We have been made aware that the estimated turnaround time for regulated Local Searches in the Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council area is currently 40 working days.
This is due to a technical problem the council have with an internal system, which is causing significant delays. The estimated turnaround time for official Local Searches in this area is currently 85 working days.
If you do have an urgency with any particular case, or if unexpected delays have put the transaction at risk of collapse, we can support you with OneSearch Express, our indemnity policy which provides a data-rich alternative to standard No-Search Insurance, as it also includes a comprehensive report pertinent to a client’s property. Typically returned in just 24-48 hours, Express provides the majority of data (over 70%) that you would typically obtain from Local Authorities, meaning you and your client can complete quickly, and with more confidence.
Our clients have been using Express since 2015 for instances where search delays have put transactions at risk of collapse, and our claims record is exemplary: there are no claims resulting from our Express searches. This is due to the accuracy of our data, and triple quality check methodology. No other company exists with our dataset, comprised of real-time and historical CON29 data.
If you would like more information about OneSearch Express, please email intro@onesearchdirect.co.ukor call 01782 433270.
Few people are likely to forget 2022.
It was the year we lost Her Majesty; The Queen and King Charles III took the throne. No 10 had three residents since September, inflation reached its highest level since 1982, and the base interest rate, which sat at under 2% since January 2009, rose to 3.5%. As for residential property prices, house prices fell for the fourth consecutive month in December, the worst run since 2008, according to Nationwide. The lender’s final House Price Index of 2022 showed average prices fell 0.1% on a monthly basis to £262,068.”
The biggest challenge facing the industry in 2022 was what could be considered the fifth horseman of the apocalypse – uncertainty. Loathed by consumers and businesses alike, uncertainty, especially in the chaotic month of October (remember that career-ending mini-budget) caused Zoopla to report a 40% transaction fall-through rate during the tenth month of the year.
We sat down with the Managing Director of OneSearch, Elizabeth Jarvis and Robin Wells, the Head of Sales Operations to discuss their thoughts on what lies ahead for the property market in 2023.
The economic outlook for 2023 – a protracted but shallow recession.
Although the UK narrowly avoided tipping into a recession in 2022, the latest report by KPMG (Dec 2022) estimates a lengthy downturn throughout 2023, but with the overall drop in economic activity being relatively modest when compared to previous recessions. Unemployment is expected to remain low, and inflation is set to fall to 4% by the end of the year and hit the target of 2% by mid-2024. As for interest rates, the Bank of England’s base rate is predicted to reach 4% by the end of Q1, dropping to 3.25% at the close of 2024.
What will higher interest rates mean for households? KPMG conclude that although mortgages are the largest component of household debt in the UK, two-thirds of mortgage debts are held by the top half of the wealth distribution, which is also where excess savings accumulated during the pandemic are concentrated:
“With households paying around £14bn in interest (on mortgages and other debt) every quarter, and the stock of excess savings around £86bn, it would in aggregate be enough to cover a doubling of interest payments over six quarters, effectively getting households through the recession. Unemployment is expected to peak at a relatively lower level during the current recession, meaning more households are likely to retain their main source of income. In addition, households are likely to be less leveraged due to more conservative lending criteria, which saw a fall in the share of high LTV mortgages (at a loan-to-value ratio of 90% and above) to 4.5% by 2022 Q3 compared to a peak of nearly 15% in 2007.”
Robin Wells added:
“The energy crisis plays a big part in the decision to move home. For some, it will practically wipe out the prospect of “up-sizing” and with energy bills set to increase again from April the cost of energy is as big a factor as interest rates when it comes to home buying and selling decisions.”
With the predictions for the overall economy set out above, let us examine what all this means for the property sector and Conveyancers.
