Author: Benjamin

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: The cost of conveyancing increased by 11.9% between Q1 2024 and Q1 2025, reallymoving’s Conveyancing Costs Index for Q1 2025 reveals. Home movers (buying and selling) now pay a total of £2,434 – a record high, while costs increased by 2.2% in Q1 2025 compared to the previous quarter. Adjusted for inflation, conveyancing costs grew by 1.6% in the last quarter and 8.8% year-on-year. In total, 10 out of 12 UK regions saw quarterly price rises, the highest being in the North East (+6.5%) Period Purchase Fees Inc. Disbursements &…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Letting agents must ensure that they are fully prepared for the new regulatory requirements introduced today. Letting agents are now required to screen all landlords, tenants, and — where applicable — beneficial owners of corporate landlords or tenants against the UK Sanctions List. Any positive matches must be reported immediately to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). While some agents will inevitably see the new rules as a burden, others view it as an opportunity to streamline their operations and enhance compliance processes. Goodlord’s head of referencing, Nishma Parekh,…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: The House of Lords’ recognition during Monday 13 May’s discussion on amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill as it passes through Committee Stage in the Upper House, that the regulation of property agents (RoPA) must become a reality has been welcomed by Propertymark.  However, the professional body also called for a firm timetable from the UK Government to implement mandatory qualifications for property agents.    Lord Best and other senior peers referenced Propertymark’s stances on this issue alongside calling for professional standards and a market balance between the private rental…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: An estate agent who stole a deposit he dishonestly demanded from a client to reserve a property and later threatened his boss has avoided going to prison. Danny Wood, 47, told Michael Dove he needed to pay £750 when he put his house on the market, and ushered him outside before he handed over the cash. Weeks later, when no offers had been made, Dove called the office to take it off the market and get his money back – but was told Wood had left the company, was currently…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Strutt & Parker and its parent company BNP Paribas Real Estate are relocating their Cambridge office to M&G Real Estate’s Brooklands campus. The company will occupy 1,700 sq ft on the ground floor of the B1 building, which is located on the corner of Clarendon Road and Brooklands Avenue.  Etienne Prongué, CEO of BNP Paribas Real Estate UK, said: “Following our recent investment in our Bristol office, our move to Brooklands underlines our long-term commitment to a regional model that reflects the way our people want to…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Almost three-quarters (72%) of conveyancers are confident in the stability of the current market, up from 55% of those surveyed in the first, but report little sign of the transaction process speeding up. The results form part of the latest quarterly Confidence Tracker recently launched by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) to gauge the views of the profession on the existing state of home buying and selling market. Conveyancers have perhaps been buoyed by the success of the recent rush by home buyers to complete before the stamp duty…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Steve Lamb Spicerhaart has commissioned its own video app to help more buyers get a complete picture of their new home. Developed in the Ukraine, the video app for mobile phones empowers the estate agency group’s nationwide sales teams to film, edit, and upload professional-quality branded videos, including house tours, in minutes. Steve Lamb, chief information officer, said video house tours which can be viewed online were already an important part of the group’s sales offer. He explained: “Our high-quality photographs spark interest and drive enquiries – but video offers…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Connells Group has completed a double acquisition of The Property Store in East Kilbride and Campbell & Dean in Falkirk. Both businesses will rebrand into Connells Group’s Scottish brand, Slater Hogg & Howison, which already operates in Falkirk and East Kilbride, with new and existing colleagues joining forces to offer an elevated service and maintain trusted client relationships in each location. Campbell & Dean and The Property Store have strong local presence, and collectively add almost 900 properties to Connells Group’s significant lettings portfolio. Chris Rosindale, Connells…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: LSL, the parent company of Reeds Rains and Your Move, has issued a shareholder circular and notice of General Meeting as part of a proposed updated remuneration policy, designed to boost earnings for directors and senior executives at the company. Following the publication of LSL’s Annual Report and Accounts 2024, the board says it has been reviewing both the remuneration policy for executive directors and the broader remuneration approach to ensure it is effective. This comes just six weeks since the LSL announced it full year results to 31 December…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: The Welsh government has committed to undertake a Welsh Housing Survey for 2026–27 in a move that has been broadly welcomed by the housing industry. In a statement, Jayne Bryant, cabinet escretary for housing and local government, said: “I am pleased to update Members of the Senedd that I have just approved a business case to undertake a Welsh Housing Survey in 2027-28 “The last survey – a national housing conditions survey, was delivered in 2017-18 and I know many stakeholders, including members of the Housing and Local Government Committee,…