Blog

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the perils of same exchanges and completions
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Conveyancing: Who Cares If Solicitors Act For Both Sides, As Long As It Is Quicker
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When it comes to Conveyancing don't let your estate agent bully you
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Solicitors Bottom of the Probate Fees League: good news for anyone about to make their will.
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Exploded: The Myth of Cheap Wills from Will Writers

Where a £30 Will can turn into a £1700 Bill

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Conveyancing Costs: Who really takes it all?

You may be surprised what percentage of the conveyancing costs goes to your conveyancing solicitors 

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Conveyancing Solicitors: Walk the Walk or Just Talk the Talk?

 

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Waitrose Submit Planning Permission for Store in Chipping Sodbury

 

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 If Bath Win the European Cup: Conveyancing Fees Refunded When You Move Home

 

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Spurs win the Champions League: Your Solicitor Fees paid when you move home between now and then!

 

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Back in the day, (up until 1985) Conveyancing was carried out by Conveyancing Solicitors, either practicing on their own or within a larger firm of Solicitors. In those days, you were more likely to find your Conveyancing Solicitor on the “High...
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I have just posted the second of my Conveyancing Guides as the expert Conveyancer for Yell.com You can find it here "What Exactly is Conveyancing?"        ...
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I have just posted the first of my Conveyancing Guides through Yell.com Over the next few weeks, you will see the Conveyancing process unravel before your very eyes. The Guide will be a handy reference for you at all the various stages in the...
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When you are thinking of selling or buying a property in Frampton Cotterell , near Bristol, South Gloucestershire, what should you be looking for from your Conveyancing Solicitors? Here are a few snippets of information about the village itself some of...
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It was roughly a year ago that I first compiled some quite interesting things about Conveyancing and the Housing Market.   The idea being that if you had the misfortune to sit next to a Conveyancing Solicitor on a bus or at a dinner party, you could...
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When deciding to make your will, it just doesn’t have to be that morbid. Now that you're in a good mood, here are some examples of how grateful your loved ones will feel because you have made a will #1 Jolly Good Reason to Make a Will You can...
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According to a recent survey by law firm Porter Reynolds Chamberlain (RPC), Estate Agents and Surveyors, that’s who. RPC reports that there were 25 commercial and residential High Court cases against estate agents and surveyors in 2009 compared to...
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I saw with interest and if I am honest no little amusement that Quality Solicitors are using Stacey Solomon, the epitome of an Essex girl and an X Factor finalist to open a number of their branches. The latest being in Bristol yesterday. I think I can get...
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With the immediate suspension of Hips being “so last month”, the Law Society has reiterated its desire to continue with reform in the Conveyancing process. The Law Society has said reform of the house selling process is essential to meet the...
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My radar has been honed to new articles on the cause and effect of Chancel Repair Liability Some of you may have read my previous post on Chancel Repair Liability:  King Henry VIII’s Conveyancing legacy . I read with interest the article by ...
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The new Coalition Government suspended HIPs on the 21st May. The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) part of the old HIP Regulations is still retained albeit slightly tweaked, as, European legislation still requires some form of Energy Assessment for all...
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The immediate suspension of HIPS by the new Coalition Government on 21st May has been met by and large with approval by Conveyancing Solicitors, Estate Agents and Surveyors alike. It was much trumpeted by Estate Agents that, once HIPS were out of the way...
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There is now just one surviving component of the erstwhile HIP; the Energy Performance Certificate or inglamoursly the EPC To further alleviate the pain, if you are bored or excited with the World Cup we have a special offer running for the length of the...
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  "Very efficient with good advice..would definitely recommend. Very pleased and totally confident in the service and and the transaction" P. Ball, Old Sodbury August 2010 "very professional and...
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Cast your minds back to 1996 BC ( Before Coalition) and a singular Labour MP got mightily angry about being gazumped on a property because of the delay in achieving an early exchange of contracts. His solution: more information available about the property...
