The Insurance Act 2015
The Insurance Act, which comes into force on 12 August 2016, represents the greatest change to insurance contract law in this country in over a century. The Act will sweep away certain provisions of the Marine Insurance Act 1906 in order to reflect the demands of today’s insurance market. It will mainly influence commercial insurances […]
Lawyer calls for judical review on leasehold extensions stacked in favour of freeholders
A lawyer who acts for leaseholders in extensions and freehold purchase has called for a judicial review after the upper tribunal handed down a judgement which she says takes billions from leaseholders and gives to freeholders as part of a “ridiculously unfair” system. The Upper Tribunal handed down a decision on two models of calculating […]
SRA open up consultation on size and scope of handbook
The Solicitors Regulation Authority are proposing slashing their handbook to enable Solicitors to work across new fields and markets like will writing, advice on social welfare, employment or tax The consultation is set to run until September with the SRA saying they want to move away from “complex, prescriptive rules” to a focus on “principles and […]
First fracking license in 5 years
Monday 23rd May saw the first fracking license to be granted in 5 years. North Yorkshire Councillors convened over multiple days to hear all sides of the story regarding Third Energy’s application to hydraulically fracture or ‘frac’ their KM8 well at Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire. Hydraulic fracturing is a technique whereby water is injected […]
Law Society latest organisation to express doubt on Land Registry privatisation
The Law Society has become the latest in a long line of organisations to announce their opposition to George Osborne’s second attempt at privatising Land Registry. Previously, the Conveyancing Association, the Competition and Markets Authority and News Media Organisation have all stated their opposition to the move, as well as the Open Data Institute and […]
Geodesys now offers the Law Society’s updated CON29DW
Following a consultation with the Law Society, the content of the CON29DW is being updated to reflect changes to legislation impacting the water industry. Geodesys has now launched the enhanced CON29DW for the Anglian Water region along with the same updates to their COMMERCIALDW and COMMERCIALDW Plus products. This means that all Geodesys drainage and water […]
CMA decries Land Registry privatisation in consultation response
The Competition and Markets Authority have raised concerns over the effects of a potential privatisation of Land Registry. Writing to the Department for Business and Skills’s Lizzie Dixon, the senior director at the CMA says the gobvernment’s preferred model for privatisation is unlikely to deliver the benefits consumers want, the wide access to Land Registry […]
Q1 conveyancing breaks pre-MMR record as buyers rush to beat stamp duty deadline
Search Acumen Conveyancing Market Tracker – Q1 2016 edition Q1 transactions were 10% higher than the pre-Mortgage Market Review (MMR) surge of Q1 2014 and also up 15% year-on-year Challenger firms ranking 11 to 50 experienced the biggest annual growth The top five firms’ combined market share fell from 8% in Q1 2014 to 5% […]
Updating the CON29DW
The content of the Law Society’s CON29DW has been updated to reflect changes to legislation impacting the water industry. Working in consultation with The Law Society, The Drainage and Water Searches Network (DWSN) have agreed changes to the CON29DW to ensure that the Enquiry provides conveyancers with the most up-to-date information available when advising their […]
Conveyancing Association comes out against Land Registry privatisation.
With ten days to go before the government consultation closes, the Conveyancing Association has come out against farming the duties of Land Registry out to the private sector. CA’s management committee met two weeks ago to discuss the proposal, with the majority of the committee’s members voting to oppose the second attempt at privatising Land […]
65% of property professionals believe #brexit would be good for housing market
Nearly two thirds of people who work in the property industry believe the UK leaving the EU would have a positive impact for the housing market. However according to the survey conducted by My Home Move most voters are undecided on which way they’ll vote. The majority also believe the government’s recent interventions into the […]
Thames Water Property Searches offer new residential CON29DW and CommercialDW Drainage and Water Enquiries
The updated residential CON29DW and CommercialDW Drainage and Water Enquiries are now available to all Thames Water Property Searches’ customers We are delighted to announce that customers now have full access to the updated residential CON29DW and CommercialDW Drainage and Water Enquiries. As a result of changes in legislation, we have worked in consultation with […]
International property already slowing down ahead of brexit vote says lawyer
The international property market is already slowing down ahead of the vote on the UK’s membership of the European Union accoring to one international property lawyer. Sara Janion at Worldwide Lawyers Ltd says that she has already seena tailing off of investments from the UK to the rest of Europe as well as investments into […]
Government to consider outlawing gazumping
The point at which a house move becomes legal could be moved forward in England and Wales in an effort to stop 200,000 transactions from collapsing each year. The National Association of Estate Agents say they have been feeding in to the Department for Business Skills and Innovation over plans to improve England and Wales’s […]
New Drainage Guidance for Lawyers Published
New guidance is released today for lawyers on drainage requirements for new build developments. Local Authorities are implementing stricter planning controls in favour of more sustainable drainage due, in part, to the challenges presented by climate change The guidance has been prepared by the highly respected barrister and author of “Water and Drainage Law”, John […]
SDLT.co.uk announces ‘dataflow’ and ‘expertise’ as new features for Stamp Duty Land Tax eSubmission users
The SDLT.co.uk team, who brought the first Stamp Duty Land Tax online return solution to the legal profession can now reuse data entered in the SDLT return (often via its generic case management integration) for a variety of other legal forms that are required in the process of residential and commercial conveyancing. Then eSubmit that […]
More problems with easements
Michael Moore (Automobiles) Limited v BP Oil (UK) Limited First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber (Land Registration) ref/2015/0174 The complex legal rules pertaining to easements can often cause problems for landowners and conveyancers alike. Although involving commercial premises, this case serves as a reminder to us all of two little known rules. Michael Moore (Automobiles) Ltd (‘Moore’) […]
Revised decision (Conveyancer Slater – Tweet of the Week)
One thing I have learnt from Property Law revision….I never want to become a conveyancing solicitor! — Adam Fawcett (@AdamFozz) February 21, 2016
What is a house? – Jewelcraft Ltd v Pressland [2015] EWCA Civ
The Leasehold Reform Act 1967 gives owners of long leases of houses the right to compulsorily acquire the freehold. But what exactly is a ‘house for the purposes of the Act? This was the question litigated in this case, despite it having previously been considered by the House of Lords in Tandon v Trustees of […]
Water Companies publish Conveyancer Service Survey for CON29DW
97% of the 153 conveyancers asked in a recent survey said that the process of ordering a CON29DW met or exceeded their expectations. The Water Industry Property Information Network (WPIN) incorporates all the Water Companies of England and Wales and runs the survey twice a year to enable water companies to bench mark their […]
