Don't worry, we haven't gone all Shakespearean on you!

It sounds like such a basic thing, but you’d be surprised at how few people actually know who their conveyancer is throughout the conveyancing process.

Online conveyancing, as we’ve said often in the past, is a great way to handle the legal side of moving home. However, with some online conveyancing websites, you need to be careful that you know exactly who will be handling your conveyancing process.

Know your conveyancer inside and out

Some websites will claim to offer conveyancing services (often at ludicrously cheap headline conveyancing fees) but ...

Searching for the right conveyancer to look after your move can be a bit of a mission and, if you’re a smart shopper, you’ll have received several quotes from several different conveyancing firms.

Whilst every conveyancer’s quote is different (some add more than others!) a conveyancing quote, in essence, will always contain the same sort of things.

What’s included in my conveyancing quote?

A conveyancing quote is basically split into two parts; the legal fee and the disbursements.

Legal Fee

The legal fee is a professional fee designed to cover things like the risk to the conveyancing firm during the ...

The early birds amongst you may have witnessed a fascinating phenomenon on Sunday morning as a “supermoon” graced the night skies.

The supermoon (or Perigee Full Moon, to give its proper name) means the Moon appears up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual.

Super Moon, Super Conveyancing

At 1^st Property Lawyers our enhanced conveyancing service has its own supermoon like qualities.

Not only is it loads better than a normal conveyancing service – with the ability to view and upload documents directly into your online case file – it’s also, on average, 35% quicker than a normal ...

Here’s an unlikely tie up for you – London buses will be getting help saving fuel thanks to some nifty technology…straight out of Formula One racing.

It’s thought that special flywheels, developed by the Williams F1 team, could save bus companies up to 30% on the cost of fuelling up their fleets.

In the conveyancing market, 1^st Property Lawyers are very familiar with traditional things being given a helping hand by technology – after all, that’s exactly what we’ve done to the conveyancing process!

Our enhanced conveyancing service knocks old fashioned conveyancing out of the water and has ...

The Stamp Duty deadline has been and gone and it’s safe to say 1^st Property Lawyers broke all sorts of records getting as many 1^st time buyers into their new homes in time to beat the tax increase.

However, after the rush comes the inevitable slow down and e.serv, the Chartered Surveyors, have highlighted the fact that March saw the lowest figures for mortgage applications since December 2010.

There was also a 7% fall in the number of mortgages approved between March 2011 and March 2012.

All of which makes it vitally important that you do everything possible ...

It sounds like such a trivial thing but when it comes to conveyancing knowing who is looking after the legal side of your move is vitally important.

In times gone by it was easy to get to know your conveyancer because you probably had to go in and visit them in their office at some point or another!

Nowadays those kinds of conveyancing services just aren’t convenient for movers and online conveyancing is the preferred option for many. However, unless you’re careful and know what to look for in a specialist conveyancing firm, you could end up trusting to ...

Royal Mail’s recent announcement that they will be increasing the price of 1^st and 2^nd class mail will no doubt come as a blow for many conveyancers in the UK.

First class mail will cost 30% more from the end of April, with second class mail increasing by 39%.

Traditionally, the conveyancing process involves a lot of post being sent; not just between the mover and their conveyancing lawyer, but also between the two sets of conveyancers.

So the price hikes by the Royal Mail could very well see an increase in conveyancing fees from some conveyancing firms ...

We’re sure we’re not the only ones secretly grateful that April Fool’s Day fell on a Sunday this year.

Practical jokes can be pretty amusing but when it comes to conveyancing fees the last thing you want is to fall for any tricks.

For some conveyancing firms, however, it seems as if trickery is a valid form of advertising their conveyancing services. One example of this that we’ve seen with our own eyes is for a conveyancer to advertise a “no move no fee” policy but state way down in the small print that this will cost you a fee....

So, you’re all ready to move house. But how do you choose who looks after the legal side of your move? You know it’s complicated, you know it needs to be handled by a professional…but do you go with a Solicitor or a Licensed Conveyancer?

When it comes to conveyancing the two are very similar. In fact, the main difference lies in the regulatory bodies – all solicitors practising in England and Wales must be registered with the Law Society and are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Licensed Conveyancers, on the other hand, are also regulated, but by ...

The expert conveyancers here at 1^st Property Lawyers will be breathing a big sigh of relief today…and not just because the weather is glorious!

Over the past few weeks the property and conveyancing markets have been going crazy with first time buyers rushing to complete purchases before the Stamp Duty Holiday ended on the 24^th of March.

We’ve had record levels of business here at 1^st Property Lawyers but, thanks to the expertise and knowledge of our specialist conveyancing lawyers there are now thousands of first time buyers enjoying their new homes – stamp duty free!

And ...

Stamp Duty avoidance schemes have been directly targeted by the Chancellor George Osborne as part of his 2012 Budget Statement.

Stamp Duty on properties over £2m will now be charged at 7%, and properties bought via companies ( a popular way of avoiding Stamp Duty Land Tax in the past) will now attract a whopping 15% tax rate.

Commenting on the new top level of stamp duty announced in the Budget, Mark Montgomery, commercial director of 1^st Property Lawyers said:

“It seemed inevitable from very early on in the Budget negotiations that property would bear the brunt of ...

“Beware the ides of March” was the warning to Julius Caesar, shortly before he was stabbed to death by a group of his closest friends and advisers.

Not the most appropriate way, you might think, to start an article on conveyancing services and the conveyancing process…but you’d be wrong.

The point we’re making (albeit slightly clumsily) is that it’s very hard to know which conveyancing firms to trust, especially if they look great at first glance because of their cheap conveyancing fees.

If you get taken in by the promise of cheap conveyancing however, it’s only a matter of time ...

1^st Property Lawyers are at it again!

We’re making the conveyancing process even easier for our movers by letting them see what people have to say about our conveyancing services in the area of England and Wales you are moving to.

We know that conveyancing reviews are a great way to get an idea of how good a conveyancing firm is but it’s also important to find out how good a conveyancing firm is in the area you’re looking to move in.

Our new Conveyancing Reviews Finder shows movers all of the reviews 1^st Property Lawyers have had ...

Any conveyancer could say that about their conveyancing service – even though it’s blatantly untrue in the case of some conveyancing solicitors.

The proof in the pudding, however, is when customers leave conveyancing reviews like this having experienced the conveyancing service for themselves firsthand.

With the online feedback service Feefo, movers can find out what the conveyancing service is like at 1^st Property Lawyers simply by reading all of the conveyancing reviews left for us.

1^st Property Lawyers are the only conveyancer brave enough to publish independent conveyancing reviews online – that’s how confident we are in our ...

A report by the Legal Ombudsman has issued a stark warning to conveyancing solicitors claiming they will not survive if they continue to resist consumer demands for fairer pricing.

The Ombudsman goes on to state that complaints around costs are almost always linked to a lack of communication, with consumers baffled by jargon like ‘disbursements’ and angry when initial estimates have been exceeded.

Whether or not conveyancing solicitors take such advice on board is a separate issue entirely but at 1^st Property Lawyers we’ve made it our mission to create the simplest, most transparent and reasonably priced conveyancing service...

2011 saw a collapse in business for High Street solicitors handling conveyancing cases analysis of HMLR data has found.  The research conducted by online conveyancer 1^st Property Lawyers* also found that cases are increasingly being handled by larger firms of specialist conveyancers and solicitors as consumers vote with their feet for a faster, less expensive service.

Over the past twelve months, the number of solicitors and conveyancers handling cases fell by 14% from 5302 (Jan 2011) to 4558 (Dec 2011), while the number of conveyancing transactions rose as fewer firms handled more cases each. Until last year, the number ...

