BREAKING NEWS – top 5 stories 23/02/2021
CONVEYANCING TASK FORCE COMES INTO BEING
Two years in the making the ‘Conveyancing Task Force’ a collaboration of; The Bold Legal Group – Rob Hailstone, The Law Society – David Greene, The Society of Licensed Conveyancers, The Conveyancing Association, CILEx, sees the light of day. Chaired by Simon Law, The driver behind the inniative, chaired by Simon Law is to, ‘help the profession manage the transition into the digital future and identify opportunities for improving the process’.
The specific areas they will focus on are codes of practice, electronic signatures, property logbooks, universal protocols, codes of practice, fraud prevention, vendor disclosure and a number of other areas where a unified approach will speed the archaic and scattergun approach, with different stakeholders working in disparate manners.
Given the recent debacle over WFH, and the conveyancing bottleneck, the utilisation of modern technology within the conveyancing process cannot come soon enough.
FOXTONS FOR SALE OR BUYING UP THE COMPETITION?
Something is going on, but it is not clear what, that is the situation with Foxtons at present. Their share price had recently rallied with whispers they might be for sale, now there are counter noises that they are looking to buy up a complimenting smaller agency Douglas & Gordon, especially for its lettings profile.
Last year it raised 20M as a buffer, so in theory could use cash in any strategic deal it moves on, but its recent trading position, though staunching some the losses of the previous trading year do not exactly put it in pole position. Time will tell.
HOUSING MARKET UPDATE
Unemployment is presently set at 5.1% with Furlough looking to end soon, though in the budget less than two weeks away the Chancellor may extend its terms. Many agents are saying that buyers want to buy, but given it is now ticking into the traditional pre-Easter period where most sales occur, and most FRB’s are active this is really not news at all.
The bae rate will remain low, could even go negative, but the biggest factor will be market sentiment, which give there is a route map to the end of lockdown might see an uptick, or if unemployment hits 7%, might suffer a reverse, once again the housing market is not an easy one to gauge.
THE RACE IS ON FOR OPENWORK
Known to many in the UK real estate sector Openwork – has renamed itself ‘The Openwork Partnership’ with the eschewed intention of becoming, the county’s number one leading point of advice. With over 4,000 advisers and nearly 700 firms within it, seems that many are now clambering to be seen by agents and the public as the authority in the lending sector.
THE RACE IS ON FOR OPENWORK
Known to many in the UK real estate sector Openwork – has renamed itself ‘The Openwork Partnership’ with the eschewed intention of becoming, the county’s number one leading point of advice. With over 4,000 advisers and nearly 700 firms within it, seems that many are now clambering to be seen by agents and the public as the authority in the lending sector.
THE ENFANT TERRIBLE NEIL WOODFORD WILL HE RISE AGAIN? ZARA IS NOT SO SURE
Neil Woodford’s much heralded return to the financial services sector with an enterprise that will span Jersey and my home county of Buckinghamshire, has been met with a barrage of obstacles not least the FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority here and its twin regulatory entity the JFC, the Jersey Financial service commission. He needs to have their blessing before moving forward.
Mr Woodford was a key backer of Purplebricks and for a time that was a shrewd investment for all seeing values on the AIM rise significantly from a 93p start position, his fund then hit stormy waters due to an over reliance on as yet un-proven portfolio of other tech offerings. Zara says she definitely will not look to invest if young Neil does get to go again.
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