Further evidence of a positive start to the property market in 2025 is revealed in the latest House Price Index from Zoopla who say the first four weeks of January have been the busiest for three years with buyer demand up 13% and 10% more homes for sale. The property portal says it has seen […]
Urgency to beat SDLT deadline could see “market correction” in months after
Sentiment amongst estate agents suggests many are concerned a ‘market correction’ in the form of a slow down in transactions and house prices could happen following the end of stamp duty first time buyer exemptions in March 2025. A survey commissioned by GetAgent.co.uk found since the Autumn budget, during which it was confirmed the current […]
FoI request identifies shortage of planning officers hampering development plans
Plans to build 1.5m homes in the course of this Parliament could be impacted by a shortage of planning officers, with some council vacancy levels at almost 50% according to a recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request. The report, published in The Times, is drawn from a FoI request looking at 134 councils and suggests […]
Property portal introduces AI-powered feature search function
A new property listing portal has introduced a new way to search for their dream home, enabling home movers to enter descriptive words into the search bar to identify property features they are looking for. Billed as “home-inspiration playground” search terms including ‘freestanding baths,’ ‘exposed brickwork’ and ‘large gardens’ are promoted on the front page […]
Planning and Infrastructure Bill due in Spring to ‘turn the page on the past’
The Labour government have confirmed its Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which contains much of the primary legislation required to enact their plans to build 1.5 million homes in this parliamentary term, will be introduced into Parliament in the Spring, describing the reforms as ‘turning the page on the decline and delay of the past’ Over […]
Nationwide warn affordability pressures remain ‘stretched’ but mortgage approvals up
Nationwide Building Society says mortgage affordability remains ‘stretched’ by historic standards with London and the South East the most affected areas of the country. The North of England and Scotland are the least affected areas according to a recently published report. Despite what Nationwide’s Senior Economist Andrew Harvey describes as a ‘modest improvement in UK […]
Planning changes to reduce legal challenges from 3 to 1
Changes to planning rules outlined in the Labour Government’s Plan for Change will reduce the number of times major infrastructure projects can challenged in court tackling the culture of NIMBY-ism says Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer. The government have revealed 58% of all decisions on major infrastructure, like nuclear plants, trainlines and windfarms, are subject […]
Mark Evans announced as first keynote for Bold Legal Conference 2025
Mark Evans, Vice President of the Law Society of England & Wales, has been announced as a keynote speaker at the Bold Legal Group Conveyancing Conference hosted in London on 11th June 2025 Mark Evans, admitted as a solicitor in 1995, brings over 28 years of experience in high street practice, specialising in property and […]
PEXA hits £100m remortgage transactions
PEXA has surpassed £100m in remortgage transactions, a ‘significant milestone’ say the property settlement platform demonstrating ‘the increasing appetite among stakeholders to overhaul the technology and back-end infrastructure that supports the sector.’ PEXA say it follows a year of growth for the Australian business which launched its remortgage service in 2022 and can now deliver […]
Strong start but bigger picture ‘uncertain’ – Rightmove
Record numbers of homes listed and buyer registrations point to a positive start to 2025 according to Rightmove; but, the portal warns, the speed at which the Bank of England reduces interest rates, the impact of the end of stamp duty incentives from April 2025 onwards, and unexpectedly high’ mortgage rates all point to bigger […]
Join in National Conveyancing Week 2025
National Conveyancing Week 2025 (NCW) will be hosted from Monday 17th March 2025 with firms invited to engage with the activities of the week and play their part in raising the profile of conveyancing and the role of conveyancers in the property transaction. Alongside a host of supporters for this year’s event NCW 2025 is […]
Latest Property Trends Report underlines new normal in 2025
The latest Property Trends Report from environmental and data business Landmark suggests the property market has settled into a “new normal” around one third below volumes seen in 2019; the benchmark for the report and the last time the property market is considered to have been “normal” before impact of COVID-19 and the turbulence since. […]
Property market off to a flying start – Zoopla
Property portal Zoopla says its performance since Christmas suggests buyer demand is tracking 14% ahead of January 2024 and the number of new sales agreed is up 2015 on the same time last year. As reported extensively on Today’s Conveyancer since the turn of the year, Zoopla adds its weight to positive market sentiment; adding […]
Property market swings from sellers to buyers market
The property market appears to be swinging away from being a seller’s market toward being a buyer’s market, buoyed by rising stock levels and greater choice for home movers; a trend reflected in the latest UK house Price Index for November 2024. Growth in the number of properties for sale has begun to drive average […]
Home movers say they want more proactivity – Survey
Solicitors and estate agents are in the firing line from consumers as research reveals a lack of proactivity on the part of professionals is causing half of home movers delays in their transaction. A survey conducted amongst 1000 home movers who have had an offer accepted on a home within the last three months and […]
LMS Monthly Remortgage Snapshot – December Report
The latest LMS remortgage snapshot for December 2024 has been released providing insight into the current condition of the remortgage market. “All signs have been positive through the back end of 2024; the home-mover market has been buoyant, and remortgages bounced back towards the end of the year. However, has the new government stifled this […]
Foreign home-ownership up 2.6% year on year
Research has suggested foreign ownership of home in England and Wales is up 2.6% year on year, with Hong Kong, Singapore, United States, UAE and China making up the top five countries foreign owners reside. A freedom of information request to HM Land Registry by lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves has revealed 189,793 […]
Strong finish to 2024 with transactions up 13% year on year
November housing transactions demonstrated an element of seasonality with a strong end to 2024 on the cards. Despite a slow start to the year, the non-seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in November 2024 is 104,440, 19% higher than November 2023 and 6% lower than October 2024. “With more competitive interest […]
Portals and agents ‘failing consumers’ with lack of property information
Estate agents and property portals are failing to highlight issues to home movers which could have an impact on their decision to withdraw from a property purchase. Against a backdrop of fall through rates around one in three properties, property advice website HomeOwners Alliance reviewed 150 leasehold property listings on Rightmove, Zoopla, and OnTheMarket in […]