buying house

Sydney prices have been soft in early 2024: It's not quite a 'buyer's market' but it is as good a time to find value as we have seen in years. Where are the opportunities in the city and which neighbourhoods should we watch?

In today's show we cover: 

• Taking advantage of a rare lull in the nation's top property market
• Excitement builds around Sydney's new airport zone
• Why one-bedroomed apartments have limited appeal
• What is going on around the future of negative gearing?

Judy Schmidt of Advocate Buyers Agency joins Wealth Editor James Kirby in this episode

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lorraine and Stu have decided to introduce a new feature for Conveyancing Matters!  They will do a roundup every month or so of the conveyancing news items which have caught their eye.

There are lots of great news resources for conveyancers these days; what Lorraine and Stu aim to do is to chat about the hot topics and give tips and hints as to how these will affect conveyancers in practice.  They will no doubt also have a rant about things they disagree with!

In this first news feature, they discuss amongst other things, new announcements from the Land Registry and some of the lessons to come out of the recent IT incident which has befallen a major conveyancing firm.   They hope that you enjoy this new feature – any comments are welcome!

Get in touch if there is anything that you think they should be discussing!

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

In this Conveyancing Matters chat Lorraine and Stu enjoy another chat with Noel Hunter, OBE, Chairman of the Consumer Code for Homebuilders.

Since their last chat with Noel, the New Homes Ombudsman has been appointed and the New Homes Quality Code is due to be published imminently.

Noel chats to Lorraine and Stu about the interaction between the new Code and the Consumer Code for Homebuilders and how they will run alongside each other for the next couple of years until the Consumer Code for Homebuilders is phased out.

Noel is a charismatic and knowledgeable speaker and is committed to improving the rights of consumers, particularly when purchasing a new home.

Noel reminds Lorraine and Stu that there is some very helpful information and guidance for conveyancers on the ‘resources’ section of the Consumer Code for Homebuilders website: https://consumercode.co.uk/resources/

Noel also reminds us that the New Homes Quality Code may cover build quality which, in the light of events of recent years, will be an interesting and important development.  Hopefully, Noel will return to Conveyancing Matters when the new code is published!

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

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In this Conveyancing Matters chat Lorraine and Stu talk about the security incident which has hit a large, high-profile conveyancing group, and continues to have repercussions 3 weeks after it was first reported.

They chat about the cyber and security risks that all conveyancing firms face and the fact that some are suggesting a move back to paper files.

The issue has also renewed discussions about referral fees in conveyancing and the fact that clients often claim not to know about them.  Perhaps clients do not read much of the documentation that conveyancers send to them?

Lorraine and Stu talk about some of the steps which all conveyancing firms should now think about taking to try to mitigate the ongoing challenge and risk of a security breach.

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts.

Lorraine and Stu could not resist the topic of the week in this Conveyancing Matters chat – the all too familiar story of the vicar who lost his house.

The story of the Luton vicar who returned to his house to find that it had been sold by a fraudster has been widely reported in the national media.

As Peter Dodge, who appeared in the Court of Appeal for Mishcon de Reya said:  ‘Dreamvar is back in the news’

Stu and Lorraine discuss the steps that conveyancers should be taking to mitigate the risk of seller fraud and give some useful hints and tips for practitioners.

They also mention Rob Hailstone from BOLD Legal – he has a red flags checklist which must be an essential document for all conveyancers.

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts 

www.adaptlaw.co.uk
www.pcslegal.co.uk

In this Conveyancing Matters chat, Stu chats to Daniel Hamilton-Charlton, Managing Director of Property Searches Direct

They covered a wide range of topics including the various products and reports that Daniel’s company offers to conveyancers and consumers
But they really opened up when talking about the relationship between the conveyancer and the estate agent. 

This is still a central relationship to many conveyancing transactions – but is it broken?

Do estate agents know or care these days what conveyancers do? 

Once again, the importance of up-front information in the conveyancing process is raised and we are reminded that conveyancing is many things – but it is not a tick box exercise. 

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts 

In this Conveyancing Matters chat, Lorraine and Stu talk about the extent to which new ways of working in conveyancing is changing the skill set of many conveyancers.