Today is World Book Day and to celebrate reading and literature 1^st Property Lawyers are going to point you in the direction of some very handy guides to the conveyancing process.

Our conveyancing specialists love all sorts of books but their favourites are ones that help people navigate their way through the conveyancing process safely.

We know it can be really stressful moving home and any conveyancing guides or help and advice that can shed some light on how conveyancing works can be really useful for home movers.

We’ve got guides on everything from choosing the right conveyancer and ...

2012 is, as you’re all probably aware by now, a leap year – meaning we’ve all got one extra day at the end of February.

For the first time buyers amongst you, that extra day could make all the difference as you try to get through the conveyancing process in time to beat the stamp duty exemption deadline on March 25^th.

Customers of 1^st Property Lawyers don’t need to wait for a leap year to gain an extra day on their conveyancing, however.

Our enhanced conveyancing service allows movers to view documents on their PC or Smartphone as ...

It sounds like a silly question, doesn’t it? But you’d be surprised at how few people actually know who their conveyancer is throughout the conveyancing process.

Online conveyancing, as we’ve said before, is a great way to handle the legal side of moving home. However, with some online conveyancing websites, you need to be careful that you know exactly who will be handling your conveyancing process.

Conveyancing Panel Managers

Some websites will claim to offer conveyancing services (often at ludicrously cheap headline conveyancing fees) but don’t actually handle the legal work themselves.

Instead, these firms simply pass on your ...

If you’re anything like us, many of you will be hastily scrambling to find the ingredients and the perfect recipe for pancakes success this evening!

Making pancakes and the conveyancing process are very similar in that, with just a few basic ingredients and some careful preparation, the outcome can be fantastic (not to mention delicious!).

So, what’s the perfect recipe for conveyancing success?

Like pancakes, the conveyancing process only needs 3 simple steps.

Step 1 - Research the best conveyancing service

To start with, you have to do your research make sure all the ingredients are there for successful conveyancing....

With the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday for first time buyers set to end in just over a months time conveyancers are being warned not to get involved in any SDLT avoidance schemes.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have issued a guidance note to conveyancing solicitors, drawing attention to the responsibilities conveyancing solicitors have to protect the best interests of movers throughout the conveyancing process.

As we’ve said here at 1^st Property Lawyers in the past, SDLT avoidance schemes are nearly always too good to be true and movers should be very wary about choosing a conveyancing firm ...

The latest results from reallymoving.com’s Migration Monitor have shown that the South West of England was one of the most popular regions for movers during 2011.

Torquay, Truro and Exeter have all attracted significant influxes of movers, whilst the people of Oxford made more moves per head of population than anywhere else in the UK.

Surprisingly, London, Blackburn and Liverpool make up the least popular places for people to move to, with far more people moving out of these areas than moving in.

The fact that more and more people are choosing to move further afield highlights the benefits of ...

Let’s get rid of the elephant in the room straight away shall we? It’s Valentine’s Day…big whoop!

Now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get back to the far more interesting topic of conveyancing reviews!

Whilst most people spend today labouring away trying to compose the perfect love poem (or copying and pasting one from a website) a smaller proportion of the population will be busy penning fantastic conveyancing reviews for 1^st Property Lawyers.

A far more sensible and worthwhile pursuit, in our opinion.

So, if you fancy a break from writing your gushing sonnet, or you ...

First time buyers have become something of a rare commodity over the past few months.

However, latest figures from chartered surveyors, E.serv, show that first time buyers might just be making their way back into the property market.

E.serv recorded that the number of mortgages given out in January was 58,610, with over 15,300 of these for homes costing less than £125,000 – the price bracket that typically attracts first time buyers.

With the Government’s stamp duty holiday set to end in March, and first time buyers facing bills of up to £2500 on properties between £125,000 and £250,000, the ...

Today is Safer Internet Day (or SID, for short), a day on which safer and more responsible use of the internet is promoted around the world.

Safer Internet is an admirable goal but 1^st Property Lawyers prefer to concentrate on making conveyancing safer for homemovers.

How do you know if your conveyancer is “safe”?

There are a number of things you can check to make sure your conveyancer is safe.

Who is my conveyancer regulated by?

All conveyancers have to be regulated, either by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or the Solicitors Regulation Authority. There are even some ...

After weeks of cold snaps brief flurries, Mother Nature has finally delivered and sent snow to most parts of the UK.

Great news for kids planning epic snowball fights…not so great news for people in the middle of the conveyancing process.

Whilst the snow hasn’t been anywhere near as bad as last winter, bad weather and icy roads play havoc with postal services, meaning many of the conveyancing documents sent out in the post simply won’t reach their destination in time – causing delays to the conveyancing process.

So what can be done to speed up conveyancing?

Choosing the ...

If you’re a first time buyer you’ll probably already be aware that, up until the 25^th of March 2012, you are exempt from paying Stamp Duty Land Tax on properties up to £250,000.

However, as the common adage goes, no good thing lasts forever.

If your purchase doesn’t complete before midnight on the 24^th of March first time buyers WILL have to pay Stamp Duty on properties costing more than £125,000.

So, with time running out, what can first time buyers do to beat the Stamp Duty Deadline?

There are only about 7 weeks to go until the ...

Has anyone else noticed that the cost of everything seems to be going up?

Stupid question, we know, but Lloyds TSB have come up with some figures that show the cost of moving home has risen 69% over the past 10 years.

Existing homeowners now have to fork out an average of £8,922, with Estate Agents fees making up the largest part of this (38%).

In contrast, the cost of moving home for 1^st Time Buyers was only £3,334 as, up until March this year, First Time Buyers do not have to pay Stamp Duty on properties below £250,000....

According to research, Britain is a more dishonest place than it was 10 years ago.

Academics at the University of Essex also found that, apart from not being as honest, the British public are also more tolerant of lying than a decade ago.

Here at 1^st Property Lawyers we hate dishonesty – especially when it comes to conveyancers.

When it comes to choosing the right conveyancer for you, honesty is always the best policy and, if you don’t think a conveyancer is being entirely truthful with you, it’s best to look around until you find one who is.

How ...

Imagine yourself waiting for an operation (bear with us on this, we do have a point). Just before you start counting down from 10 (so it’s already too late to change your mind) you’re informed that your surgeon hasn’t actually performed an operation like this for over a year – but he knows the theory so there’s no need to panic!

Now, we’re not sure about you, but that sounds like a pretty good reason to panic!

The same is true of conveyancing and, before you instruct a conveyancer to help with your move, you should ask yourself: who would ...

If you’re looking to buy or sell a property, and have been searching the internet for online conveyancing services, you’ll probably have noticed that there are quite a few conveyancing firms to choose from.

But how do you know which conveyancing firms are trustworthy and which ones are the conveyancing sharks?

Trust is a key factor when it comes to choosing the right conveyancer and if you can remember the 3 ‘R’s then you won’t go far wrong…

Regulation

Make sure your conveyancer is regulated by a professional body, such as the Council for Licensed Conveyancers

(CLC). Regulated firms ...

Sliding doors, mobile phones and laser guns…common place items in today’s society (with the possible exception of laser guns) but not too long ago the technology for these sorts of things belonged firmly in science fiction novels or TV shows.

Now, however, the medical profession is offering $10m to whoever can invent a “tricorder” – a device that, when waved over an ill human, instantly diagnosed what was wrong with them.

You might scoff now, but who’s to say what might be possible in the near future?

Just look at the conveyancing process, for example. Even 5 years ...

As you might expect, the expert conveyancers here at 1^st Property Lawyers get asked loads of questions throughout the course of the conveyancing process.

