Property Market Remains Open following Tier Review
Home movers may continue to buy and sell houses following the government’s move to take control of spiralling Covid-19 cases. A few hours after the announcement about the tightening of social distancing controls over Christmas and the reduction of the planned 5 day break to just Christmas Day, Housing Minister Robert Jenrick took to Twitter […]
A look back on conveyancing in 2020
2020 has undoubtedly been a year like no other, and in some respects is one that many of us will be happy to see the back of. Turn the clock back 12 months, and not many people would have been prepared for the consequences a worldwide pandemic would have on both the UK and the […]
SDLT holiday shouldn’t just be stopped dead
Following on from the comment from the Treasury which outlined the government’s plans to not extend the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday, calls have now been made for the holiday to not just stop dead. Following the announcement of the SDLT holiday, buyers and sellers flooded the housing market as people wanted to take […]
No extension to SDLT holiday says Treasury
The Treasury has announced that there will be no extension to the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday, with the deadline looming for 31 March 2021. Petitions began to be created imploring the government to extend this break for many, as backlogs will prevent people from completing their transactions before the deadline. One petition was […]
Agents are reminded to be wary of fraudulent conveyancing
Property fraud is one of the more lucrative ways a fraudster can earn large sums of money. In these increasingly busy times, the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority (SRA) have released a warning to agents about this type of crime. By carrying out property conveyancing work, residential property teams may be exposed to the risk of this […]
Law Society think moving now before SDLT deadline is ‘longshot’
Solicitors’ leaders are urging consumers to have realistic expectations about achieving their dream move before the looming stamp duty holiday deadline. Many people are keen to conclude their sales and purchases prior to Christmas, while others entering the housing market in the New Year will still be hoping to take advantage of the stamp duty […]
IPSA Launches New Conveyancing Searches Solution
IPSA (The Association of Independent Personal Search Agents) is the leading UK trade association for personal search agents and membership includes some of the largest search firms in the country as well as many independent companies and sole traders. All IPSA members are registered with, and regulated by, the Property Codes Compliance Board, and any […]
Looking ahead to 2021
Elizabeth Rimmer is CEO at LawCare It’s been a very difficult and challenging year for all of us. No-one has remained unaffected by the fall out of the global pandemic and its impact on our health, our relationships, our livelihoods and our mental health. For most of us this has been the most significant event […]
New Build Numbers Down in First Half of 2020
Housing programmes delivered by Homes England saw an overall decrease in starts and completions in the first half of 2020-21 compared to the same period last year, according to official statistics released today (8 December). There were 11,313 new houses started on site and 11,358 homes completed through programmes managed by Homes England between 1 […]
Santander to block mortgage applications from overseas buyers
Brexit talks have slowly started to emerge in the national media over recent weeks as the UK’s transition period nears its end. Santander have now thrown their hat into the ring and have revealed that they will only allow UK residents to make mortgage applications for residential and buy-to-let mortgages from 1 January 2021. They […]
Nationwide U-turn on Bank of Mum and Dad
Back in August we reported that Nationwide would be restricting the amount of money first-time buyers (FTBs) could be gifted by their parents, or the Bank of Mum and Dad (BoMaD). 2020 is seemingly a year of U-turns, and recently, the lender changed their mind, deciding that deposits that are gifted from BoMaD to FTBs […]
Wishing everyone some downtime at Christmas
As we approach the Christmas period, we know from speaking to so many of you the pressure you are currently under. The hours you are putting in (yes we see the searches coming in at midnight and over the weekend and can only hope this is flexible working!), the expectations and insistence of clients to […]
Challenges and Changes for Conveyancers
Stewart Title hosting FREE CPD Webinar on the most important issues for property lawyers in 2020 Ever since the effects of the Coronavirus epidemic started to hit the real estate market in March, Stewart Title has been proud to work with noted property law expert Ian Quayle to deliver a unique series of FREE CPD Webinars for […]
Couple lose life savings in housing transaction horror
In an article recently published by the Financial Reporter, it outlined the shocking reality which resulted in one couple losing their life savings, as their housing chain collapsed as a result of a mortgage broker withdrawing their offer. Abdus Saboor and his wife are faced with a bill of at least £33,000 plus ‘damages’ after their […]
Mortgage approvals at highest levels in over a decade
In the Bank of England’s Money and Credit report, it details that mortgage approvals are at a 13-year high, with an additional £4.3bn secured borrowing in October. Jeremy Leaf, former RICS residential chairman and a north London estate agent, said: “We expect the numbers to remain robust for a least the next month or two […]
Taking the temperature of residential real estate
Savills currently forecast a 4%1 growth in UK house prices in 2020 and the latest data from Nationwide shows that they grew at an annual rate of 6.5%2 in November, the fastest rate since January 2015. As the sector seems to be shrugging off the lockdown conditions, we are often being asked if we believe […]
£27m Disposal of Conveyancing Alliance
ULS Technology plc, the provider of online platforms to support UK consumers moving home, announces that it has sold its wholly owned subsidiaries Conveyancing Alliance (Holdings) Limited and Conveyancing Alliance Limited (“CAL”) for a cash consideration of £27.3m (the “Disposal”) to Project Ophelia Bidco Limited, a company which also controls O’Neill Patient Solicitors LLP which […]
Busy Christmas housing market means bumper filled New Year Q1
The first quarter of 2021 is set to record a property uplift, with 100,000 additional sales expected to complete before the end of March. As buyers rush to beat the stamp duty deadline, the increased transaction pipeline from the final months of 2020 will spill over into the new year, according to the latest findings […]
Are brownfield sites the future for self builders?
For many self builders, finding ways to reduce their impact on the environment has become increasingly important in recent times. One tactic some self builders have started using is to rejuvenate brownfield sites, as opposed to building on a greenfield plot. The term ‘brownfield’ may not have been on the radar of self builders earlier […]
HMRC data shows property market still recovering due to lockdown
The latest data from HMRC has revealed that residential property transactions for the UK have increased in October 2020 compared both with September 2020 and October 2019. The increase in figures is thought to be as a result of the pent up demand due to the UK wide lockdown as a result of the coronavirus […]