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If your Estate Agent demands you must use “their lawyers” as your Conveyancing Solicitor for the Conveyancing on your home: Don’t be bullied A few examples of such practices have been highlighted recently, where Sellers and Buyers have...
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If you are thinking of moving home after the faux excitement of the general election is out of the way, here is a free download entitled 15 Hot Tips for a Happy House Move from the Clutton Cox Conveyancing section of our website. The new Clutton Cox ...
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A Guest Blog by Rob Hailstone of the Bold Group Recent HIP Survey Results I have had just under 200 responses to a recent Hip survey. Of those who responded, 40% were solicitors or licensed conveyancers, 26% were estate agents and 34% were...
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We have all had enough of the ash cloud, but what the housing market could do with is a cash cloud in the form of increased mortgage approvals. The housing market continues its snail like progress from the depths of 2008 and 2009. But data released this...
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 The Home Information Pack, the HIP, is sustaining incoming fire once again from the Shadow Housing spokesman Grant Shapps: This, despite only a passing reference in the Conservative Manifesto to abolishing HIPs. An unseemly row is developing between...
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Now all the three main parties have released their manifestos we can look at possible changes and effects to the Housing Market in England and Wales. Here is a summary of each parties’ main proposals: Labour • 110,000 new homes over the...
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Your Conveyancing Solicitor will tell you when you are buying your new home whether it is likely to be affected by Radon Gas. This information will be revealed as one of the standard enquiries asked of the Local Authority. Very interesting, but what you...
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This is the fourth in my seasonal series on the prospects for the Housing Market in England and Wales, which began last Spring. Everyone agrees that the market has improved. But, progress has been slow albeit above the expectations of some experts a year...
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Vital Conveyancing on a new development outside Sodding Chipbury, has been delayed and put in peril a couple’s quest to own their dream home First time buyers, Mr. Poor and Miss Unfortunate had been enticed by the strong arm tactical...
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In the good old days, most people asked friends and colleagues for a recommendation when you wanted to find a Solicitor to carry out your Conveyancing or to prepare your Wills. Some were persuaded to “let their fingers do the walking” and...
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First the leak or is that rumour, that Stamp Duty will be abolished on purchases of up to £250,000: Then the reality. The Chancellor Alastair Darling in his budget speech announces a temporary 2 year “stamp duty holiday” for that...
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How the public choose a lawyer is the subject of further research released this week. Commissioned by a comparison website, and reported in the Law Gazette, a YouGov Poll by online solicitor directory www.legallybetter.com found that over one fifth or...
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Guest Blog by Buying Agent, Graham Downie This is another guest blog in our series Spot on Friday. If you are thinking of buying a property in France, you will find interest in Graham's wise words I moved to Cognac in SW France in 2003 having worked in the...
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Google: The Sole Practitioners’ New Best Friend   This article is a synopsis of an hour long talk given by Sole Practitioner, Paul Hajek of Clutton Cox to the Bristol Sole Practitioners group on Thursday 28th January. This article was...
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Last week it was Estate Agents who were all in a paddy at the launch of iSold, Tesco’s joint venture with spicerhaart. Now, it seems it’s the turn of Conveyancing Solicitors to froth at the mouth. We have, the not unexpected news, as...
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New research published by the Ministry of Justice has revealed how the public choose a Conveyancing Solicitor. A sample of people, who had moved house in the last three years, was asked how they had first heard about their Conveyancing Solicitor. Using...
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31 per cent of people who moved home in the last three years obtained an estimate of their legal fees form their Conveyancing Solicitor. 61 per cent were able to obtain fixed fee quotations, whilst 4 per cent walked the tightrope of hourly billing (how...
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The Ministry of Justice (still a bit too Orwellian a title for me) published research this week that most of you when asked, couldn’t describe a good lawyer.  A bit like an elephant really. Know one when you see one but difficult to describe. ...
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The countdown to the World Cup in South Africa stands at 100 days.   So here is the deal. Instruct Clutton Cox, through our website, to carry out your Conveyancing on your sale or purchase within the next 100 days (for those of you who like...