One that often crops up at the start of the conveyancing process, however, is: “What is conveyancing?”

For many people, the first time they ever hear of the conveyancing process is when they speak to an estate agent or a friend about moving home.

Well, if you’re new to the whole buying and selling process, don’t panic. Help is at hand as 1^st Property Lawyers answer the question of “just what is conveyancing?”

What ...

It’s a brand new year and 1^st Property Lawyers are already getting back into the habit of offering the best value conveyancing service possible.

And, what better way to start of 2012 than to look back at 2011 and see what our customers had to say about our conveyancing service…

Mr & Mrs C, moved December 2011 – “We really liked being able to upload documents straight into our file and not worry about losing anything in the post. All documents were available for us to view online within hours of being uploaded and we were always notified by ...

Buying a new build property can be an exciting prospect, with homebuilders offering so many discounts and incentives to entice potential buyers.  There’s also the benefit of little or no chain involved and having a blank canvas to put your mark on your new home.

But many buyers aren’t aware of the potential pitfalls of buying a new build property and what to look out for when researching the market.

We’ve put together our top 5 tips for people looking for a new build property to help you find your perfect home without a hitch.

• Don’t pay for perks

Many ...

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of our conveyancing customers, as well as conveyancing customers of the future, a very Merry Christmas from everyone here at 1^st Property Lawyers.

Our conveyancers will be busy helping people through the conveyancing process over Christmas, but many of our sales staff are off on their holidays (we’re dead jealous)!

You’ll still be able to get a great value conveyancing quote from 1^st Property Lawyers and, if you need to speak to someone to talk about some of the details, you’ll be able to fill in our Call Back ...

Christmas is the time of year where things come together, working in harmony to make magic happen.

Turkey and stuffing, mistletoe and wine, cheese and biscuits…drunken relatives and karaoke machines, all of which blend together perfectly to make Christmas so special.

Conveyancing is no different, and it is especially important these days to make sure your conveyancer can work with your lender.

As we reported earlier this year, lenders have been taking steps to reduce the number of conveyancing firms on their panels.

And, if you haven’t chosen your conveyancer carefully, it can be a nasty surprise to suddenly find ...

We're concluding our conveyancing Christmas Carol today, with our conveyancer coming face to face with the Ghost of Conveyancing Future...

Terrified of what he would now be shown after his encounters with the ghost of conveyancing past and the ghost of conveyancing present, the conveyancer had to drag himself through this new doorway.

He found himself in a bare front room, with a young couple who looked like they’d just moved in.

As he watched, the man received a call on his mobile phone. He answered and began to talk to the person on the other end.

At first the ...

We're continuing our Conveyancing Christmas Carol today and you may remember that we left our conveyancer just after he'd been visited by the ghost of conveyancing past...

Having been visited by the ghost of Conveyancing Past our conveyancer once again made to leave his office for the evening.

Again, however, the room turned icy cold and another ghost appeared in front of him.

“I am the ghost of conveyancing present,” said the ghost. “Follow me.”

The conveyancer stepped through another doorway and looked around in surprise. He was in a completely white room, the only furniture being a computer sat ...

Many years ago, on Christmas Eve, a conveyancer was knocking back a glass of sherry and congratulating himself on what a splendid year it had been. Profits were up, mainly because of all the hidden costs his firm had been adding to their conveyancing fees and all of the corners they’d been cutting in their service to their clients.

The fact that those clients didn’t think too highly of his conveyancing firm was irrelevant; he was always getting new clients from the estate agent round the corner, and collecting some hefty referral fees to boot!

Suddenly, a ghostly apparition appeared ...

We’ve been getting more and more excited about Christmas here at 1^st Property Lawyers HQ over the past couple of days, especially now we’ve all got amazing advent calendars on our desks!

And, whilst we were eating chocolates and counting down the days until the 24^th, we couldn’t help thinking how useful it’d be for movers to have a countdown to their moving day.

So the expert conveyancers here at 1^st Property Lawyers have gone away and come up with the Moving Day Countdown, perfect for movers to keep track of all the things that need ...

Public sector strikes, austerity measures and fragile stock markets…it’s enough to leave anyone feeling a bit depressed.

Here at 1^st Property Lawyers though, we’ve got the perfect remedy for all the doom and gloom in the air at the moment: record breaking conveyancing!

That’s right; November was our best month EVER for new business, with movers flocking to our great value, enhanced conveyancing service.

And it’s not like we only just broke our existing record…we absolutely smashed it, completely going against the grain of pessimism currently surrounding the property and conveyancing markets.

To find out why the enhanced conveyancing ...

Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement made for pretty grim reading yesterday for first time buyers as it confirmed that the current stamp duty holiday will end as planned on March 24.

At present first time buyers are exempt from paying stamp duty on properties up to £250,000. However, come March 25 2012, first time buyers will have to pay stamp duty on any purchase above £125,000.

We've summed up the changes to stamp duty for first time buyers in this handy chart:

Any first time buyers worried about the changes to stamp duty and how they might affect their move can ...

Cast your mind back 12 months and you may recall that much of the country was buried beneath a thick blanket of snow.

Not perfect weather if you were in the middle of the conveyancing process as postal services across the UK literally froze to a standstill.

Of course, movers using 1^st Property Lawyers enhanced conveyancing services remained relatively untroubled by the snowy conditions as much of the conveyancing process can be completed online.

So instead of waiting a few days for your starter pack, or any other documents that crop up throughout the conveyancing process, to arrive through ...

Everyone loves a shortcut. But the old adage that “shortcuts make long delays” is particularly relevant when it comes to the conveyancing process.

With so many online conveyancing firms offering so-called “cheap conveyancing” the temptation can be to just go with whichever conveyancing quote does the least damage to your wallet.

Unfortunately, in conveyancing, this is usually where the problems begin.

More often than not, cheap conveyancing is too good to be true. What started out as a cheap initial fee can rapidly escalate and, before you know it, hidden fees have been added to your bill and you’re paying ...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving which, for those of you unfamiliar with traditions and customs from ‘across the pond’ is a day where Americans give thanks (surprise, surprise) for the first pilgrims who made it successfully to the New World back in the 1600’s.

Here in the UK we’re not really big on giving thanks and it takes something really special for us to heap praise on anything.

Which makes the fact that 1^st Property Lawyers have so many great conveyancing reviews on Feefo all the more impressive.

Feefo is an entirely independent review service where customers can leave feedback on ...

The government provided first time buyers with a bit of a boost today as they announced plans for taxpayer-backed 95% mortgages.

Part of a wider housing strategy from the coalition government, the plans make up a package of measures designed to “unstuck” the housing market and help more people fulfil their “dream of home ownership.”

It is thought that 100,000 prospective buyers will benefit from the scheme, which will see them able to secure loans on newly built properties with only a 5% deposit.

As good as this housing strategy sounds, however, it remains to be seen whether this sort ...

Celebrity endorsement. There’s a fun subject to talk about in our conveyancing news.

Many of you may have heard about a type of curry, endorsed by Loyd Grossman, being recalled from supermarket shelves after fears it may contain toxins that cause botulism.

Now, obviously Loyd Grossman cannot be blamed for putting his name to this sauce, but this should come as a bit of a warning for people who choose to use services just because there’s a famous name behind them.

Take conveyancing, for example.

Would you choose a conveyancer who might give you botulism (or, even worse, mess up ...

Here’s a quick test for you to try out. Type online conveyancing into Google and see how many conveyancers appear with 5 stars next to their name.

Only 1? And what’s the name of this five star conveyancer?

1^st Property Lawyers, of course!

