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.
A recent report has highlighted a potentially worrying decline in the amount of equity release advisers within the next five years. Currently, there are approximately 33,000 equity release registered advisers in the UK. However, this
Following a recent LexisNexis report claiming that over a third of solicitors have rejected the transparency rules in their entirety and only 29% of firms have fully complied with regulatory requirements, the SRA have released
As the NAEA Propertymark data for December suggested that available stock had increased by 20% from November’s figures, a recent property index from online estate agents HouseSimple suggests that the number of available properties coming
In the past ten years the number of younger home owners has decreased by a third according to a recent report published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Nowadays, only 38%
Recent analysis of HM Revenue and Customs’ Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) statistics suggest the housing market is struggling with reduced transactions which is having a huge impact on the tax accrued by the government.
The government requested that the Law Commission review the Right to Manage (RTM) legislation in July last year. The consultation paper has now been released with a number of amendments suggested to the current legislation.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have released statistics highlighting that more that 241,000 first time buyers have benefited from the exemption from paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). The relief, known as First Time Buyers
The price transparency rules, that came into effect in December last year, have been contentious since they were first suggested by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2016. A new Bellwether Report 2019 discussion
A recent UK wide recruitment juggernaut has indicated that they are struggling to fill the job vacancies for many important professions. In particular, recruitment specialists, Indeed, have highlighted that solicitors are now amongst the most
The Law Society has urged all legal firms to adapt their trainee solicitor pay scales so that they fall in line with minimum rates of pay suggested by The Law Society. Following the Solicitors Regulatory
In less than a month, 1st March 2019, all Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) returns in England and Northern Ireland will need to be filed and paid within 14 days, as opposed to the current
House of Lords representatives believe increased construction, regeneration and re-skilling local authority staff will help solve the increasing housing crisis. At the end of last week (31st January), the House of Lords debated issues around
A recent housing index indicates that property prices have fallen to their lowest level since March last year. According to the Nationwide House Price Index the average UK home is now worth £211,966 compared to
The CLC has urged all the firms it regulates to use the guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre following an incident where a firm’s mail server was hacked and compromised. During the breach, cyber
£497 million worth of additional housing funding will be made available to local housing associations this year to create more affordable housing. The money will be used to fund the construction of 11,000 homes within
The latest figures from Action Fraud have claimed that financial losses caused by cyber crime increased by 25% between the months of April and September. Worryingly, this means that cyber criminals were able to successfully
According to a recent report by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), the construction industry will struggle in 2019; blighted by a stuttering housing market. The State of Trade Survey for Quarter 4 in 2018
As political uncertainty and Brexit headaches force the property market to stumble forwards, the lettings market and rents have continued to rise. In 2018, average rents across the UK increased by 1.5%, according to the
A recent survey by the Law Society’s Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) has found that almost half of junior lawyers are oblivious of the benefits of lawtech or completely unaware of its existence. Additionally, 66% of
It has been a long-held view that property values and desirability are inextricably linked to the proximity of high-performing schools. Parents, eager for their children to receive the best education, strive to live within the
According to a recent report by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), cyber criminals are adapting to the modern world. Once upon a time, the cyber criminal preferred virus-based attacks through malware or ransomware; now,
The number of properties sold to First-time buyers using estate agents has decreased significantly from the same figures obtained in December 2017. According to December’s NAEA Propertymark report, 24% of estate agent sales were made
HM Land Registry (HMLR) have said that they intend to continue working with industry partners in a bid to ensure they remain ahead of the curve in terms of digitisation and the implementation of new
As people look for ways to finance their later life, equity release ended 2018 with record levels of investment. Total lending in equity release has grown for the seventh consecutive year. The 3.94 billion extracted
UK Finance data has revealed that gross residential mortgage lending increased by 4.7% in December when compared with the figures from a year earlier. The overall lending In December grew from £20.1 billion to £21.1
Within the next five years 400,000 skilled and expert construction workers are set to retire, this equates to around 25% of the workforce according to Homes England, Strategic Plan. Despite the government’s widely publicised target
Heather Wheeler, Minister for Housing and Homelessness, outlined the government’s position on referral fees and new housing reforms at the Council for Licensed Conveyancers annual conference. Whilst delivering a talk at the CLC conference, Mrs
Improved data and technology have been identified as the key ingredients to improve consumer confidence in the housing market, reduce fraud and ensure the efficient and timely turn around on housing completions. Whilst on the
The Council Of Licensed Conveyancers Annual Conference 2019 seemed to have found the perfect location to reflect the political uncertainty, with the choppy, murky and unsettled river Thames below providing a perfect opaque reflection of
The Office for National Statistics has found that the property market suffered a significant decrease in property transactions in December. The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for December was 102,330 residential properties and
As the Tenants Fees Bill made its way through Parliament in 2018, the government also proposed a housing court specializing in housing disputes. It is thought that the court would focus on a myriad of
With the average conveyancing transaction taking 14 weeks to complete in 2018, many firms have been looking at innovative ways of creating a more efficient and inclusive process for the consumer. One way to achieve