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The first of my award winning (well runner-up actually) posts on the state of the property market in the UK, entitled Twist Stick or Bust? : How to Deal in the Housing Market Spring 2009 was posted almost a year ago.  I shall be posting my...
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 What proportion of the overall legal costs of purchasing a house or flat in the UK goes to your Conveyancing Solicitor? Say you were buying at £350,000. OK that’s a bit above the average but by no means in the realms of the super rich. ...
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A national HIP provider, myhomemove, has given credence to a little reported fact regarding HIPs. This effect of HIPs was also highlighted in a post on this my ActionMove website back in July 2009 entitled “Have HIPs inadvertently Stabilised...
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 Some of you may have read my previous posts on Chancel Repair Liability and King Henry VIII’s Conveyancing legacy . I have been amazed at the interest generated which range from Chancel Repair Liability Insurers to the Wall Street...
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Where can you find out the nitty gritty about selling or buying your home in Chipping Sodbury? This guide will give you a flavour of the area, potential problems you may encounter and the property professionals you are likely to come across. If you are...
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My local road running club the Hogweed Trotters from Chipping Sodbury held their annual awards ceremony on Sunday 7th February. The awards recognise achievement throughout the year from Novice of the Year right up to the club champion. In amongst the...
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I am still living the dream at being nominated for my first award in the primelocation property blog awards Now fifth in a five horse race leaves a lot to be desired, although I prefer the Miss World system of fourth runner up. As it was a live vote as...
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Research published recently shows an alarming 67% of consumers think that all Will Writers are Solicitors. They emphatically are not. Even more worrying, is that 82% of consumers assumed that Will Writers had proper training and qualifications. Consumers...
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The news today that the UK is officially out of recession will be a welcome boost to many industries and service companies. One area which may see at least a positive change in sentiment is the housing market in England and Wales. The Housing Market has...
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What should you be looking for when selling or buying a home in Yate, near Bristol. Here are 10 helpful suggestions to get you on your way:- 1. Yate is about 13 miles north east of Bristol, with good rail and motorway links. The local authority is South...
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Home Information Packs (HIPs) were highlighted again on 7th January with a warning issued to Estate Agents by the Housing Minister John Healy in response to a question in parliament by MP Robert Neill Under the amended HIP regulations which were...
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When asked what solicitors and lawyers do, 68% of respondents in a Poll carried out by YouGov last week expressed little or no knowledge. The results of the Poll of 2033 peopled commissioned by the Legal Services Board in England and Wales were published...
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Choosing your Conveyancing Solicitor when you move home is a daunting task. Moving home can be a stressful time. But who will be right for you. Here are ten steps to choosing your Conveyancing Solicitor. 1. Listen to friends and family who have been moved...
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We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and are pleased we have not sent you completely to sleep with our blogs We have some exciting blogs scheduled for the new year. If there are any legal matters which you would like to see...
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You will be known as having died Intestate, if you die in England and Wales without leaving a valid Will. The ability to decide where your assets will go after your death will be lost. In all but exceptional circumstances (in limited and expensive legal...
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The fictional case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce in Charles Dickens’s Bleak House told a story of a disputed Will and the cost ravages of the legal system. The poor litigants endured years of delay fighting their claim to the Jarndyce estate through the...
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The beleaguered Home Information Pack (HIP) was in the Conservative cross-hairs once again last week. Grant Schapps the Conservative Shadow Housing Minister commented at an industry conference last week, that if the Conservatives were elected at the next...
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“We did not make a Will. A massive mistake, a massive mistake” were the words used by a young widow on the BBC’s One Show recently. The show recounted the circumstances where her fit and athletic husband died whilst playing football at...