A year of real estate market stability and confidence? – It is looking positive
The fact that despite 2022 being so traumatic in terms of uncertainty, as evidenced above, house prices still rose by 5.6% on the previous year. This confirms that there remains an appetite to buy and sell property. And according to our Residential Property Trends Report for Q4 2022, the market sat in a holding pattern at the end of last year whilst buyers and sellers waited to see what the New Year would bring in terms of interest rates and new mortgage products.
With interest rates peaking in the first quarter of 2023 and then stabilising, affordable mortgages will begin to return. In conjunction, house prices should continue to fall levelling up the playing field and bringing confidence to first-time buyers.
Commenting on how stakeholders in the property sector can successfully navigate the first few months of the year, Elizabeth Jarvis said:
“The biggest factor stalling the housing market right now is uncertainty. Interest rates must stabilise, and lenders must be clear about their intentions and lending strategies. Mortgage products need to be open to a wider range of the market and mortgage rates need to settle. House prices are consistently reducing and with all these factors I have no doubt the housing economy will become reinvigorated as the year progresses.”
Tips for successfully navigating a complex 2023 property market
Due to an ageing population and the post-pandemic trend of early retirement, almost every country in the developed world is suffering from severe skill shortages. Combine this with low birth rates and there is no escaping the fact that to compete effectively, law firms, along with many other industries, will need to continue to embrace technology. Research recently conducted and released by OneSearch’s parent company Landmark shows over 65% of senior property solicitors and conveyancers acknowledge task automation has made their business more profitable.
For Conveyancers and legal professionals, affordable and supported technology provides a path to speeding up the conveyancing process and thereby acquiring market share from competing practices. In addition, technology can mitigate risks associated with particular elements of the conveyancing transaction, for example, creating manual reports on title. In today’s marketplace, where dissatisfied clients are usually more than happy to leave harsh Google/Trustpilot reviews, ensuring your conveyancing department has access to the technology-based solutions it needs to provide swift, accurate, responsive client service must be a priority for all law firm managers in 2023.
Our parent company Landmark have released their Residential Conveyancing and Home Movers’ experiences in 2022 guide, revealing the experiences from both sides of the conveyancing landscape.
Within the guide, you can discover:
- The four biggest causes of delays for residential conveyancers
- Which changes would improve the buying experience most
- Levels of buyer-concern around problems arising post-purchase
- The extent to which recruitment is still a challenge in the industry
This guide is part of a series of market research analysis, conducted in late 2022, in which over 140 senior residential conveyancers and commercial real estate lawyers, along with colleagues and 501 home movers were surveyed. Over the coming weeks future reports on Digital Transformation and Climate Change will also be available.
Download the guide, explore the commonalities that may help professionals in the land and property industry to make more robust decisions in line with home movers’ needs.
At OneSearch, we are committed to ensuring that our customers receive the highest quality property information available. All data we obtain is verified and put through quality assurance checks to guarantee accuracy, and our historical database allows us to carry out stringent checks to support this.
As a result of the cyber attack suffered at Gloucester City Council last December, we have recently found instances where some land charge or planning data obtained from the Local Authority may be absent from some results.
Whilst we will ensure to uphold our obligation to provide the highest quality of information, we are advising customers ordering searches in this area to consider obtaining an insurance indemnity policy to protect against any potential missing information.
For any immediate questions, please get in touch with our Customer Services team on 0800 052 0117 and we will be more than happy to assist you.
We are pleased to announce our partnership with Armalytix, the open banking platform which streamlines the collection of data for the professional and financial service industries.
Armalytix’s Source of Funds technology will now be available to OneSearch clients, helping to support them by providing best in class solutions that enhance their business. Through the partnership with Armalytix, OneSearch clients can have access to Armalytix’s Source of Funds analysis, questionnaires and reports which provide a simple, visual way for lawyers to gather the correct source of funds information from their clients to manage compliance and money laundering risks.