That’s right, 1^st Property Lawyers are the only conveyancer brave enough to post entirely independent reviews up under our name and, as you can clearly see from our 5 gold stars, our customers just love our conveyancing service.

You can check out our conveyancing reviews for yourself, either in the conveyancing review section of our ...

We’re concluding our conveyancing A-Z today, looking at letters R through to Z in our examination of the conveyancing process…1^st Property Lawyers style!

R is for Reviews

Whether you look at the conveyancing reviews on our own website, or the feedback we receive on sites like Feefo and Facebook, you can rest assured that all of the comments about are service are absolutely genuine. Unlike some conveyancers, we never post fake conveyancing reviews anywhere and we’re proud that we’re the only conveyancer in the country brave enough to display independent feedback in our search results.

S is for ...

Halloween may be over, but that hasn’t stopped movers from posting their conveyancing horror stories on the 1^st Property Lawyers Facebook wall.

Forget Frankenstein and Dracula, some of these terrifying tales of bad conveyancing are enough to make anyone’s blood run cold…

Nicola Daffern – “My conveyancing horror was going for the cheapest I could find – my quote was returned full of jargon and what appeared to be concerns with the property. When I phoned for a translation I was told that wasn’t part of the service and that there’d be an extra fee for talking me through ...

We’re continuing our conveyancing A-Z here at 1^st Property Lawyers today, this time looking at I through to Q…

I is for Innovation

Innovation is key to 1^st Property Lawyers, as we try to deliver the very best conveyancing service possible for our movers. Enhanced conveyancing, our mobile conveyancing site and our electronic postroom all combine to make our conveyancing service the modern way of moving.

J is for Jiffy

As in, we’ll get you moved in a jiffy! Customers at 1^st Property Lawyers can rest assured that their conveyancing process will complete up to 3 ...

The conveyancing process can often appear more than a little confusing to those unfamiliar with it. So, to make sure movers are a bit more clued up on conveyancing, we’ve come up with a handy A-Z…1^st Property Lawyers style!

Part one covers A to H…

A is for Advanced Technology

1^st Property Lawyers use the very latest in conveyancing technology to get you moved as quickly, and with as little stress, as possible. Our Enhanced Conveyancing Service is one of a kind and is one of the reasons we’re the most recommended conveyancer in England and Wales.

B is ...

Today is Halloween and 1^st Property Lawyers have been getting into the “spirit” of things for the past few days with some particularly nasty conveyancing horror stories to keep you awake at night.

To mark All Hallows’ Eve itself, however, we’ve decided to write a conveyancing advice guide crammed full with as many Halloween puns as possible.

See if you can spot them all as you go along. And don’t forget, you can post your very own Halloween Horror stories on our Facebook wall – the best one will win a nifty Halloween Hamper jam packed with sweets to ...

We’re bringing you another spooky conveyancing horror story today as 1^st Property Lawyers gear up for Halloween.

Today’s chilling tale is a classic and is guaranteed to get those hairs on the back of your neck standing on end.

Once again, we’ve protected the identities of the unfortunate souls in our story…

Mr Wilson had been desperately trying to sell his house for months. Having inherited it from a rich aunt, Mr Wilson discovered that the house was, in fact, haunted and wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

Finally, after a lot of frustration and ...

It’s Hallowe’en on Monday so, as usual here at 1^st Property Lawyers we’ve been getting into the “spirit” of things by digging up some real life horror stories from the world of conveyancing.

So, over the next few days, we’ll be bringing you some truly terrifying conveyancing tales that’ll send shivers down your spine and keep you awake at night!

Our first foray into the crypts of conveyancing horror stories sees us visit a couple half way through the conveyancing process, unaware of the nightmare about to descend on them (cue thunder and lightning) ...

Mr & Mrs Jones ...

The final week of October 2011 looks likely to be a historic one as the global population hits 7 billion.

That’s an awful lot of people and, even for the expert conveyancers here at 1^st Property Lawyers, the thought of just a fraction of these people needing conveyancing services is enough to have us break out in a cold sweat!

Still, 7 billion people sharing the same planet is a pretty cool statistic. And, with the help of the Guardian website, we figured out that when 1^st Property Lawyers were born, back in 2001, the population of ...

The Office of Fair Trading this week warned debt collecting agencies against pursuing people on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The OFT claims it is unfair for consumers to have potentially embarrassing information about their financial status revealed on popular sites around the internet where friends and family may see it.

Here at 1^st Property Lawyers, we’re more interested in using Social Media in different ways!

We’re constantly sharing news, views and tips on the conveyancing process, as well as promoting the odd competition, like our Housewarming Hamper Prize Draw, so why not try and find ...

We’re sure we’re not the only ones to have noticed a dramatic change in the weather over the past few days.

After the soaring temperatures at the start of the month the expert conveyancers here at 1^st Property Lawyers have been saying a few silent prayers to the central heating gods recently as winter well and truly begins to bite.

Of course, just because it’s cold, that doesn’t mean the conveyancing process has to grind to a halt.

Last winter more closely resembled Siberia than the UK, but 1^st Property Lawyers were still able to keep things moving ...

This week the Royal Mail introduced a new collection of Landmark Stamps – a set of 26 first class stamps featuring iconic British landmarks in alphabetical order.

The launch of stamps A through to L was yesterday, with M to Z to follow in April 2012.

Amongst the popular landmarks are the Angel of the North, Blackpool Tower and Glastonbury Tor.

And some of you may be surprised to learn that 1^st Property Lawyers have completed a conveyancing transaction near each of the landmarks in England and Wales in the last 12 months.

Not only that, last year we ...

That’s probably not a question you’d normally ask when shopping around for conveyancing quotes.

But it’s actually a pretty good one and can help you spot a good conveyancer from a bad one.

We’re not talking about whether your conveyancer would go bungee jumping, swimming with great white sharks or fight ninjas.

What makes a conveyancer really brave is how much they let their clients scrutinise their conveyancing service online.

A quick search online will show plenty of conveyancers who have “genuine conveyancing testimonials” on their website. Thing is, the only people who control what goes onto that website are…yep, ...

Here’s a familiar sounding story: clients of solicitors are too often overcharged and left in the dark.

Nothing new there, you’d think. As one of the leading conveyancers in the UK 1^st Property Lawyers have had many clients coming to us saying what a horrible experience they’d had with their previous conveyancing solicitor.

What makes this story remarkable, however, is that the statement comes from the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in an interview with the Guardian.

The conveyancing process is one area of law where transparency over fees and communication between the conveyancer and ...

It seems that clients of 1^st Property Lawyers just can’t thank us enough for providing such a great conveyancing service.

Over the past few weeks the thank you letters, cards and bunches of flowers have been flocking in for our conveyancers as their clients pass on their appreciation for a conveyancing job well done!

And, while we like to read that 97% of our clients would recommend our conveyancing service to their friends and family, it’s always nice to have these little personal thank you messages as well!

If you’ve been happy with the conveyancing service you’ve received from 1...

With temperatures soaring into the high twenties last week you’d be forgiven for thinking we were in the middle of summer rather than early October.

As the rest of the country took advantage of the hot weather, 1^st Property Lawyers were busy making sure our clients’ home moves completed on time and without a hitch.

That’s right, instead of sunning ourselves on the beach we were cooped up inside putting the final touches to plenty of peoples conveyancing process.

We’re not too bitter though – we love helping people out with their conveyancing…and we get real bad sunburn!

Last ...

We’ve been so focussed on our own great value conveyancing service recently that we’ve been remiss in telling movers about the latest house price news. Sorry!

The Land Registry published its August House Price Index this morning (yes, we know it’s nearly October) and, on the face of it, it doesn’t look like good news for homeowners.

