Ten ways to tackle corruption in the planning system
Transparency International has identified five key corruption risks in the English planning system, and has suggested ten practical steps that could keep local authority decisions more legitimate.
Exclusivity in residential property transactions: Is there another way?
Farrer & Co’s legal team outlines four potential solutions to a persistent problem in the conveyancing system…
Interior designer in £1m spat over super-prime Notting Hill townhouse revamp
High society design & build firm Lucinda Sanford Ltd is embroiled in a high-stakes High Court legal dispute with aristocratic property owner Lord Russell over the £4m refurbishment of a super-prime home in Notting Hill.
HM Land Registry now accepts electronic signatures
The Land Registry now accepts “witnessed electronic signatures”. Individual can now sign legal documents electronically, as long as witness is present at the time to also sign the documents electronically.
Estate agents are ‘de facto agents of the Russian state’, claims Parliamentary report
There’s “a growth industry of ‘enablers’ including lawyers, accountants, and estate agents who are – wittingly or unwittingly – de facto agents of the Russian state”, according to the Intelligence & Security Committee’s Russia Report.
Significant leasehold reform proposals promise ‘to transform the future of home ownership in England & Wales’
Commonhold should be the “preferred alternative” to leasehold, says the Law Commission in a series of three important reports that outline how to create “a better deal for leaseholders and make our homes work for us, and not somebody else.”
Building Safety Bill promises ‘the biggest changes to building safety for nearly 40 years’
The Government has published a draft of its Building Safety Bill, including details of the New Homes Ombudsman.
14 key principles for licensed estate agents: Future RoPA Code of Practice opens for consultation
“The new code of practice will look to set standards at a higher level than currently legally set,” says steering committee leader Baroness Hayter. “The ambition of the code is that it will become a requirement for obtaining a licence to practice in the future, which will increase trust across the [residential property] sector.”
New platform promises to ‘thrust property deals into the digital age’
White-label software is designed to ‘dramatically reduce completion times and boost agent revenue’
NCA ‘reassessing’ use of UWOs
Targeting PEPs and oligarchs has proven ‘much more difficult than expected’
Land Registry to accept electronic signatures
“Our hope is that in the near future Qualified Electronic Signatures become more commonplace and the service providers tailor their use to conveyancing,” says Deputy Chief Executive Mike Harlow.
New British sanctions regime clamps down on ‘blood money’ property acquisitions
“Those with blood on their hands, the thugs and despots, the henchmen and dictators, will not be free to waltz into this country to buy up property on the King’s Road,” declares Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.