The relationship comes at an important time with both the SRA & CLC stating at the recent Legal Eye Risk & Compliance conference in Birmingham that the regulatory focus on AML is not going away anytime soon. The partnership will support conveyancers moving to electronic digital methods, rather than using paper and manual processes, helping to mitigate the reputational and financial risk that companies are currently placing themselves under, as shown by the SRA’s recent fine of a firm for wrongly saying it had a proper AML risk assessment.
Robin Wells, Head of Sales Operations, OneSearch, comments:
“Working with Armalytix represents another positive step in with which OneSearch Is assisting conveyancers with due diligence in a more dynamic and efficient way. The decision for us to partner with Armalytix was an easy one, we feel it’s the most comprehensive and most effective solution in the market”
Tom Lyes, Head of Legal and Property at Armalytix, stated:
“Our vision to create a form free future fits in perfectly with OneSearch’s mission to offer a complete solution to the property transaction. Our Source of Funds tool ensures that clients can meet AML and fraud checks for compliance and regulatory purposes, and digitises the process, allowing for a better client experience. We’re excited to be supporting OneSearch as one of the most trusted brands in the conveyancing world.”
To launch the new partnership, OneSearch and Armalytix are delighted to invite you to an upcoming webinar.
‘Tackling Source of Funds with Armalytix & OneSearch’ will take place on the 27th July. You can sign up for this webinar for free by clicking here, or find out more information here.
If you can’t make this date, but would like a recording afterwards, email us here.
To find out more about Armalytix via OneSearch, download their product card, sample report, alternatively please call the OneSearch Service Introduction Team on 01782 433 270 or email intro@onesearchdirect.co.uk.
Changes are afoot in the Conveyancing Quality Scheme’s (CQS) Core Practice Management Standards.
From 1 May 2022, accredited conveyancers will be required to comply with changes relating to Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders Handbook for conveyancers acting on behalf of lenders in residential conveyancing transactions. Part 2 of the handbook sets out the specific instructions for each lender – of which more than 120 in England and Wales alone.
What’s changed?
The updated Core Practice Management Standards (CPMS) state:
“Practices must have a policy for dealing with Lenders which must:
6.4: b. Contain a procedure to ensure that Part 2 of the UK Finance Handbook is checked by a fee earner to ascertain the lender’s standard requirements, as well as those specific to a transaction, and for verifying that all of those requirements have been satisfied, prior to exchange and recording on the file that the check has been carried out.”
With lenders able to update their Part 2 requirements at any time, the challenge for conveyancers will be keeping track of lenders’ changes (which, overall, can exceed 100 in a single month) when ensuring and demonstrating compliance with the updated CPMS. Currently, the UK Finance website flags the date of lenders’ last updates, but not the specific questions or changes. If conveyancers fail to meet the lenders’ very latest requirements under the CPMS, they risk insurance claims, panel and accreditation status and reputational risk.
Making compliance easier – and quicker
Conveyancers can ensure compliance and delegate time-intensive checking and re-checking of lender requirements over the transaction period by adding a Navro LC-5 Lender Check report for the lender in question to their OneSearch order.
The report flags changes clearly by showing updates side by side, which enables fee earners to quickly spot new and additional requirements and ensure that these are met in the conveyancing process. What’s more, conveyancers can run time-stamped updates on their report up to five times during a transaction to ensure and demonstrate compliance throughout the process.
The key benefits include:
- Old and New answers shown in summary for instant comparison
- Easy to use – simply complete the relevant details
- Updated at the click of a button, 24/7
- Refresh your results up to five times per case
- Available for any lender listed by UK Finance
- Standardise Practice procedures
- Protect your PI insurance
Getting ready for the Conveyancing Quality Scheme’s (CQS) Core Practice Management Standards couldn’t be easier. Find out more about the LC-5 Lender Check report here, and watch our quick video on how to order on our portal here.
Want to discuss how the LC-5 Lender Check report can benefit you and your firm? Call the OneSearch Service Introduction Team on 01782 433 270 or email intro@onesearchdirect.co.uk