The Land Registry figures show that the average house price in England and Wales has decreased by 2.6% over the past year, taking the cost of a home to £162,347.

The report also showed that the number of completed house sales fell between ...

We’re not sure about you but we woke up feeling pretty nervous this morning. The reason? We knew we had to write an article tenuously linking a falling satellite to the conveyancing process, but also because there was a chance we may get hit by said falling satellite!

That’s right, NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS to its friends) is expected to crash to Earth sometime later on this evening. And, even though the experts aren’t sure where the satellite may hit (narrowing it down to anywhere between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator doesn’t count ...

We’re breaking from tradition a little bit today and bringing you a story on foreign currency – but it does tie in to the conveyancing process so don’t panic just yet!

The Consumer Focus watchdog have today said that complex charges and misleading information mean that UK holidaymakers are paying far too much for foreign currency (we bet you can see the link to conveyancing already!).

Amongst Consumer Focus’ causes for concern are;

• Complex card charges that prevent people shopping around for the best deal
• Charges for buying currency with a card that fail to reflect the cost of processing ...

We’re at it again!

Not content with our last effort to bring the conveyancing process to Hollywood’s attention, we’ve been busy creating another video to show off our revolutionary conveyancing service.

The latest attempt takes the form of a short 30 second advert that highlights just how fast our enhanced conveyancing service really is. In fact, it’s so fast, we even managed to finish the video in less than 30 seconds!

Even if you didn’t already need it, the video is further proof that 1^st Property Lawyers really aren’t your average conveyancing firm.

Welcome to 21^st Century ...

If you’re in the middle of the conveyancing process then you’re probably already a bit worried about anything scuppering your move. Well, sorry to add to your paranoia but here’s another thing for you to consider: is your house big enough for the number of people living in it?

According to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) many new homes in the UK are simply too small for family life.

They claim that the average 3-bedroom house is 8% smaller than recommended – which roughly equates to the size of a single bedroom with bedside table, wardrobe, desk and ...

It’s finally here at last – the Rugby World Cup 2011!

Despite the fact that most of the games are on at pretty unsociable times of the morning, nothing’s going to dampen our enthusiasm here at 1^st Property Lawyers.

And, the more we got thinking about it, the more we realised that choosing a conveyancing firm very much resembles a rugby scrum – there’s so much going on and, if you’re not careful, you might end up getting hurt (more financially than physically, but you never know!).

Anyway, to help potential movers through this tricky stage of the conveyancing ...

Here at 1^st Property Lawyers we love providing the very best conveyancing service we possibly can. It’s what gets us out of bed in the morning!

So it’s always a nice surprise when our customers let us know just how great we’ve been in helping through the conveyancing process.

And that’s just what happened to one of our conveyancers, Joanne Reid, this week when she received a whole load of goodies from one of her delighted clients.

Mr Thomas, from Redruth, was so happy with Joanne after she helped him sell his house that he sent her a bunch ...

Recent press coverage has highlighted the fact that some lenders are currently taking steps to reduce the number of conveyancing firms on their panels.

Whatever the reasons for doing this, suddenly finding out that your conveyancer and your lender are not compatible can be a real hassle.

So what does this mean for movers?

With lenders imposing their own set of strict criteria on those conveyancing firms remaining on their panel this could, ultimately, be good news for movers as those conveyancers who remain will be those that do a good job.

Basically speaking, lenders are tending to sway ...

When browsing the web for online conveyancing services it’s often difficult to tell the good firms from the bad.

One of the best ways to winnow out the conveyancing sharks is to take a look at online conveyancing reviews or recommendations from people who’ve used that conveyancing service previously.

Sites like Money Saving Expert, Facebook, Feefo and even Google’s own review section can often give you a good idea if your conveyancer is up to scratch.

However, some conveyancers have cottoned on to this and have started posting fake reviews of their service (and their competitors’) in ...

For those of you who have managed to avoid sports bulletins, today is the last day of the transfer window in which football clubs in England and Wales can buy or sell players.

Not particularly relevant to conveyancing you might think, but in actual fact, the last minute rushing around as clubs desperately try to get players contracts signed before the deadline is very similar to conveyancers rushing around to get contracts signed before they can exchange.

The build up to exchange of contracts is where your conveyancer really earns their money; checking contracts, making sure enquiries are raised and ...

According to a study for Santander Mortgages, moving into a good catchment area is top of the list for many prospective buyers. In fact, 37pc of prospective buyers surveyed with children under the age of 10, said that is was their top priority to ensure they moved to the most sought-after catchment area.

The survey also revealed that some people are prepared to pay a hefty premium to get into a good catchment area, with the average house price premium coming out at a substantial £5,663.  We’ve also heard of people so keen to get their child into pre-school that they’ve paid for ...

New research from the University of California has suggested that plot spoilers – revealing the ending of a book or film before it’s been released – actually enhances enjoyment of the story, rather than (as the name suggests) spoils it.

Many of you may disagree, arguing that it’s always nice to be surprised by a particular twist.

However, surprises aren’t always a good thing, and the conveyancing process is probably one of those times where it’s best to know as much as possible…as soon as possible!

At 1^st Property Lawyers that’s exactly what we try to do. Right from ...

The stock markets are stuttering, there are riots on the streets of our biggest cities and just general unrest throughout the world.

All of which means you may well have missed the news that the American military has invented a plane that can travel from London to Sydney in just under one hour!

But what has that got to do with conveyancing, we hear you cry?

Well, admittedly very little. But we can draw a shaky parallel with the world’s fastest aircraft and the super speedy, super efficient conveyancing service here at 1^st Property Lawyers.

Whilst some high street conveyancing ...

Rightmove have reported that much of the UK is now a “first time buyer blackspot”, with only 23% of those looking to buy in the next 12 months doing so for the first time.

The report highlights 7 out of 11 regions in the UK where first time buyer levels are below 20%, including the south east, East Anglia and Wales.

Amongst those surveyed, 42% of first time buyers said that raising a deposit was the biggest challenge, with concerns over financial security and property being overpriced also cited as reasons preventing first time buyers from getting their ...

When future generations look back on Thursday 4^th August 2011, the resounding image will be the one of a misery stricken banker, head in hands, watching aghast as stocks and shares around the globe plummeted.

Now, 1^st Property Lawyers, being experts at conveyancing, don’t usually show much interest in

 the FTSE 100 or the Dow Jones Index – but we couldn’t help seeing a slight silver lining buried amongst yesterdays gloomy stock market reports.

Economies around the Eurozone are hit and miss at the moment, but it’s a different scenario in the UK! With the Bank of England holding ...

According to a recent report by the telecoms regulator Ofcom, 1 in 3 adults in the UK now use a smartphone.

The report goes on to state that the increased uptake of smartphones has led to a dramatic rise in mobile internet use.

At the same time, research from Google has suggested that up to 70% of people use their smartphones whilst shopping, with projections showing that mobile searches could soon outnumber desktop searches.

All of which is music to the ears of 1^st Property Lawyers as it means more and more people will be able to ...

Research by the firm Esure has revealed that more than 2.5 million people in Britain pretend to own a dog and leave a bowl out on display to ward off potential burglars.

This is just one of the measures that homeowners go to in order to make sure their homes are secure. Others include posting misleading information on Facebook and Twitter, leaving the TV on and even getting neighbours to open and shut the curtains while they’re away.

At 1^st Property Lawyers, we think that reducing the risk of being burgled is something you should think about before ...

1^st Property Lawyers are sure we’re not alone in getting rather excited about the 2012 Olympics in London which, as you probably saw in the news yesterday, is less than one year away!

Thousands of the world’s best athletes will be flocking to our shores in order to compete and make their Olympic dreams come true.

