Homebuying reform

Conveyancers warn Government plan could push up homebuyer fees

Homebuyers could face higher conveyancing fees under Government proposals to redirect some of the...

1,000 borrowers sign mortgage deeds digitally in under three minutes

The first 1,000 customers have signed their mortgage deeds using Qualified Electronic Signatures through...

Half of homes taking longer to sell as regional divide widens

Homes in almost half of Great Britain’s local authority areas are taking longer to...

Revived Help to Buy would inflate prices: Lamdin

Restoring Help to Buy would strengthen developers’ sales without solving the underlying affordability crisis...

HMLR and OS data tie-up targets faster property transactions

HM Land Registry (HMLR) and Ordnance Survey (OS) have agreed a three-year collaboration intended...

PropTech silos prolong mortgage journey, Houzecheck warns

Disconnected property technology is creating new data silos instead of delivering faster mortgage and...

Commonhold reform: Devil in the detail

The government's language on leasehold reform remains forthright. Ministers speak of, “bringing the feudal...

Stamp duty and community ties stall downsizing

Nearly three in five over-65s have considered downsizing but stamp duty, family ties and...

SearchFlow completes first Next Gen NLIS integration

SearchFlow has become the first search intermediary to connect to the next-generation National Land...

Lengthy completions put mortgage offers under pressure

Homebuyers face an average five-month wait between agreeing a sale and completing, increasing the...

Cyberattack disrupts Romanian property transactions

A cyberattack on Romania’s national land registry has disrupted property transactions across the country...

OPDA welcomes Rayner’s return to housing brief

The Open Property Data Association has welcomed Angela Rayner’s return as housing secretary and...

Home movers back digital property packs as support grows for homebuying reform

Most recent home movers support the use of digital property packs and believe the...

More questions now surround the home moving digital journey

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published its highly anticipated...

COMMENT

We need to wait to get a clearer picture

It's been a week where the political and economic backdrop has moved almost as fast as rates themselves, and it's worth taking stock of...

Leasehold valuation reform: the consultation is asking only half the question

The Government's consultation on leasehold enfranchisement valuation rates is important because it will help determine what leaseholders pay to extend leases or buy freeholds,...

What commonhold will mean for mortgage lenders and brokers

Commonhold is often presented as the straightforward alternative to leasehold. It removes the freeholder, gives flat owners greater control and avoids some familiar problems...

Why you need to know what sits behind the average review score

There’s a funny thing about review scores. The better they are, the less likely we are to question them. If a company is sitting at...

The new Chancellor wants to remove barriers to growth; he should start with housing

There was probably a degree of unintended irony in the Treasury choosing to call the Chancellor, John Healey’s, first major market ‘intervention’ his ‘Growth...

Latest news

FCA joins industry partners to tackle protection insurance gap

The Financial Conduct Authority is working with industry, government and consumer groups in an...

Family Building Society appoints Laura Hamp as chief financial officer

Family Building Society has appointed Laura Hamp as chief financial officer and a member...

Buy-to-let market reaches £311.6bn as sector marks 30 years

The UK buy-to-let market has grown to almost two million outstanding mortgages worth £311.6bn,...

Conveyancing Association names Nick Chadbourne as new chair

The Conveyancing Association has appointed former LMS chief executive Nick Chadbourne as its new...

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