By Monidipa Fouzder2021-02-22T15:02:00+00:00
The Law Society and other conveyancing bodies have put informal collaborations on a more formal footing with a new taskforce that will agree and lead changes to the homebuying and selling process.
The ‘Conveyancing Task Force’, which has been two years in the making and has formal terms of reference, comprises Chancery Lane, Society of Licensed Conveyancers, Conveyancing Association, CILEx and Bold Legal Group.
Society president David Greene said taskforce members have been working informally together for some time on areas of shared interest to help practitioners and consumers. The new arrangements, he said, ‘will help formalise joint working to enable cooperation to take place effectively without compromising the independence of each organisation’.
Five professional bodies have come together to form the Conveyancing Task Force to push for "reform and enhancement" of the property transfer process. The new body comprises the Law Society, the Society of Licensed Conveyancers, the Conveyancing Association, CILEx and the Bold Legal Group who plan to improve "the
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Property buyers and sellers will be hoping that reports of an extension to the stamp duty holiday turn out to be true as they race to complete transactions.
Currently the deadline for the end of the tax break is 31 March, but according to The Telegraph the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is considering a six-week extension to mid-May in order to prevent tens of thousands of home buyers being caught in a “completion trap”.
The stamp duty holiday was introduced in July last year in a bid to “help kickstart the economy which had been hugely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic”, says the Daily Express.
Blockchain property network Coadjute has appointed Maria Harris and Rob Hailstone as the first members of a new committee of industry leaders to influence the company’s future agenda.
The Coadjute Advisory Board will be chaired by Dan Salmons, chief executive at Coadjute, and will include prominent industry leaders from the property industry and regulated services.
The focus of the group will be to shape and guide the strategy and go-to-market priorities of Coadjute, working closely with the senior leadership team.
Maria Harris, a non-executive director at United Trust Bank and Rob Hailstone, founder of Bold Legal Group are the first to be appointed, to be followed by further announcements in February.
By Monidipa Fouzder2021-01-13T11:43:00+00:00
Conveyancing solicitors have signed an open letter urging housing secretary Robert Jenrick to speed up the home buying and selling process by encouraging the widespread adoption of unique property reference numbers (UPRN).
Signatories to the letter, published on the Institute of Residential Property Management’s website, include the Conveyancing Association, a trade body, JMW Solicitors and Bold Legal Group.
Every unit of land and property is allocated a UPRN and geographic coordinates to ensure there is one true record for each address. Local authorities are required to maintain address registers. The address registers, including UPRNs, are submitted to GeoPlace, a central address database. GeoPlace is a limited liability partnership owned by the Local Government Association and Ordnance Survey.