Speaking of winning stuff (in a round about way) 1^st Property Lawyers have been recognised as one of the leading conveyancing providers by the number 1 mortgage magazine, What Mortgage.

The annual What Mortgage Awards are recognised as a great benchmark ...

We spend quite a lot of time here at 1^st Property Lawyers commenting on what other people have said with regards to the conveyancing market. But, just for a change, we thought we’d do some research of our own and find out what gets people in a spin when it comes to conveyancing and moving home.

So we went away and asked 1300 homeowners what their biggest irritations were when it came to the home moving and conveyancing processes…

We found that 55% of people asked cited the length of time the whole process takes as the most frustrating part of ...

There’s been some good and bad news for conveyancers and conveyancing solicitors over the past few days.

The good: it seems the Law Society has finally had enough of the website Solicitors from Hell and is taking legal action for alleged defamation.

The site, which names and shames solicitors who offer poor service to clients, has attracted controversy and has been accused on not giving lawyers and solicitors a right of reply.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers (we’re not on there, by the way!), although we don’t condone defamation and slander, we feel that sites similar to Solicitors from Hell...

It seems 1st Property Lawyers weren’t the only ones affected by the hot weather over the weekend.

The property portal, Rightmove, have reported that more than 20% of searches performed on their site on Sunday were performed on mobile devices.

They go on to suggest that this was part of a greater trend, where the hotter the weather, the higher the proportion of traffic to their mobile site.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we’re getting more and more people moving using our enhanced conveyancing service, including our exciting new mobile conveyancing site.

Our mobile site allows our conveyancing ...

We’re all looking like lobsters and feeling a bit crispy skinned here at 1st Property Lawyers today. With the glorious weather we had over the weekend we’re sure many of you are probably in the same boat as us.

It’s not just the weather that’s been fantastic over the past few days though. The conveyancers at 1st Property Lawyers have been busy doing what they do best – getting people moving with as little stress as possible!

Here are a few of the nice things our conveyancing customers have had to say about 1st Property Lawyers…

Mr C – ...

Nothing heralds the start of British summertime like Wimbledon. Well, that and a weather front that more resembles November than June!

Anyway, here at 1st Property Lawyers we’ve been getting into the spirit of the greatest tennis event of the year by…well, just eating lots of strawberries, if we’re honest.

However, even whilst the nation gets gripped in Murray Mania, 1st Property Lawyers still continue to offer up a ""grand slam"" of conveyancing services that even Rafael Nadal would struggle to compete with!

To start with, we’ve got our No Move, No Legal Fee guarantee. Think of this as ...

The government’s FirstBuy scheme, originally announced during the budget earlier this year, has now been officially launched by Housing minister, Grant Shapps.

The scheme, designed to help first time buyers get a foot onto the housing ladder, is being backed by more than 100 housebuilders as well as major lenders, including Halifax, Nationwide and Barclays.

Under the FirstBuy scheme, first time buyers will be provided with a 20% equity loan from the government and a housebuilder, as well as a 5% deposit from the borrower, which allows them to take out a 75% LTV (Loan to Value) mortgage on ...

How well would you say you got on with your neighbours?

Quite well? Lucky you, because according to Which? At least 5 million people are annoyed with their neighbours and more than 10 million people have had a neighbour related problem in the past 12 months.

Predictably, noise tops the list of neighbourly disputes, with 3 in 5 having problems with loud voices or arguments, blaring music and loud TV sets.

Which? Found that a third of those questioned confronted their neighbour directly about the problem, 20% contacted their local authority, 17% were forced to call the police and 10% ...

The Council of the Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA) has raised concerns over the advice mortgage lenders are giving to their borrowers.

Research suggests that 80% of homebuyers believe that they get a survey, but the reality is that only 1 in 5 actually get a full structural survey or a home conditioning report.

The confusion arises when borrowers believe that their lenders’ valuation is a survey – which it is certainly not.

Back in December last year, 1st Property Lawyers reported that those people who did not arrange to have a survey spent, on average, around £2,500 on repairs ...

With the property market looking pretty static at the moment homeowners across the country may be forgiven for thinking that ""improving"" may be a better option than ""moving"".

However, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) have warned people off rushing into home improvements, cautioning that improvement work does not always guarantee an increase in the value of a property.

Most areas have a ceiling price and homeowners should think carefully about home improvements and make sure they’re not simply wasting money.

Rics go on to state that adding an extra bedroom was considered the best way to ...

What do the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and £99 conveyancing all have in common?

They’re all myths, of course. But, whilst the first two are pretty much harmless (the people who claim to have been savaged by Bigfoot don’t count) the myth of cheap conveyancing can rear its ugly head and bite you where it hurts most – your wallet!

We’ve said it before, and we’re about to say it again – in the conveyancing process, you really do get what you pay for.

So, if your conveyancing fee sounds good to be true…it probably is.

1st Property Lawyers’ advice ...

The weather looks to be improving, the summer holidays are just around the corner and, depending on which set of house price statistics you read, now seems like the perfect time to be moving home.

All of which means movers must be crying out for a reminder on the benefits of online conveyancing!

It’s safe to say that as soon as you know you’re moving house, time becomes an obsession. And, if you’re on a tight schedule, the very last thing you need is for the conveyancing process to drag on and hold everything else up.

So, having a conveyancer ...

Calling all visitors to the 1st Property Lawyers online conveyancing site.

No doubt you’ll have been shopping around, trying to find that perfect conveyancer to look after the legal side of your move.

But how many of the conveyancers you’ve seen have their own video on YouTube?

That’s right. We’ve got our very own conveyancing video here at 1st Property Lawyers, giving you some great behind-the-scenes action from our HQ in Leicester.

It even features one of our expert conveyancing solicitors who’ll talk you through the 21st century conveyancing process here at 1st Property Lawyers.

Head over ...

A bit of good news for potential home buyers…sort of.

According to the financial data provider Moneyfacts, fixed rate and tracker mortgage deals are the cheapest since it started to record mortgage rates back in 1988.

The typical base rate tracker mortgage charges 3.37%, the average new two year fixed rate mortgage stands at 4.32% while the average five year fix is at 5.29%.

But, before we all get too excited at the prospect of banks and building societies cutting their borrowing costs, it’s worth noting that many of these attractive deals are only available to those who can ...

Even though our conveyancing services are only available to movers in England and Wales, 1st Property Lawyers like to give a shout out to our friends across the pond every now and then – especially with today being Independence Day.

Independence Day, as we all know, is where Will Smith, that bloke from Jurassic Park and some guy who looks like Michael Douglas saved the Earth from a spectacularly violent alien invasion.

Or something like that.

Anyway, whilst we’re on the topic of independence we thought it’d be a great idea to remind all of our clients ...

It’s all gone a bit ""Murray-mad"" here at 1st Property Lawyers today. And, while we’re all secretly cursing the fact that his side of the draw contained the former champion, Rafael Nadal, we thought we’d take the opportunity to remind you all of an even better draw that could see you win some fantastic goodies.

That’s right; everyone who requests a conveyancing quote on the 1st Property Lawyers website will be automatically entered into our monthly prize draw to win a stylish hamper!*

For potential home movers the hamper is full of loads of treats and essentials for ...

A report on home ownership by the Halifax has concluded that two thirds of potential first time buyers have ""no real prospect of owning their own home in the next 5 years"".

The report goes on to say that the so called ""Generation Rent"" lack the long term saving mentality they need to get onto the housing ladder.

At 1st Property Lawyers we’d certainly advise against taking this sort of news too seriously. There are plenty of predictions being made about the state of the property market, but we’re currently in the midst of a record breaking stint for new ...

