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New Homes

Buying off-plan? How to make sure your deposit is as safe as houses

Purchasing a house or flat before it’s been built, known as off-plan, can be a great way of potentially grabbing a property in an up-and-coming area at a bargain price. With schemes such as Help to... Read full article

Time to end unfair leases on new build homes says government

Selling new-build houses on a leasehold basis in England could soon be banned under government plans to crackdown on what is seen as a growing problem. Flats can be continued to be sold as leasehold... Read full article

Helping the HM Land Registry shape the future of conveyancing

Researchers from the HM Land Registry (HMLR) have visited Wards Solicitors’ conveyancing team to gain a valuable insight into how lawyers currently order and obtain Local Land Charges (LLC)... Read full article

Buying a property with family? Read the small print

It is now increasingly common for siblings and friends to buy a property together and a recent court case shows how important it is not only to take independent legal advice but to make sure you read... Read full article

Property in the news: Stamp duty surcharge ‘windfall’/Right to rent fines/Cornwall & compulsory purchase

Stamp duty surcharge ‘windfall’ Repeated calls have been made for the government to rethink the stamp duty regime, and the extra 3% tax which has applied now for almost a year. This... Read full article

Avoiding leasehold property pitfalls

An all-party parliamentary group of almost 60 MPs and lords is to look into growing problems associated with leasehold properties amid allegations that the system is being abused and buyers of... Read full article

Frantic first time buyers seek help where they can get it

Forget the so-called Bank of Mum and Dad – first time buyers desperate to get on the property ladder are now seeking financial help from an increasing number of different sources. Grandparents,... Read full article

Time to shake up conveyancing?

Buying and selling a house has always been stressful but there are now moves afoot to reduce this by modernising the homebuying experience amid concerns about the conveyancing... Read full article

The rise and rise of the Bank of Mum and Dad

It’s never been so popular – the so-called Bank of Mum and Dad will finance 25 per cent of all UK mortgage transactions this year with lending from parents to their children amounting to £5... Read full article

Penalty stamp duty rate – the main residence exception

This post follows on from my previous article providing a summary of the main tax. Here we look at the above exception to the charge in more... Read full article

Penalty Stamp Duty rate – Will your purchase be affected?

The vast majority of transactions, such as first time buyers purchasing their first property or home owners moving from one main residence to another will be unaffected” (Government Consultation... Read full article

Higher rates of SDLT on the purchase of additional residential properties from 1st April 2016

A summary of the key points for a buyer... Read full article

The Help to Buy: ISA Scheme – How it works basics for conveyancers and buyers

Launched on 1 December 2015 as a further scheme to assist home ownership, this scheme has achieved early success having attracted some 250,000 new accounts already. A further boost to Londoners’... Read full article

Stamp Duty Changes in 2016 – update

Stamp Duty Changes in 2016 – Update In my previous post on 17 December 2015 I reported on the changes as far as they were then known: The Consultation document has now been published: The... Read full article

Stamp duty changes for 2016

This year’s statement included further changes which were equally unexpected, and the first question was, would this sound the ‘death-knell’ for the buy to let market? The changes however will... Read full article

Broken Promises and Proprietary Estoppel

A legal doctrine which can remedy broken promises? It sound too good to be true, but it does exist. Proprietary estoppel is a doctrine which enables justice to prevail when the cause might otherwise... Read full article

Conveyancing – Boundaries and Boundary Disputes

Ministry of Justice Study – why ‘boundary’ disputes? Of all the differing civil disputes which arise in a year, you may wonder why the Ministry of Justice singled out those relating to... Read full article

Buying property in Portishead – Portishead station and railway line

There are a number of issues when buying property in Portishead that are particular to the area – Portishead Marina, the old sea walls, the wildlife refuge area, and the pipeline, for... Read full article

Buying a property in Portishead – pipeline conveyancing issues

On a sale recently the buyer’s searches threw up an unexpected issue: an oil pipeline. This was particularly unexpected, as it had not come up on searches when the property was... Read full article

New First Time Buyer Initiative

The government is proposing a new scheme to provide some 100,000 newly built homes to first time buyers with a discount of at least... Read full article
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