FTB Mass Exodus Predicted Until Brexit Reaches Conclusion
Concerned that Brexit uncertainty could taint the purchase of their first taste of home ownership, first-time buyers are delaying making a housing offer prior to the Article 50 deadline of March 29th. Although confidence in the property market has struggled during the last quarter of 2018, the apocalyptic announcement in September by the Bank of […]
Conveyancer Jailed Following Property Fraud And Money Laundering
A solicitor has been jailed following a conviction for money laundering. Greater Manchester Police had been investigating the criminal activity of an organised group for some time before the arrests were made. In order to legitimise their ill-gotten gains acquired through drug-dealing, evading taxes and property fraud, the group looked to hide their money in […]
3 Million People Resigned To Repaying Mortgage Past Retirement Age
Figures released by leading mortgage broker London & Country (L&C) reveal that one in five mortgage holders believe they will still be paying off their mortgage beyond the age of 65. 19% of those who think they’ll still be paying their mortgage in retirement are worried about whether they will be able to afford the […]
Leasehold Advisory Service Bolstered By High Profile Appointment
The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) have appointed Wanda Goldwag, the current Chair of the Office for Legal Complaints within the Legal Ombudsman, as Interim Chair. It is hoped that LEASE, the executive, non-statutory non-departmental public body which provides initial, impartial advice to leaseholders and park homes owners in England and Wales, will benefit from the […]
Mortgage Approval Levels Down 20% Over Past Three Decades Whilst House Prices Rise
New lending figures released by the Bank of England reflect the general sluggish state of the property market as political uncertainty continues and consumer confidence remains low. The number of mortgage approvals for property purchases in November was 63,728, down from October’s figure of 66,709. This is the lowest number of mortgage approvals since March […]
Three Million New Social Homes Needed By 2040
A recent report has claimed that three million new social homes must be built by 2040 in order to solve the developing housing crisis in England and Wales. The cross-party commission, including Ed Miliband and Sayeeda Warsi, further claims that £11 billion a year, needed to fund the initiative, could be claimed back from the […]
CILEx Claim Leaseholders Require Increased Powers
A recent response by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) to the Law Commissions consultation ‘Leasehold home ownership: Buying your freehold or extending your lease,’ has claimed that leaseholders continue to be placed at a disadvantage in comparison to landlords. 76% of CILEx members believed that the law in its current iteration offers increased […]
SLS Conveyancing And Land Law Conference 2018
Index Property Information has been sponsoring the Surrey Law Society for a number of years now and one of the benefits of doing so is the annual invitation to Chair the Conveyancing and Land Law Conference which, this year, took place at GLive on Tuesday 30th October. It’s a role that I thoroughly look forward […]
Continuing House Price Stagnation Predicted For 2019
Leading mortgage lender Halifax is predicting house price growth for the coming year of between 2% and 4%. This time last year their estimate was growth of between 0% and 3%, with the actual figure coming in at 0.3%. The stagnation comes after a boom period fuelled by record low inflation rates, deals designed to […]
Think Tank Argues Scrapping Help To Buy Could Save UK Billions
According to the independent thinktank, Resolution Foundation, the government could save the UK economy £7 billion per year by 2022 through reforming a number of wealth taxes. The thinktank claims that funding our ageing welfare state will cost £36 billion a year by 2030 and £84 billion a decade later. It further claims that making […]
Price Transparency And The SRA’s Risk Score System
It seems as though the conveyancing sector spent most of 2018 discussing and fretting over price transparency changes that came into force on December 6th. Now that the deadline has passed, and regulated law firms are obligated to comply with the new regulations, many firms have questioned whether their efforts constitute compliance and what will […]
Redbrick Solutions Launch New Version Of Award Winning Case Management
Redbrick Solutions have announced this week that the latest version of their award winning case management solution has been released. This marks the 20th version of ‘Redbrick Practice Management’ and includes a number of enhancements and new functionality to benefit clients, such as: Integration with Brighter Law Quote and Instruct Land Registry enhancements to real […]
Construction Figures Reach 3-Month Low In December
Figures released by a leading financial data company have revealed that construction sector growth fell to 52.8 last month, down from November’s level of 53.4. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report for December found that despite an upturn in civil engineering, commercial construction and house building growth had slowed considerably, making […]
The Final Journey Of The Tenants Fees Bill
Throughout 2018 the Tenants Fees Bill made its arduous journey through the Parliamentary system in preparation for becoming law in 2019. In October, the House of lords pushed the Bill closer to becoming law following the second reading in the House of Lords. Having already completed the process, including committee and report stage amendments, in […]
Growth In House Prices Weakens As Brexit Uncertainty Continues
Figures released by lender Nationwide reveal that house prices are growing at the slowest rate for almost 6 years. The house price index for the year ending December 2018 stands at 0.5%, compared with 2.6% in December 2017. UK house prices fell 0.7% overall in the last month of the year, which experts believe to […]
Index Merseyside Sponsor 2019 Liverpool Law Society Legal Awards
Index Merseyside are proud sponsors of the 2019 Liverpool Law Society Legal Awards. John Roberts, Director of Index Merseyside, said: “Having individually and co-sponsored a number of conveyancing events over the past two years, Index are delighted with the mutual working relationship we have & look forward to continuing to support the Liverpool Law Society […]
Property Sales Down In Two-Thirds Of Local Authority Areas
Modular homebuilder Project Etopia has revealed that out of 374 local authority areas, 241 saw a drop in the level of house sales last year. Despite schemes designed to stimulate the property market such as Help to Buy, stamp duty relief, deals offered by house builders, the availability of 95% loan-to-value mortgages and low interest […]
Giving Up Lattes To Buy A House: FTBs Forced To Eradicate Luxuries
A recent article published on home buying website reallymoving.com has thrown a spotlight on how much is needed by way of a deposit for a first time house purchase. Reallymoving.com suggest that giving up luxuries such as lattes and avocado toast and putting the savings towards a home won’t get buyers very far. With an […]
First-Time Buyer Figures Highest For Twelve Years
First time buyers with mortgages now account for 50% of house purchases, the highest level since 2006, before the financial crisis. The First Time Buyers 2018 report released by Yorkshire Building Society reveals that 367,038 mortgages were taken up by first time buyers last year, double that of 2008 and a slight increase on the […]
New Research Confirms House Building Is At A 70-Year Low
Figures released by leading think tank the Centre for Policy Studies have revealed that the number of new houses built in the decade beginning January 2010 is set to be the lowest since the Second World War. In the 1950s house building took off as a huge post-war effort was made to increase housing stock. […]