We’ve spoken a lot about our enhanced conveyancing service over the past few months, telling you how great it is and how it’s going to revolutionise the conveyancing process.

But, unless you’ve been through it yourself, you might not be aware of what happens at each stage of 1st Property Lawyers’ conveyancing process.

Allow us to elaborate.

As soon as you’ve instructed us to act as your conveyancer we jump into action. You’ll receive a thank you email, giving you a quick idea of what to expect and also some guides to our enhanced conveyancing service.

Within 20 minutes of ...

Conveyancing firms must be prepared to adapt to withstand the threat posed by new entrants to the conveyancing market, according to the chief executive of the Law Society.

""Those firms that are out at lunchtime, do not have extended hour’s services and no online service will find things highly problematic,"" was the stark warning to conveyancing solicitors.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we’re amazed that there are still conveyancing firms who do business in this way – and it makes us wonder why movers would ever use such an old fashioned conveyancing service.

Imagine getting to a critical stage of ...

It’s been a while since 1st Property Lawyers last updated you on the state of house prices – mostly because we’re fed up with all the contradictory reports being published all over the place.

As far as we’re concerned, the sooner a standardised house price index is commissioned the better.

Although let’s hope the official Government statisticians aren’t in charge, as even they can’t seem to make up their minds!

The Communities and Local Government (CLG) data suggested that property prices rose by 1.2% in March 2011, with the price of an average home standing at £205,565.

However, two weeks ...

Rabbit feet, horseshoes, 4 leaf clovers…all of them will be brought out today as people hope to stave off the bad luck usually associated with Friday 13th.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we don’t really believe all that superstitious nonsense. And as for a lucky rabbit’s foot…well, in the words of the American politician, R.E. Shay, it didn’t work out too well for the rabbit, did it?

When it comes to choosing a conveyancing provider it’s usually a case of making your own luck. If you wade in blindly, just accepting the first or cheapest conveyancing quotes you see then ...

It’s been a year since David Cameron was elected Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government.

Over the past 12 months the property and conveyancing markets have seen some drastic changes, with the abolition of HIPs, emergency budgets and tight lending criteria from mortgage providers.

1st Property Lawyers have changed in the past year, too. We still offer the same great conveyancing service but we’re going about it in a different way.

Enhanced conveyancing has completely revolutionised the traditional conveyancing process, giving movers greater transparency on the legal side of their move, as well as making it ...

We’ve once again demonstrated the excellence of our conveyancing services here at 1st Property Lawyers following our independent customer satisfaction survey for April.

100% of our conveyancing clients were happy or delighted with the service they received in April, meaning that in the first 4 months of 2011 every single customer of 1st Property Lawyers has had nothing but praise for the way we handled their conveyancing process.

On top of this, 100% of our customers said they would also be recommending 1st Property Lawyers to their friends and families.

Much of the praise was levelled out our enhanced conveyancing ...

With today being Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you…geddit?) we thought we’d take a moment to consider how much the conveyancing process had in common with the king of Sci-fi films….

Not very much, as it turns out, so we’ll just get right along and give you some useful information about the property and conveyancing market instead.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (this morning, actually) Nationwide released their monthly House Price Index for April, showing that the UK property market remains ‘static’ for the time being.

The price of an average property ...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, it probably won’t have escaped your notice that there’s a bit of a Royal shindig taking place tomorrow.

As the most recommended conveyancer in England and Wales, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t a little disappointed that we didn’t receive an invite to the Royal Wedding – but we’ll just have to settle for watching it all on telly like everyone else.

And, whilst millions of people are sending their praises and best wishes to Prince William and his bride to be, the praises and best ...

As a bit of a Royal Wedding treat, 1st Property Lawyers are giving you the chance to rub shoulders with our very own version of royalty… Kevin McCloud at the Grand Designs Live show!

This event is running from 30th April to 8th May 2011 at the Exhibition and Conference Centre in London Docklands.

Your tickets will allow you to attend one day of the Grand Designs Live event.

Winning the tickets is easy…simply be the first person to email the marketing team here at 1st Property Lawyers before 4pm today!

Email 1st Property Lawyers here…

A report has shown that the number of home buyers paying for their new homes in cash is on the increase.

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show that almost 40% of buyers did not require a home loan to buy their house in January 2011.

The proportion of cash buyers has now more than doubled since records began back in 2005.

With lenders tightening their loan criteria and demanding bigger deposits from would-be borrowers, cash buyers have replaced first time buyers as the main driver of the property market.

In April 2005, 16,457 homes were sold to ...

We hope you all had an eggs-tremely good Easter weekend!

Estate Agents were certainly eggs-tatic as the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reported a sharp jump in interest from potential buyers in the lead up to Easter.

The number of new buyers registering with estate agents rose to an eight month high of 290 during March 2011 – up from 268 in February.

NAEA suggested the increased interest was down to buyers looking to pick up a bargain ahead of the traditionally busy Easter selling period.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we can certainly relate to the NAEA’s findings. ...

Conveyancing, as well as the wider moving home process, is renowned for being a bit stressful. Here at 1st Property Lawyers we do our best to take as much hassle out of the conveyancing process as possible.

However stressful moving home might be, it appears that the humble act of buying a pair of jeans is far more difficult, according to online retailer, isme.com.

43% of the women they surveyed ranked shopping for a good pair of jeans as more stressful than moving house, stating an increase in ""younger styles"" and ""skinny jeans"" as the biggest causes for concern....

If you’re nearing the end of the conveyancing journey, then your moving day may be in sight!

If so, then now’s the time to start planning the practicalities of your move and working out exactly how you are going to get from A to B.

For most of us, packing is the one activity that we really don’t want to tackle, after all it’s time consuming, messy and above all rather dull!

But help is at hand, with a re-vamped website called www.helpineedboxes.co.uk. Ok so they won’t pack your belongings for you, but they will make it a lot ...

1st Property Lawyers are singing the praises of the BBC today as they report on the dangers of using unregulated firms for conveyancing and other legal services.

The report actually comes from the Legal Ombudsman who calls for action to be taken to ensure consumers were not ripped off by and left vulnerable by unregulated legal services.

We’ve been telling all of our conveyancing customers this for ages, and we’ve even written some pointers for them to avoid getting a bad conveyancer.

Of course, it’s not just unregulated conveyancing firms that cause problems for movers. There are a few ...

One thing we pride ourselves on here at 1st Property Lawyers is our No Move, No Legal Fee guarantee. This is a great feature of our conveyancing service, giving our movers peace of mind that they won’t have to pay a penny in legal fees if they’re move falls through.

1st Property Lawyers offer this service to all of our clients and we certainly don’t charge any extra for it. However, some so called cheap conveyancing firms have started charging their clients extra for a no move, no fee guarantee.

Which sort of begs the question, how can it be ...

Sorry to use an old cliché, but it’s true.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we understand that moving home can be an expensive business and movers often identify their conveyancing as an area to save some cash.

However, our advice is to forget the word cheap – instead, you should be looking for a conveyancing firm that provides value!

Too many times movers get drawn in by headline conveyancing fees of £99 or less, only to find out later on in the conveyancing process that they’ve suddenly been saddled with hidden fees.

Below are a few pointers to consider whenever ...

It’s the Grand National this Saturday and millions of people will be rushing to the nearest bookmaker to back what they hope will be the winning horse.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we’re the first to admit we know nothing about horses. We’re experts on conveyancing but when it comes to picking our Grand National winner we tend to just go with the horse with the best name! Not the best tactic, we’re sure, but when you’re only betting a couple of quid it doesn’t matter all that much.

When it comes to conveyancing, however, it’s best to do as ...

