What’s next for property market in England?
The announcement from government today creates a huge amount of uncertainty for home movers looking to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday. While on the face of it, the government continues to encourage people to attend work and continue with our daily lives in a Covid-secure way, what does a crackdown on the fight […]
Land Registry Update Practice Guide 19
HM Land Registry (HMLR) have updated the Practice Guide 19, after amending section 3.1.5 – Notices, restrictions and protection of third party interests (PG19) clarifying the use of a ‘wet signature’. The update specifies that a ‘wet ink’ signature is always necessary for a certificate required for a Form LL restriction The previous version of […]
Blockchain Report: Lawyers Given Regulation Guidance
A report released by the Tech London Advocates’ (TLA) Blockchain Legal and Regulatory Group in conjunction with the Law Society of England and Wales provides lawyers with regulatory guidance around distributed ledger technology (DLT) and clarity on the role smart contracts, cryptoassets and blockchain will play in their future practice. The use of DLT in […]
BREAKING NEWS: CMA Takes Action On Leasehold Ground Rents
The CMA is launching enforcement action involving 4 leading housing developers it believes may have broken consumer protection law in relation to leasehold homes. As part of its ongoing investigation which officially started last summer, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is today opening enforcement cases focusing on certain practices of: Barratt Developments Countryside Properties […]
Leasehold Experts Warn Reforms Could Take Years
Residential Leasehold Law experts advises Leaseholders not to wait around for the recent Law Commission reforms as it could take many years to materialise. Leasehold Law, who champion the rights of leaseholders and pursue their right to enfranchise, strongly aired their views on the proposed reforms believing wholesale restructure of leasehold issues is still years […]
The Community Infrastructure Levy Update
Stuart Tym, Planning Lawyer (Senior Associate Solicitor) at Irwin Mitchell LLP took the time to share his thoughts with Today’s Conveyancer regarding the amendment made to the Community Infrastructure Levy. The Community Infrastructure Levy (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 had made their way to Parliament, with the draft published on 30 June 2020. They were proposed […]
SDLT Cut Announced
Today, Wednesday 8 July 2020, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that there will be a temporary cut to Stamp Duty. The cut will take effect immediately and raises the threshold to £500,000 for all buyers. The threshold alteration will also help landlords expand their portfolio. The Chancellor said that he wanted to boost jobs in […]
Planning Permissions Extended To April 2021
The government have confirmed that planning permissions that have expired between the start of lockdown (23rd March 2020) and the end of 2020 will automatically be extended to 1st April 2021. Concerns had been raised that the expiry of planning permissions, amongst them an estimated 400 new home projects set to deliver around 24,000 homes, […]
NCA Will Appeal Discharged UWO
A High Court ruling has discharged three properties which were frozen by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in May last year using an Unexplained Wealth Order(UWO). Towards the end of May last year, three properties worth in excess of £80 million, were seized by the High Court as anti-corruption and Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO) were […]
New-Build Homes To Be Ready Fitted With Gigabit Speed Broadband
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden announced that the government will legislate to make sure all new-build homes will come with gigabit-speed broadband, making them ‘fit for the future’. The aim is to “level up the UK” and “accelerate the nationwide rollout of world-class broadband with the fastest speeds”, which will allow people to work from home […]
Leading Lawyers Welcome Reform To Eviction Law
Leading property lawyers called for reform to abolish ‘no-fault’ evictions in order to protect tenants and bring balance between the rights of tenants and landlords. Key housing law experts welcomed the news by backing the government in their bid to end so-called ‘no fault’ evictions, which enables landlords to evict tenants without a legal obligation […]
Changes To Corporation Tax
The number of foreign investors opting to purchase UK rental property increased for the first time since 2010. Are foreign investors prepared for the imminent tax changes set to be enforced from April 2020? According to Hamptons International, 11% of UK homes are now let by overseas investors, representing a 4% increase from the 7% […]
Shielding Firms And Clients From The Digital Threat: SRA Risk Outlook 2019/20
In the opening six months of 2019, law firms reported that £731,250 worth of client money was lost to cyber crime, prompting the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to deem cyber crime to be one of the greatest threats a law firm will face in 2019/20. Cyber security and information security is now deemed a more severe threat than last year, moving […]
Government Pushes Forward With Reservation Agreement Pilot
The Government is keen to introduce a system of having legally binding agreements to reduce the number of transactions collapsing every year. This month the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government initiated the second stage of research into reservation agreements. Back in the summer, the Government confirmed they would be completing a thorough 10-month […]
Regulatory Constraints Create Panel Manager Opportunities
Conveyancing panel manager models are evolving more to change and transforming the house buying/selling journey with the addition of concierge services. Whilst conveyancers try to evolve their business models the lack of regulation enables opportunities for panel managers to continue to grow. For example, panel managers are providing concierge services to customers such as utilities […]
What Will Brexit Mean For Data Compliance?
As the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) nears its 18 month anniversary, recent research conducted by software supplier Egress have revealed that only 48% of UK businesses are fully compliant with the rules. Organisations had taken their GDPR compliance seriously in the lead up to the May 2018 deadline, but activity started to drop off […]
Government Update Home Buying And Selling Guides’ Referral Sections
Following the Government’s attempt to create a more transparent home buying and selling process through detailed ‘how to’ guides on buying and selling property in May, the Government has just updated the published documents to reflect the enforcement of referral fee transparency. In March, the National Trading Standards Estate Agency team issued new guidance making […]
Are We About To See The End of Leasehold Property Ownership?
The UK is on something of a political knife-edge, which may see a new Government in place later in 2019. Quite what shape this new administration may take is totally unclear, but there is a chance that Jeremy Corbyn may find himself with the keys to No 10 if he plays his cards right. In […]
Money Laundering Sentences 32% Longer Than 10 Years Ago
People convicted of money-laundering offences now face jail sentences around a third longer than a decade ago. According to Thomson Reuters, the average prison sentence for offences related to money-laundering commanded an average prison sentence of 27 months in 2018. This represents a 32% average sentence increase when compared with the 20.5 month average sentence […]
Conveyancing Regulator Announces 30% Regulatory Fees Reduction
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is set to reduce its regulatory fees and practice fee rates by 30%. The consultation on the 2020 practice fee rates in May indicated that fees could be reduced by a fifth. However, the CLC have now applied to the Legal Services Board (LSB) to gain approval for a […]
