The government-backed help to buy equity loan is a scheme to help buyers purchase new-build properties. Buyers must provide a 5% deposit and provide security for the loan with a second legal charge over the property purchased. The criteria for eligibility will change in 2021 and the scheme will end in 2023. The government intends …
CLC – third party managed accounts (TPMAs)
May 2019 | ConveyancingThe Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is a specialist property regulator which an increasing number of property firms are turning to due to its perceived lighter touch to regulation and its more relaxed rules on the same firm acting for seller and buyer. In a further move to woo more firms, the CLC has issued …
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Long lease – forfeiture
May 2019 | ConveyancingThe CA recently considered an application relating to forfeiture of a long residential lease. The situation leading to forfeiture developed over a number of years. T was a long lessee of a studio flat which she did not live in and which was not occupied. Due to an oversight, T stopped paying insurance and rent …
TPMAs – a reminder
May 2019 | ConveyancingA TPMA is an alternative to the use of a client account. Solicitors firms have been able to hold money in TPMAs since 2017 (under SRA guidance) but not many have taken up the chance. This might change if Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) regulated firms adopt the procedure widely. The SRA issued ethics guidance …
Contracts – rectifying mistakes
May 2019 | CommercialA useful article considers the steps parties can take when an error in a contract is only discovered after it has been signed. The dissatisfied party might ask the court to use their powers to interpret the existing contract terms to give the meaning it is seeking or to rectify the contract in light of …
Loft conversions – an outline
May 2019 | ConveyancingConveyancers are often faced with a property where a loft conversion has been added. The Planning Portal contains useful introductory guidance in this regard. It is not intended to be definitive legal advice but is a useful place to start. Conveyancers could adapt the list below to assist with pre-contract enquires. Loft conversion (roof extension) …
Conveyancing – conflicts
May 2019 | ConductEach month we consider conduct and practice issues relevant to busy practitioners. This month we will consider some of the less obvious conflicts which might arise in a conveyancing matter. The current 2011 Code of Conduct states that a solicitor must not act ‘if there is a conflict, or a significant risk of a conflict, …
Social media – beware defamatory statements
May 2019 | CommercialThe SC has held that the context in which words are used in relation to defamation proceedings is essential. Following the breakdown of their marriage, W made comments about H on Facebook including the words ‘he tried to strangle me’. H brought a defamation claim on the basis that use of the words ‘he tried …
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Submitting OS2 – via Portal
May 2019 | ConveyancingHMLR has updated its instructions on how business e-services customers can apply for an OS2 via the Portal. The instructions contain step by step guidance and remind users to identify which part of the title is covered by: attaching a plan; or identifying a plot that is contained on an estate plan that has been …
Inheritance claim – adult child
May 2019 | Wills, probate and administrationAn adult child (T) has lost her claim under the I(PFD)A 1975 against her father’s £1.3m estate in a ruling bucking the recent trend for successful claims by adult children. The author of this useful article explains the background and analyses the court’s approach to the claim. F left most of his estate to his …