Jenrick announces changes to pre-mortgage cladding checks
Owners of up to 800,000 flats left valued at zero following the Grenfell Tower disaster and resulting cladding scandal may now be able to sell following new Government advice over fire safety requirements. The housing secretary, Robert Jenrick said that an independent panel of experts had found that small and medium blocks of flats less […]
Building Beautiful in Britain, says Jenrick
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has this morning previewed his view of the future of British house building in an article in The Times. “Building Beautiful Places” sets out a vision of “a planning system that puts beautiful, environmentally sustainable, and life-enhancing places at its heart.” Having overseen the largest number of new build properties in a […]
Seven lenders to cover the cost of making cladding forms public
UK Finance today announces that seven mortgage lenders will cover the cost of making existing EWS1 forms publicly available through the Fire Industry Association (FIA) Building Safety Information Portal. EWS1 forms are used for mortgage valuation purposes for flats and determine if a property needs cladding remediation work. The seven lenders are: Barclays, HSBC UK, […]
Data retention is top privacy concern for businesses
Latest findings from the DPO Centre and the Data Protection World Forum (DPWF) UK Data Protection Index show that data retention is now the biggest privacy concern facing organisations in Q2 of this year. The index, which surveys an extensive panel of over 400 UK Data Protection Officers’ (DPOs) for their opinions on evolving industry […]
Conveyancing Association urges consumers to check with conveyancers on leasehold house cases
The Conveyancing Association (CA), the leading trade body for the conveyancing industry, has urged consumers to contact their conveyancers if they bought a leasehold house between 2000 and October 2015. This call follows the initial success of an industry campaign to deliver a fairer system and outcomes for those who have bought leasehold houses over the […]
‘Cladding Bill’ introduced into Parliament
The Building Safety Bill, an area of particular focus for the Government this year, will outline the next steps in an extensive legislation overhaul expected to hold developers more accountable and give residents more power. The Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick will set out the new measures in the Building Safety Bill based on the recommended […]
LSB pushes legal regulators to put consumers first following BSB governance review
Today, the Legal Services Board (LSB) published the findings of its review of the Bar Standards Board (BSB) under the ‘Well-led’ standard of the LSB regulatory performance assessment framework. The oversight regulator found concerns about leadership and governance at the BSB and little evidence of a focus on the needs of consumers and the public interest. In response, […]
Industry responds to ground rent commitments from developers
The Competition and Market’s Authority reported yesterday that developers Persimmon and Aviva will commit to making changes to their ground rent terms, removing the terms which cause ground rents to double. In the case of Aviva, it has committed to repay affected homeowners. In May, the Queen’s Speech introduced proposals for planning and leasehold reform in which […]
Developers Commit to Ending Ground Rent Scandal
The CMA has secured formal commitments from leading companies as part of its ongoing work to tackle issues in the leasehold sector. Aviva has committed to remove certain terms from its leasehold contracts which cause ground rents to double, and Persimmon will now offer leasehold house owners the opportunity to buy the freehold of their […]
‘Use it or lose it’ proposed legislation set to bottleneck house building industry
House builders will be stripped of planning permission if site development does not commence within 18 months after planning is ‘green-lit’, under new government proposals. With England desperate for new houses, and close to a million plots across the country remaining unfinished, MPs argue that proposals put forward by the housing, communities and local government […]
What happens to those unclaimed assets?
With reports suggesting that up to £15 billion of unclaimed financial assets are present in bank accounts, pensions, life assurances and investments and almost half of UK adults confirming that they would not know how to find the details of a loved one’s total financial assets upon their death, the LandmarkFAS tracing service centralises the […]
Property professionals invited to try new ‘Safe Harbour’ ID Check for free
tmgroup, the leading provider of property searches and data, are excited to announce that they can now support their clients in meeting HM Land Registry’s Digital ID Standard (Safe Harbour) – thanks to their partnership with Thirdfort and the launch of a new ID check, which incorporates Government-grade security. Try the new Thirdfort Standard ID […]
Firms invited to join customer review pilot
Law firms have been invited to join a pilot exercise that is helping develop meaningful quality indicators which can help potential clients choose their legal service provider. The exercise, a joint project between the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), CILEx Regulation and Bar Standards Board (BSB), has brought together website providers […]
Planning data must be overhauled to enable better informed decisions
Planning may be top of everyone’s minds right now, but the data underpinning it is in desperate need of an overhaul, according to the panel of the latest tm:tv session “Understanding the value of planning data”: Paul Addison, Owner of DevAssist Stuart Tym, Planning Lawyer (Senior Associate Solicitor) at Irwin Mitchell Max Jarmey, GeoSpatial Analyst […]
Biggest shake-up in planning reform for 70 years
Today’s Queen’s Speech is expected to include a Planning Bill set to be the biggest shake up of the planning system in 70 years. As reported in The Times the Conservative Government, buoyed by the success of the local elections last week, will seek to “level-up” home ownership with a focus on the areas in […]
CLC launches cyber insurance consultation
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).has launched a consultation aimed at clarifying the extent to which cyber-related losses are covered by professional indemnity insurance (PII). The six-week consultation is in response to directions from both the Prudential Regulation Authority and Lloyd’s of London to manage ‘silent’ risk by being explicit on whether coverage is provided […]
New Shadow Housing Minister in Labour Re-Shuffle
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet re-shuffle has seen Manchester MP Lucy Powell replace Thangam Debbonaire as Shadow Housing Secretary. Debonnaire has been promoted to shadow Leader of the House Commons. Commenting on social media she wrote; “I’m really honoured to be trusted with the role of Shadow Leader of the House I thank […]
Ground rent doubling negligence claim
A case has been brought against a conveyancing firm for failure to notify their client of the incremental increases in ground rent on their leasehold property. The case relates to the previously common practice of builders selling new-build properties with leasehold tenures, with an agreement that the ground rent would double every 5-10 years. Carole […]
Hear Directly from HMLR and SRA – The importance of Safe Harbour Status
Minerva have released the details of their latest in a series of webinars in conversation with influencers, regulators and experts within the industry. This time sees the digital and anti-money laundering teams from HMLR and the SRA come together for a panel discussion around the importance of adhering to the Safe Harbour Standard, what this […]
Fined firm claim sector struggle with AML rules
After accepting a fine from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for breaches of anti-money laundering rules, a firm has come out and said a “significant proportion” of law firms had “struggled to achieve compliance” with the 2017 Money Laundering Regulations. QualitySolicitors Brett Holt came to an agreement with the SRA to pay a £10,000 fine […]