The 2008 financial crash saw many experienced conveyancers leave the market and not return. This, the pandemic and pressures of the last 18 months have contributed to a shortage of skilled conveyancers which is presenting recruitment issues for conveyancing firms.

Stu and Lorraine talk about how the job has fundamentally changed, largely as a result of external regulatory pressures and the willingness of clients to complain or threaten to sue now – which leaves us with a very different conveyancing landscape to the profession that they both entered.

Is this a good thing for the conveyancing market?  Do clients need someone who can deal with the entire transaction for them from beginning to end or is the silo approach working?

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts.

Lorraine and Stu chat to Chartered Legal Exec, property lawyer and all-round lovely guy, Ewan Treadgold.

Lorraine and Ewan first met when they worked together in Cambridge – they did not hit it off to start with – but a few jaeger bombs set them right!

Ewan joins Lorraine and Stu to chat about the new way to qualify as a solicitor, the Solicitor’s Qualifying Examination (SQE) and why he wants to put himself through the pain of evening classes again!

We talk about Ewan’s new role at Howes Percival and of some of the challenges of changing jobs during a pandemic

They also have an interesting chat about the importance for conveyancers of having a good property litigator to hand to help with those conveyancing related problems such as disputes and boundaries.

Are you thinking of becoming a solicitor? Would you prefer the Legal Practice Course or the new SQE?

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on Spotify and apple podcasts 

Lorraine and Stu were delighted to catch up with Simon Brown and Ben Marley to talk about the ESTAS.

Simon is the founder of the ESTAS, which is the customer review and awards platform designed for conveyancers and estate agents, to name but two of the property professionals who use the platform.

Simon set up the ESTAS 18 years ago and Ben has joined as the sales director and the annual awards event has gone from strength to strength.

We talk about what makes the ESTAS different and the fact that we are all looking forward to the awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel on 22 October!  

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on Youtube, Spotify and apple podcasts.

Lorraine and Stu finally caught up with the Hound of Holborn himself, the delightful Charlie Davidson, associate solicitor, Bishop and Sewell. 
Lorraine was thrilled to get two of her favourite lawyers together on the same zoom! 

They chatted about the (shhh) SDLT ‘holiday’ (it wasn’t a holiday for conveyancers) and we asked Charlie how he became the ‘Hound’!
We chew the fat about how joyful it is being on hold to a bank for over 2 hours – a pretty regular experience for conveyancers these days and Charlie tells us about his client, Les Davidson….

And Charlie introduces us to the brilliant quote – that arguing with people on the internet is like ‘throwing your shoes at the sky’!

And you need to hear about the hammer house (of horror!)!

Charlie also reminds us that conveyancing is a fun job and you have got to laugh sometimes. What a great outlook.

Do you agree that it is still fun..??!!

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on Spotify and apple podcasts 

www.pcslegal.co.uk
www.adaptlaw.co.uk

Lorraine and Stu are delighted that their first post SDLT  ‘holiday’ guest is Beth Rudolf, Director of Delivery at The Conveyancing Association.

Beth has a wealth of experience across the property sector, so she is well placed to talk about the challenges and opportunities in the coming months and years.

Beth gives an update on the work of The Home Buying and Selling Group – upfront information, harnessing tech, new forms and property logbooks are just a few of the projects in hand.

We ask her to pick the top two things that she would introduce tomorrow to improve the conveyancing process.  

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on Spotify and apple podcasts 

www.pcslegal.co.uk
www.adaptlaw.co.uk

Fat C**t

W**k*r

Bunch of shi*s

This is language that has been levelled at conveyancers by clients in recent weeks – unacceptable, isn’t it?

In this Conveyancing Matters chat, Lorraine and Stu discuss a difficult subject – the abuse that conveyancers can face from their clients.

We all know that moving house is stressful and that the SDLT deadlines have made everything worse.  But clients must take responsibility for their actions.

They discuss the importance of zero tolerance of such behaviour and why this has become a problem.

Has this happened to you?

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts.

This Conveyancing Matters chat Lorraine and Stu mull over the approach of yet another SDLT deadline amongst other points of irritation!

