Firm Loses £600K In Conveyancing Scam
Fraudsters deceived Woodfords Solicitors by using a phony email to trick them into sending more than £600,000 from the proceeds of a client’s house sale to their bank account. Nicola McConnell, 70, who is a retired educational psychologist was scammed out of £613,000 after selling her five-bedroom in Fulham, London, for £1.9 million. The fraudsters […]
The Importance Of Cyber Certifications: Slater Heelis Case Study
Ensuring that your law firm achieves a recognised Cyber Security accreditation is no longer just a strategy recommended by the government’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), it is a business expectation. Failing to achieve this minimum expectation, will see you ostracised and marginalised from legal firms, consumers and third parties that are desperate to protect […]
Unused Homes Increase In England For Second Consecutive Year
The housing crisis appears to be deepening after it was revealed that the number of vacant and empty homes in England increased for the second year in a row. In total, more than £53 billion worth of property has been empty and unused for more than six months in England alone. According to data obtained […]
Thirdfort Goes Live With Automated Source Of Funds Product
On 10th March, Thirdfort, an FCA regulated software company, launched its first in kind Source of Funds product. It uses bank linking technology to streamline administration, while improving reliability in knowing where clients’ money comes from. A lawyer is able to access this capability through Thirdfort’s website and send the client a text message with […]
Over-50s Confused About Basic Equity Release Terms And Conditions
Latest research has found that the majority of over-55s are confused by basic equity release terms and conditions. This could be worrying for a section of the market that are increasingly using equity release products to release the money tied up in their home. The research, carried out by Sunlife, asked 1,001 people aged over-55 […]
Digitisation Of The Mortgage Process Increasingly Appealing To Consumers
The mortgage and remortgaging sector solidified their transition into digitisation this week with the announcement that Moneysupermarket are launching a comprehensive remortgaging price comparison tool and HM Land Registry’s (HMLR) update on their free digital mortgage platform, Sign Your Mortgage Deed. HMLR announced that a number of high street lenders are adopting the digital service […]
Long-Term Optimism For The Property Market Reduces In March
A leading market survey has concluded that Brexit uncertainty is set to shroud the property market with continued difficulties for a further six months and long-term optimism in the housing market is reducing. However, overall the monthly sentiment in the March UK Residential Market Survey, carried out by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), […]
The Ten Year Struggle To Achieve Home Ownership
According to new research, carried out by Hamptons International, it takes over ten years for a single person to save the necessary money to afford a 15% deposit. Whilst this may seem a ridiculous amount of time to save for, it represents a considerable decline when compared with the figures from the 2016 report. On […]
Search Acumen Launches Innovative Visualisation Solution To Fast-Track Commercial Property Due Diligence
SNaPS (Search of the National Polygon Service) is a first-of-its-kind service that instantly interrogates property boundaries and ownership data – allowing property lawyers to make immediate assessments and act earlier for their clients The new service uniquely draws together HM Land Registry (HMLR) datasets to provide property lawyers with an instant visual representation of title […]
Home Owners Regret Property Compromises
The current property market is filled with prospective buyers that are forced to compromise on their dream home. The quarter of people that compromised on location to achieve a slightly improved property now regret their decision. According to the Nationwide House Price Index, since 2009, when the average UK property was valued just over £150,000, […]
Last-Time Buyers Continually Increase Their Market Presence
Although Last-Time Buyers (LTBs) may be overlooked when it comes to market commentary, this crucial section of the property market are thought to influence over a third of all housing transactions. According to a recent report by the Intermediary Lenders Association, the final migration of LTBs has doubled in the past ten years at a […]
First-Time Buyers Paying 12% Help to Buy Property Premium
First-time buyers (FTBs), using Help to Buy, paid an average of 12% more for their property when compared with independent buyers. According to the data, collated by Reallymoving.com, the 44,000 FTBs using Help to Buy that requested reallymoving for quotes on home services, paid £303,000 for their new home in February. In comparison, first-time buyers […]
Will The Recent 14-Point Pledge End Onerous Leasehold Terms?
Written by Beth Rudolf, Director of Delivery at the Conveyancing Association On the face of it, we recently had a very positive step forward in terms of helping existing leaseholders, with the announcement by Housing Minister, James Brokenshire, that 40 house builders/developers had signed up to a 14-point pledge designed to ‘end the practice of […]
SRA Report Criticises Conveyancers’ Communication With Buyers
The SRA’s recent Residential Conveyancing Thematic Review was damning reading for the handful of conveyancing firms that were failing to provide adequate information to their clients concerning the different types of property ownership and potential buyer implications. According to the report, 23% of the firms that were targeted and formally observed did not explain the […]
Frustrated New-Build Owners Demand Retention Scheme
90% of new-build home buyers believe the only way they can ensure developers rectify snags and home defects is to withhold a significant amount of the property’s value. Persimmon are the first of the developer juggernauts to present buyers with a ‘snagging retention’ process. Under their new scheme, buyers will be able to keep hold […]
Developers Slowly Reduce Their Approved Land Banks
Developers are continuing to create substantial land banks of application approved land that could enable the government to achieve their aim of 300,000 new homes per year. Currently, 42% of land that has been granted planning permission in 2018 is being built upon, according to recent data by the Office for National Statistics. Whilst these […]
Younger Generation Pessimistic About Their Property Ownership Chances
As property prices continue to rise in many parts of the UK despite difficult market conditions, many first-time buyers (FTBs) have been forced to reappraise their standards and expectations when it comes to the property they can afford. A recent study of over 2,000 UK prospective home owners aged between 23- and 38-years, carried out […]
Student Spotlight: Lucy Foxall Discusses Punitive Leaseholds
Government Plans Last year the Government announced their plans to “tackle unfair practices in the leasehold market”, claiming that over the last two decades, the number of new builds being sold as leaseholds have “more than doubled”. The point being that this creates a revenue for the freehold owners, meaning first time buyers are deprived […]
Why Cyber Security Is Every Leader’s Job
Risk management solution provider, Lawyer Checker is hosting an exclusive and informative webinar on why cyber security should start in the boardroom and not just be the responsibility of the IT department alone. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has identified the legal sector as a top target for cyber criminals along with the Solicitors […]
Blockchain Trial Cuts Property Transaction Process Down Substantially
Proptech leaders across the globe have completed a trial which claims to cut the property transaction process to 3 weeks rather than 3 months using blockchain technology. A successful pilot finalised by Instant Property Network (IPN) has demonstrated the potential to speed up property transactions by months by cutting the current average property process of […]