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If you are one of the 4 out of 5 Homebuyers who do not have a full survey or a RICS Homebuyers Survey and Valuation carried out on their new home, think again. Many excuses are used for failing to carry out a survey; cost; extensive local knowledge; age of...
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But how do you know that’s what you will get, when you instruct your Conveyancing Solicitor to act for you when you move home You may have heard horror stories of chains breaking down, and Conveyancing Solicitors not doing a great job. More...
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A perennial complaint against solicitors is their propensity to overcharge. The case of a Norfolk Solicitor who is being struck off takes overcharging to a new level. The Solicitor in question was charged with other irregularities, but one complaint...
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When you are buying your property, it is felt by some that your Conveyancing Solicitor is an unnecessary expense. Good advice, in this regard, was provided writing in the Bricks & Mortar section of the Times last Friday. The article entitled “...
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 This is the third in my series on the prospects for the Housing Market in England and Wales in 2009. You can see my previous commentaries here for Spring and here for  Summer. Now is the time to reflect and predict what will happen over the...
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Chancel Repair liability is an ancient medieval law which could still affect your Conveyancing transaction when you buy a property in England and Wales. This is a follow up to a previous article entitled Henry VIII and Chancel Repair Liability: His...
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When it comes to buying and selling your home, its right up there as one of the most stressful things anyone can do! However, it doesn’t have to be like this; with a little forward planning, a touch of patience and great communication it can actually...
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At least one third of people who die fail to make adequate provision for the division of their assets. And 4 out of 5 couples who live together and are not married or in a civil partnership believe they do not need to make a Will. They believe that...
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 More than two thirds of you have not heard anything from your Solicitor, after acting for you, according to research released this week. The YouGov survey was commissioned by the Legal Alliance,  a network of independent medium sized law firms....
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“What if, what if it all goes Pete Tong” or less colloquially “What would you do if it were to go wrong” is perhaps the last phrase you may want to hear when you’re about to set up home with your partner. It is now quite...
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It is a year ago today that I posted my first blog. I was the first solicitor to blog regularly on Conveyancing, and I have added other areas of our expertise as I have gone on, such as Wills and Probate, HIPs and the Housing Market in general. It has...
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When the Law Society launched its consultation paper “Improving Residential Conveyancing”, it was a great opportunity for members of the professions to shape the future of the home buying and selling process. The introduction of HIPs and the...
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A legal Conveyancing nightmare was finally over this week, for a couple forced to auction their home to pay for repairs to their local church, for which they were responsible under an arcane law known as Chancel Repair liability. The Wallbanks sold their...
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The news that the Financial Services Authority has issued its plans to repair the barn doors of the mortgage industry has received a mixed response. Leaving aside obvious jibes about more points scoring than credit scoring, there is at least a return to a...
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When someone dies, you will need to inform a number of people and organisations and complete certain documents needed by law. If you are a relative or friend you can do some of these things yourself. Others will need to be done by the executor or...
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 The news of a mother and children being denied a share of their son’s and father’s estate rams home the perils of not keeping your Will bang up to date. The case which is reported in the news section of the Clutton Cox Solicitors in...
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What are we to make of Grant Shapps comments on HIPs at the Tory Conference last week in Manchester, when he said “HIPs are history, under the next Conservative Government”. With a dodgy grammatical style, perhaps no promotion for Mr. Shapps to...
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Chipping Sodbury based solicitor and England fan Paul Hajek is banking on a Rooney hat-trick in next summer’s World Cup final to boost the local housing market. Paul Hajek, who runs Clutton Cox , one of the country’s oldest law firms, reckons...
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The payment on death of Inheritance Tax has undergone significant changes in the last couple of years. Interestingly, Inheritance Tax becomes one of the main focuses of attention in Party Conference season. The Conservatives stole a march on the...
