‘Conveyancers are at the heart of home buying and selling’ says incoming Law Society president Mark Evans
Next month I will be extremely proud to become the president of the Law Society of England and Wales. Holding this position of responsibility means I can help the profession that has given me so much. It is something that I will never take for granted. The Law Society is privileged to be able to […]
Remortgaging slows in August
The latest remortgage figures from conveyancing service provider LMS show negative trends in all key performance metrics. However, CEO Nick Chadbourne (pictured) said the dip is to be expected and activity should build over the coming months. Despite a rise in completions in July and an expectation that activity would remain steady over the summer, […]
Government says it is increasing housing supply as record number of infrastructure projects are signed off
The government says it is increasing the supply of homes in England as it seeks to deliver on its promise of building 1.5m homes over the course of this Parliament. In figures published this week the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government estimate over the last 12 months, 231,399 new homes have been delivered. […]
Stress and a lack of suitable property putting off older home movers
The stress of moving and lack of suitable housing is putting older homeowners off moving home, potentially blocking second stepper homes for families looking to move up the property ladder. 1.2 million UK homeowners aged 55 and over have put plans to move on hold in the past two years, despite initially considering a move […]
Over-pricing ‘should worry industry’ as 62% of homes marked down
Over-pricing by estate agents is undermining public trust in the housing market and should worry the property industry, according to the co-founder of agent brokerage Avocado Property Partner Agents. With TwentyEA data revealing more than six in 10 homes were marked down during July and August, Ian Macbeth said the findings should act as a […]
Southern buyers benefit most from current housing market, says Rightmove
Analysis from Rightmove suggests static house prices and lower mortgage rates are benefitting south of England buyers more than those elsewhere in the UK, with London buyers potentially saving £181 a month on mortgage payments. Buyers in the South East could save £120 a month on an averagely priced home in the region,with South West […]
A third of first-time buyers don’t intend to move again, Barclays research finds
A third of first-time buyers are purchasing semi-detached properties with the intention of staying put in ‘forever homes’, according to research from Barclays. Mortgage data from the high street lender reveals semi-detached properties account for 33.5% of first-time buyer purchases, with 33% of buyers aged between 18 and 27 saying they bought a ‘forever home’ […]
Pressure group launches stinging criticism of Law Society and urges attendance at AGM
The Law Society has ‘lost its way’ and is caught between its former position as a regulator and its current position as a membership body said the chair of pressure group the Property Lawyers Alliance (PLA) in stinging criticism of proposals to increase the number of votes required to hold the body to account at […]
“Interoperable, digital ecosystem” welcomes 42 new organisations to its transaction network
Forty-two organisations have committed their support to the National Property Transaction Network (NPTN), described as an ‘interoperable, digital ecosystem’ by its creators, following a successful pilot in late 2024. The NPTN has been created by LMS and uses the a framework of secure, reusable data to share information through the course of the transaction, built […]
A hard conveyancing process, ‘acutely stressful’ failed transactions, financial and emotional costs: Santander’s home buying report
A report from Santander which examines the ‘frozen in time’ process of buying and selling a home suggests failed transactions cost the economy ‘a conservative calculation’ of £1.5 billion each year – a combined total of direct consumer costs, lost work output, wellbeing costs and wasted leisure time. Santander’s research, conducted in partnership with consultants […]
HMRC consultation raises uncertainty of conveyancers’ role as tax advisers
A government consultation on the registration of all organisations who provide tax advice and interact with HMRC could see conveyancers required to register with the agency under new legislation. HMRC has identified a need to raise minimum standards across tax advisors with the proposed changes designed to ‘improve HMRC’s ability to monitor and exclude tax […]
New ONS data shows homes still ‘generally unaffordable’ as locals increasingly priced out
The ONS has published its Housing Purchase Affordability analysis covering the UK in the financial year ending 2024, which shows slightly improved ratios of house prices to household incomes but a long-term trend of ‘homes generally being unaffordable’. The data also reveals that local people are being increasingly priced out of their home towns: out […]
Annual fall in house prices ‘hit by rumoured property taxes’?
Rightmove’s latest House Price Index shows an annual fall of 0.1% in average new seller asking prices across the UK, which the company attributes to continued underperformance in London and the South East. Monthly, prices rose by an average 0.4%. While Rightmove says its real-time data shows no immediate reaction from movers to property tax […]
UK House Price Index ‘reflects steady demand and resilient market’
The latest UK House Price Index shows an annual increase of 2.8% in the 12 months to July (provisional estimate), down from 3.6% in the 12 months to June. The average monthly growth in July was 0.3%, with an average UK house price of £270,000. In England the price was £292,000 (up 2.7%), with Wales […]
Project 28 – A muted fanfare, but a much-needed initiative?
Does Project 28 contain a Charter for faster, more certain property transactions, or will it be another well intended but ultimately partially successful attempt at improving the home buying and selling process? Having watched the development (I mean decline) of the home buying and selling process for over 50 years now I will fully support […]
Market downturn predicted as rising compliance and competition turn up the pressure on conveyancers
A decline in transaction volumes is predicted in the next 12-18 months after the stamp duty changes masked an otherwise flat year for conveyancers and transaction volumes. The claim comes from a new report published by Access Legal who say the 5% increase in completions in 2024-25 could be almost entirely accounted for in the […]
‘A quarter of agreed sales fall through’, as property tax speculation sees more buyers pull out
Data shared by property platform View My Chain suggests a quarter of agreed sales in the UK this year have fallen through, with 214,052 sales failing to complete between January and August. The analysis, using residential property data collected by insight and analytics company TwentyCi, places the overall fall-through rate of UK home purchases at […]
RICS survey ‘shows a market under pressure and decline in demand’
The August Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows a market under pressure, the organisation says. The monthly sentiment survey of chartered surveyors operating in the residential sales and lettings market suggests most parts of the UK are seeing a decline in the volume of new buyer enquiries, which RICS […]
Low deposit mortgage choices at 17-year high
The latest UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report from Moneyfacts reveals the combined choice of higher loan-to-value mortgages (90% and 95% LTV) is at its highest count in 17 years. Combined, the deals represent 19% of the residential mortgage market overall, with the total choice at an 18-year high. The combination in availability of deals at both […]
A quarter of homebuyers prepared to move over 10 miles for the right property
Analysis from Zoopla reveals how far homebuyers are prepared to cast the net when searching for a property. The average search radius is now 3.4 miles, down from 4.3 miles in 2021 – but 26% of buyers are prepared to move beyond a 10 mile radius. Buyers in the South East and East of England […]