Martin is a Senior Content Writer for Today’s Conveyancer, Today’s Wills and Probate, Today’s Legal Cyber Risk and Today’s Family Lawyer
Having qualified as a teacher, Martin previously worked as a Secondary English Teacher that responsible for Head of Communications.
After recently returning to the North West from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, Martin has left teaching to start a career in writing and pursue his lifelong passion with the written word.
HM Land Registry are returning fewer requisitions in the third quarter of 2019 as law firms become more adept at providing accurate information. Between July and September, 12.9% of all applications resulted in a requisition
The best conveyancing firms were announced at the ESTAS awards, sponsored by Search Flow, on Friday 18th October following a glamorous event at Grosvenor House Hotel, London. Congratulations to all the firms shortlisted and of
Over a third of disabled people with a named legal issue over the past four years refused to utilise professional help. New research suggests that solicitors and law firms need to do more to ensure
The number of sellers looking to enter the market have fallen considerably in October. Compared to the same time last year, seller activity has reduced by 13.5% with the 24,539 new listings per week representing
Law firms are improving their processes when it comes to anti-money laundering procedures. Reports, about concerns involving law firms handling client money, submitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) by accountants, have fallen by 13%
The number of UK businesses in significant financial distress has risen by 22,000 to 489,000 in the past year with businesses in the property sector and construction industry hit worst of all. According to the
Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, has confirmed the implementation of a number of measures designed to help lower income households gain a foothold onto the property ladder. The Government had pledged to reform the shared ownership
The Government are ready to launch the second stage of their research into reservation agreements by implementing a trial over the next several months. The idea of creating policies to reduce gazumping and gazundering by
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) feel frustrated by the speed and reduced uptake in the adoption of HM Land Registry’s (HMLR) digital Local Land Charges centralization project. CoPSO claimed the organisation is ‘entirely
Technology is driving change in consumer behaviour when buying property with internet quality superseding structural considerations like the quality of insulation and the condition of floors and walls. According to a market research survey of
Despite the rise of equity release as a viable option in becoming financially secure in older age, downsizing is still a lot more popular amongst people aged over 50. Over a third of over 50s
A solicitor guilty of ‘dishonest conduct’ has been struck off the roll by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) for failing to protect the best interests of his client after allowing a property to be purchased
First-time buyer levels have now reached their highest levels in over 12 years. According to UK Finance mortgage data figures, more first-time buyers are obtaining finance for a mortgage than before the financial crash. 35,010
The HM Land Registry Local Land Charges fifth annual conference took place in Birmingham recently, leaving delegates buoyed about the potential future direction of the sector. Overwhelmingly, delegates were impressed with HMLR’s drive towards a
New build starts in England have fallen for the fifth out of six quarters and the third consecutive quarter as the construction sector remains concerned by political uncertainty. The 37,220 building starts in the second
The housing sector has been kind to those lucky enough to gain a foothold on the property ladder over the past decade. Similarly, first-time buyers acquiring property for the first time in 2019 are benefiting
Lambeth council are the latest local authority to migrate their information to HM Land Registry’s (HMLR) digital local land charges (LLC) register. Over the past 14 months seven local authorities have fully digitised their systems
Sentiment amongst conveyancers remains strong with 45% anticipating an increase in their workload over the next 12 months. 42% of the 212 law firms regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), participating in the
Buyers are returning to the property market in their droves as the ‘wait and see’ approach to Brexit is dropped by property market stakeholders. Although many buyers remain anxious about Brexit and the impact it
On average, 406 older home owners are being forced to sell their homes every week to fund their social care costs. According to new research by Independent Age, 21,120 homes were sold in 2018 with
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) cited Brexit, cyber crime and fraud/money laundering as the three main challenges to the property sector in 2019. Throughout September, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) issued a new scam
The gap between the price paid for freehold and leasehold property has reached the widest margin since the property market recovery in 2011. According to HM Land Registry data, analysed by estates agents Benham and
First-time buyers and younger home owners are at increasingly high risk of cyber crime. According to Experian, the number of financial applications made by third party fraudsters between January and June was 14% higher when
The Legal Services Board has approved the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ (CLC) application to reduce its regulatory fee rate. The reduction supports the CLC’s strategic goal to reduce the regulatory cost burden on CLC practices
Party conference season is in full swing and with an impending general election on the horizon before the end of 2019, it is surprising that housing policy and solutions for the widening housing crisis have
Despite the Government’s desire to solve the housing crisis by building 300,000 new homes per year by the middle of the next decade, it would seem that developers and home owners are reluctant to embark
Whilst many assume that those renting property are simply biding their time until they have saved enough for a housing deposit, the fact remains that the majority feel resigned to permanently living in rental accommodation.
Despite residential property transactions falling by 0.4% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis in the year to August when compared to 2018’s figures, UK property transactions for August suggest a huge recovery from an unusually quiet
Mortgage fraud has increased by 5% in the opening half of 2019 when compared with the second half of 2018 because of dishonest borrowers lying on their mortgage applications. According to figures from Cifas, the
Applications to change or query the land register decreased by over 100,000 between July and August. According to HM Land Registry (HMLR), more than 1,706,820 applications were made in August. The recent applications fall in
8.4 million people are in need of a suitable home in England alone. According to research into the housing crisis in England, the National Housing Federation has found that one in every seven people are
The number of empty homes in the UK have increased by 5.3% in the past year, tipping the scales at more than 160,000 long-term empty dwellings. According to the research by Action on Empty Homes