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The timing of the release of the results, this week, of an Ipsos MORI poll, commissioned by the Association of Home Pack Providers (AHIPP) with the Conservative Party Conference, may be coincidental. The fact that AHIPP is also exhibiting at...
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High Street Solicitors are benefiting from a new campaign launched by the Law Society to increase public awareness of the benefits of using a high street solicitor, under the banner “your solicitor qualified to answer”. At some point in our...
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The Stamp Duty concession which exempts properties purchased under £175000 from paying any Stamp Duty Land Tax expires on 31st December 2009. Thereafter, Stamp Duty will be imposed on any purchase over £125000. The Stamp Duty payable will be...
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  The consultation period to respond to the Law Society’s report Improving Residential Conveyancing closes on tomorrow 18th September. We have listed the Questions posed by the Consultation Paper on Conveyancing together with our response. If...
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 It is considered amongst the popular press that the housing market has changed beyond all recognition since the credit crunch began 2 years ago, and the slowdown then recession of the last 18 months. Yet, the fundamentals of the Housing Market and how...
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I read in the Bristol Law Society magazine Legal Life of the closure by merger of the Bristol firm of Solicitors, Clutton Moore and Lavington. With the closure goes a link in the history of my firm with theirs, for the common denominator was Walter...
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The current ills in the housing Market in England and Wales and the dearth of available mortgage finance were discussed in the Times this week by the eminent economist Ann Pettifor . In it, she blames the accumulation of unaffordable debts over the last...
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The demise of the Cheltenham & Gloucester C&G , it would appear has been greatly exaggerated. On the news of the decision to close the network of C&G offices in June spurred me into eulogising in a post at the loss of the good guys in the...
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The most recent statistics for the mortgage market in England and Wales have shown a small increase in lending. Lending was up 26% in July, but this was still 36 % down from the monies the Banks and Building Societies lent in July 2008 More in depth...
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The Law Society’s consultation on the role of Conveyancing Solicitors in the home buying and selling process in England and Wales is set to close in one month’s time on 18th September. You can have your say on how the Conveyancing process may...
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I have written here and here about the state of the Housing Market in England and Wales during the Spring and Summer 2009. But, how have Landlords fared in all this uncertainty and what are the prospects for Landlords for the rest of summer 2009? ...
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There are so many Conveyancing solicitors to choose from, but where do you start? Even where you have received a recommendation, how do you know that you will really get on well together. There are many Conveyancing Solicitors, who might be regarded as...
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If you take yourself back to heady days of 1997, you may recall the tale of a Labour M.P., who was so appalled by being gazumped on his proposed house purchase, he called for a reform in the Conveyancing and home selling process. Thus, was first mooted the...
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I have just posted an article on the ActionMove website entitled Happy Birthday Home InformationPacks:HIP HIP Hooray?. The article deals with the impact of Home Information Packs,or as they are now universally known, HIPs , on the Housing Market and...
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No, I am not talking about Darren Bent the (still) Tottenham striker who allegedly gave some directed Anglo Saxon words of transfer encouragement to his Spurs chairman via a tweet yesterday. No, I am not talking about Philip Hughes the Australian...
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The mortgage thaw may be underway, but it is clear to me as a Conveyancing Solicitor based in Chipping Sodbury South Gloucestershire , that the pace of issuing a mortgage offer is still painfully slow. Figures issued last week by the British Bankers...
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Tell me about your experiences when you last moved home, your thoughts about Conveyancing, Conveyancing Solicitors and how the home buying process could be improved. Why? Well, the Law Society has launched a consultation process with...
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The turmoil in the mortgage market has thrown up some interesting statistics. Moneyfacts has published data showing that the average shelf life of a mortgage product in June was down to just 14 days from a previous 23 days. The suggested thaw in the...
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There was an interesting discussion on BBC 5Live business this morning regarding the state of the housing market Prior to the introduction of  Home Information Packs (HIPs), a proportion of the properties on the market for sale were by Sellers who...

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