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.
Accuracy of search data, the threat of cyber crime and changes to money laundering compliance have been deemed as some of the most pressing concerns for conveyancers in the modern climate. According to OneSearch Direct’s
Residential stamp duty receipts decreased in the final quarter of 2019 whilst first-time buyers (FTB) enjoyed record levels of FTB relief. Despite market uncertainty in the property last year, the fourth quarter receipts indicated a
HM Land Registry (HMLR) are warning property stakeholders that their email address is set to change. From March 2nd, HMLR email domains will change from @landregistry.gov.uk to @mail.landregistry.gov.uk. The address is changing so HMLR are
HM Land Registry (HMLR) requisitions fell for the second consecutive quarter at the end of 2019. Between September and December 2019, 12.8% of all applications made to HM Land Registry resulted in a requisition. This
Workloads for the building and construction sector fell into negative territory in the final quarter of 2019 with a fifth (21%) of firms reporting lower workloads. However, the report suggests that respondents now feel positive
Both net mortgage borrowing and mortgage approvals for house purchases were above the six month averages in December last year. Net mortgage borrowing reached £4.6 billion in the final month of the decade, £400 million
Peterborough became the 8th local authority to migrate and digitise their local land charges (LLC) with HM Land Registry (HMLR). Peterborough now join Warwick District Council, Liverpool, City of London, Blackpool, Isles of Scilly, Norwich
The Law Society has published the first revised Practice Note on Flood Risk in four years over the weekend. Concerned with the recent changes to the climate, the Practice Note’s main changes concern the prevalence
Law firms are still struggling to produce compliant, individualised risk assessments to tackle anti-money laundering and firms need to embed a cultural awareness of risk from the top down, according to a panel of legal
Despite the property market bounce back enjoyed by the sector following the general election at the start of December last year, the total number of property sales ended the year 0.91% lower than in 2018.
Total housing output has experienced strong and sustained growth since 2013. Over the past decade, private investment in new housing has tripled from £1.145 billion in 2010 to £3.025 billion at the end of 2019,
First-time buyer (FTB) transactions have increased by 84% since 2009. Between 2009 and 2019, FTB transaction volume rose from 193,940 in the doldrums of the financial crisis to 356,767 completed transactions at the end of
A lender has changed their instructions for searches in the lenders’ handbook. Fleet Mortgages now recognises the Search Code and Formal Search Code Recognition in its Part 2 of the UK Lenders Handbook. Out of
The prolonged uncertainty caused by multiple Brexit delays has left the real estate and property sector ending the decade with 13% more businesses in significant financial distress when compared with 2018. According to the fourth
Two thirds (64%) of UK adults have faced a legal issues over the past four years with over half (53%) of issues considered contentious. According to a joint report commissioned by The Law Society and
The mortgage sector ended the decade with strong December activity as mortgage approvals increased by 24% between December 2018 and December 2019. According to UK Finance’s December 2019 Household Update, mortgages approvals increased from 26,145
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) used their annual conference today, January 28th to launch their Customer Charter. The Charter provides the clients and customers of CLC regulated firms with a set of expectations they
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has launched a call for evidence to examine how regulators should ensure the law firms and the legal service providers they regulate remain competent and up to date with changes
The latest market indicator suggests that housing supply is beginning to rise, according to NAEA Propertymark’s December Housing Report. The number of properties available per estate agency branch in December rose from 39 in November
Brexit implications and recent regulatory and tax changes in the buy to let sector could result in a 30% exodus by 2021. 27% of landlords have claimed they are looking to offload their portfolio this
The alleged illicit profit from fraud cases hitting UK courts exceeded £1 billion in 2019. Overall, KPMG’s Fraud Barometer for 2019 reported more than 100,000 instances of fraud making it to court last year. However,
The Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive is now in full swing with property regulators urging firms to comply with immediate effect. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) insisted that its 7,000 regulated firms re-assess their processes in
Staff turnover in the legal sector was higher than expected in 2019 when compared to other professional service organisation sectors. According to the PWC Annual Law Firms’ Survey 2019, a fifth of solicitors, working in
Schemes to help younger home owners purchase their own property could be reaping rewards as the latest English Housing Survey indicates that more people under the age of 34 are now classed as owner occupiers.
A national housing audit suggests that the majority of new build developments and homes are poor or mediocre. Bartlett’s national housing audit, co-produced by UCL’s Place Alliance and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE),
Residential and commercial property transactions for December bucked the statistical trend by producing significant increases over the festive period, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) latest data. The 104,670 residential and 10,690 non-residential transactions
Despite making changes to its affordability lending criteria in order to help around 250,000 mortgage prisoners, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimates that only 14,000 homeowners will benefit. Major high street lenders have been chastised
Legal professionals are increasingly turning to support frameworks because of the stresses in their work lives. The number of legal professionals asking LawCare for help and advice in 2019 increased by 8%. In total, the
A recent freedom of information request suggests that the time it takes to evict a troublesome tenant through complete possession action increased by a third (31%) in the third quarter of 2019. Having confirmed their
Do you want to meet with like-minded peers to discuss changes and opportunities in the conveyancing sector? On Wednesday 29th January 2020, Today’s Conveyancer is set to host its first roundtable event of the year
Sentiment within the construction sector is a lot more optimistic following the general election and clearer Brexit outcome. Almost half (43%) of all respondents in the construction sector now feel as though their business will
In a technology driven world, how does your law firm inform, educate and communicate with clients? Jacksons Law Firm has embraced modern methods of broadcasting and communication to provide business owners and private clients with