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Litigants who fail strictly to comply with judges’ orders risk the dire consequence of having their cases dismissed without a hearing. That very nearly happened to a commercial tenant in a dispute over alleged rent arrears. Continue reading →
Traps for the unwary lurk within many old title deeds and that is one reason why you should never buy or sell land without taking professional advice. A High Court case in point concerned a plot of land that was subject to a decades-old diktat that it must only be used as a motor garage. Continue reading →
Couple Overcome ‘One House’ Restriction to Build New Home in Their Garden
New homes built in the grounds of existing residences make a valuable contribution to meeting burgeoning housing demand. However, as a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) showed, restrictions lurking in antique title deeds can stand in the way of such projects. Continue reading →
Healys are delighted to announce that they have been shortlisted for the second time in two years to win “Mortgage Conveyancer of the Year” at The Mortgage Awards. Continue reading →
As part of its strategy to help JAMS (just about managing) people, the Chancellor has announced plans today in the Government’s Autumn Statement that landlords in England and Wales will be banned from charging letting agents’ fees to residential tenants. No date has been set for the onset of the legislation, but the government hopes this will be “as soon as possible”. There is already a ban in place in Scotland. Continue reading →
If you were unaware, the Government imposed Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) changes on anyone buying a second home. As of 1st April 2016, the SDLT rate on purchasing/investing in a second property has increased. For example, before 1st April 2016, if you were investing in a property with the value of over £250,001 you would have to pay an SDLT rate of 5%, after the 1st April 2016 the rate rises to 8%. To put this in perspective, the average house price in Brighton is £352,037, you would pay £17,851.85 before the 1st April 2016. Continue reading →
Shared ownership on the River Thames is now an option for a few Londoners – all of whom are likely to be first-time buyers – with the development of flats at an exclusive site on the Greenwich Peninsula.
The Platinum Riverside apartment block initially went on sale around two years ago and attracted buyers from destinations as far afield as China, Russia, UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore. Now, in line with housing rules, the developers, Bellway Homes, are now offering first-time buyers on incomes no greater than £50,000 the opportunity to buy into a shared ownership scheme.
The Conveyancing Association recently convened with lenders with the aim of looking at how it could expedite the property transaction process.
Those present discussed a number of the issues currently most pertinent to the residential conveyancing process. These included the impact of regulation, the difficulties of delays, and how to bring consistency and uniformity to the process.
“The event was extremely successful and we are making great progress. This is clearly something lenders are interested in engaging with us on and we are really looking forward to our continued work together as well as reaching out to other lenders who would like to be involved,” commented Eddie Goldsmith, chair of the Conveyancing Association.
Sadly, many of those who instruct residential conveyancing solicitors to proceed with a shared ownership transaction may fail to take account of some of the ramifications of this type of property ownership.
For example, if you have part equity in a shared ownership property it can be difficult to sell the property on. This is because Housing Associations sometimes require that sellers buy up full equity before proceeding with a sale – inevitably, for the typically cash-strapped shared ownership seller, this can present problems.
Buy-to-let landlords face new challenges in the months ahead after the chancellor announced in his latest budget that he would be reducing tax relief for investors.
It was announced in the budget that from April 2017 landlords would be unable to receive tax relief worth up to 45% of interest payments on their buy-to-let mortgages, with the maximum relief to be capped at 20%.