Is 30 September SDLT deadline still a big deal for conveyancers?

Has the #BeKind campaign made a difference? Has the message been put into practice? Are conveyancers feeling more loved?

Conveyancers are quieter on social media than they were in June – so did we call the next SDLT deadline right? Is it all over?
And can we sort all of the conveyancing woes with a £495 indemnity policy? And should everyone do their own conveyancing? (Spoiler alert: no)

And another thing - conveyancers are not very good at self-promotion.

So many points covered!

How are you finding workloads or #BeKind?

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts 

This Conveyancing Matters chat might be a bit controversial! Stu and Lorraine discuss the abundance of conveyancing search products that are now available for property purchases.

There is no doubt that many of the products provide helpful information for buyers, whether on issues such as local schools or air quality. However, the issue for conveyancers is whether they should take on the responsibility for supplying and advising on such a dizzying array of searches, and pre-contract information.

They discuss the pitfalls for conveyancers, some case law, and comments from the Law Society in both a practice note and the Conveyancing Handbook. 

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts.

www.pcslegal.co.uk

www.adaptlaw.co.uk

This is the second of Stuart and Lorraine's Conveyancing Matters Birthday chats.

They talked about some of the positive things to come out of the strange year that conveyancers have just had, and mulled over more of their lovely guests!

Find our podcasts on Spotify and apple podcasts

http://www.pcslegal.co.uk/
http://www.adaptlaw.co.uk/

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

In the first of the birthday chats, Stu and Lorraine celebrate the first year of Conveyancing Matters!

They talk about the tumultuous and unprecedented year that conveyancers have faced and mention some of the fantastic guests who have been kind enough to join them.

Do you have a favourite guest or chat?

What did they talk about that interested you?

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts. 

In this Conveyancing Matters chat, Stu and Lorraine talk about an important issue that has vexed conveyancers for years – redemption statements from mortgage lenders

They talk about early redemption penalties and the problems of the lenders expecting the penalties to be paid when an undertaking has been given to pay a lower figure

Should conveyancers obtain the penalty figure from their clients? Once again, this leaves the conveyancer in a difficult position

They discuss the joint Law Society/mortgage lenders statement on redemption statements and whether it helps at all

And what about the situation where an indicative redemption figure does not include commercial borrowing or all mortgage accounts?

They give some tips on how to deal with these problems.

But what do you do? Have you been caught?

And what do the mortgage lenders think?

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts.

http://www.pcslegal.co.uk/
http://www.adaptlaw.co.uk/

In this Conveyancing Matters chat, Stu and Lorraine talk about the aftermath of the end of the SDLT holiday on 30th June.

They talk about the impact on staff and clients and the fact that new instructions are not tailing off.

The massive workload of recent months will now be passed to more unsung heroes – those who deal with post-completion work.

Will conveyancing staff be able to take their holiday?  We are in a perfect storm: no one being able to take holiday for 6 months, lots of holiday carried over from 2020 and yet another SDLT cliff edge on 30th September.

Stu also asks the somewhat profound question ‘What is normality?’ (And, just to add some spice, Stu’s lips and the audio might not match up!)
How are you finding the post 30 June workplace? Any easier?

Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

http://www.adaptlaw.co.uk/

http://www.pcslegal.co.uk/

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts

In this Conveyancing Matters chat, Stu and Lorraine talk about the topic that none of us can avoid – how was the busiest day in the history of conveyancing?

They have no nuggets, no advice, no tips – they just chat about how the busiest day in the conveyancing diary went.

There were issues with lenders, lots of hanging on the phone and some long hours – but the banking system didn’t crash!

And they talk about the unsung heroes – the fantastic people in the accounts departments who have kept conveyancing departments going and the funds flowing.

The SDLT ‘no-holiday-for-conveyancers’ is nearly over.
Hang in there – heads down – nearly there!
Have your completions completed? Any problems?
Remember, this is just a chat and our opinions, not advice!

Find our podcasts on YouTube, Spotify and apple podcasts.

www.adaptlaw.co.uk
www.pcslegal.co.uk