1st Property Lawyers are continuing their great start to 2011; thanks largely to our exciting new enhanced conveyancing service.

This revolutionary online process makes conveyancing both quicker and easier for movers, giving them greater control and more transparency over every stage of the conveyancing process.

Not only are all letters and documents available to read and complete online but customers can even scan and upload key forms straight into their case file – significantly reducing the time it would normally take for things to be sent through the post.

Still not convinced? Here’s what a few of our recent conveyancing ...

New Stamp Duty bands have come into effect today with an increase in tax on high value properties of more than £1m.

Buyers forking out for one of these top level homes will now also have to pay 5% in Stamp Duty Land Tax in a move that the Inland Revenue has forecast to bring in over £390m in additional revenue for the treasury.

For those who aren’t sure about which properties belong in which Stamp Duty Tax bands we’ve set it out below. The figures in brackets are the rates of SDLT for first time buyers...

• £0 - £125,000 ...

April Fool’s day can be a mine field for the unwary. There are so many practical jokes floating around that it can often be hard to tell which stories to ignore and which ones to believe.

When it comes to conveyancing, however, it’s best to be on your guard right from the off, otherwise you run the risk of being fooled by the conveyancing sharks.

Here are some top tips from 1st Property Lawyers on how to avoid being an April Fool and choosing a conveyancing provider who’s right for you!

Get as many opinions as you possibly can and ...

It seems the Budget Announcements may have come at just the right time to give the property and conveyancing markets a boost.

The Chancellor’s plans for stimulating the first time buyer market gained much approval from within the industry, and with yesterday’s news of further decreasing house prices it could be the light at the end of the tunnel for conveyancing providers and Estate Agents alike.

The Land Registry has announced that property prices in England and Wales fell by 0.8% between January and February 2011. The average property value now stands at £162,215, down 1.7% from a year ago....

 

Budget announcement day is always eagerly anticipated, not just by conveyancing lawyers but by everyone up and down the country.

After all the controversy surrounding HIPs and Stamp Duty last year the 2011 budget was a rather more subdued affair, particularly when it came to the property and conveyancing industries.

Budget Announcement…First Time Buyers
The £250m First Buy scheme is designed to help 10,000 first time buyers purchase a new build – either a flat or a house.

The scheme will see buyers put down a 5% deposit, with the government and home builder both put in 10% each ...

We’re counting down to Wednesday’s Budget announcement at 1st Property Lawyers this week, with the conveyancing industry waiting to see how it will impact on the housing market.

So far we’ve had few hints, although many industry analysts are predicting a relaxation of the planning system to make developments easier.

However, the big issue for all involved in the conveyancing and property sectors is what the Chancellor will do about mortgage lending, most importantly how to tempt first time buyers back to the market.

1st Property Lawyers will be closely following every step of the Budget on Wednesday, posting our ...

Today is St Patrick’s Day, so you’d be forgiven for thinking 1st Property Lawyers would be writing a news story on how conveyancing compares to pouring the perfect Guinness or something like that.

Well, sorry to disappoint you, but we’ve got some serious (but good) news for the conveyancing market as Lloyds TSB and local councils team up to boost the beleaguered first time buyer market.

The new pilot scheme, called ‘Local Lend a Hand’, allows first time buyers to purchase a home even with deposits of 5%.

First time buyers are seen as the driving force of house price ...

A lot of the talk in the recent conveyancing press focuses on the imminent introduction of ‘Tesco Law’, set to come into effect in October.

The law would see several high profile brands, such as Tesco, the Co-op and the AA, enter the legal services market and start offering conveyancing.

A report from YouGov’s Sixth Sense division suggests that these Alternative Business Structures may prove to be a big hit with consumers – simply because these brands are household names.

The report showed that 6 out of 10 people questioned said they would consider taking legal advice from non-legal brands, with many ...

Today marks the start of lent, a Christian tradition where people give something up for 40 days to commemorate Jesus’ time in the desert.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we had a good long think on what we could give up for lent…with chocolate, alcohol and Facebook among the things being sacrificed.

One thing we won’t be giving up, however, is our dedication to providing the best conveyancing service to our thousands of customers.

Here are some of the things our clients have had to say recently about our highly recommended conveyancing service…

Mr & Mrs Shah, completed February 2011...

It’s pancake day!

""What’s that got to do with conveyancing?"" we hear you cry. Well, allow us to elaborate…

The pancake making process is a lot like the conveyancing process (bear with us on this!) On the surface, it appears very easy – just add a few basic ingredients, put in a pan and pray to all the pancake gods that your toss doesn’t stick to the ceiling or hit the cat.

However, connoisseurs of pancakes, and conveyancing, will know that just because something seems easy that doesn’t necessarily make it so.

Without carefully measuring ingredients, without getting the pan ...

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we’re all about giving you control over your conveyancing process. Our enhanced conveyancing lets you control all aspects of your conveyancing case online, our mobile conveyancing site lets you control when and where you check the progress of your conveyancing process and our new no hidden fees promise even gives you control your conveyancing fees.

But there’s one thing that movers can’t control. Their new neighbours!

Given the choice, however, it seems most people in the UK would choose to have Colin Firth as their neighbour.

According to a recent survey by the property portal, ...

It’s a bit of a gloomy start to the new week in the world of conveyancing unfortunately.

The property portal Rightmove has reported that asking prices for properties coming onto the market have risen by 3.1% within the last month.

This means that the average asking price for a house in England and Wales is now £230,000 – a figure at odds with the average selling price of £165,000 quoted by the Land Registry.

And, despite the current climate, it appears that sellers are stubbornly refusing to drop their asking prices – something Rightmove warns could stall the housing ...

15th February 1971 was D-Day.

Before all you World War Two historians start clamouring, we’re talking about Decimalisation Day rather than the Normandy Landings.

40 years ago today Britain’s currency was completely overhauled as the old style pounds, shillings and pence were replaced by the newer, easier to understand decimal system.

Fast forward to 2011 and this is a perfect metaphor for the conveyancing industry.

The past few years have started to see a shift not only in the way people shop for conveyancing, but also what they expect from their conveyancing provider.

The main reason for this change has ...

In case you weren’t already aware, today is Valentines Day.

If you’re single it’s a day of abject misery and/or crushing heartbreak; if you’re in a relationship it’s just another excuse to part with hard earned money which could be spent on far better things than overpriced, slightly wilted roses from the nearest petrol station.

If you’re a conveyancer…well, it’s just a day like any other. That’s right, rain or shine, war or peace, love or hate, the conveyancing process must go on.

However, we thought we’d take advantage of this most romantic of days to and let some of ...

Once again 1st Property Lawyers are delighted to announce the winner of our monthly housewarming hamper competition, in association with Spicers.

Congratulations go to Mr David Evans from Buckinghamshire…

David contacted 1st Property Lawyers in order to get a conveyancing quote on his sale and purchase and was so pleased with the great value conveyancing services we offered he instructed us straight away.

Having just finished the conveyancing process, the Spicers hamper was a welcome surprise to David and his family.

He said: ""We received the prize hamper this morning and both my wife and I are very ...

As important as the conveyancing process is, you probably won’t really feel like you’re moving home until you start packing up your belongings ready for the removal van.

When the big moving day finally arrives you’ll quickly realise that no amount of planning can prepare you for the chaos and stress of literally moving your whole life from one house to another.

Fortunately, 1st Property Lawyers can help.

We’ve come up with our very own Moving Day Checklist to help you keep on top of those important tasks in the days and weeks building up to your moving day.

Included ...

Virgil never intended for his phrase ""beware of Greeks bearing gifts"" to apply to the conveyancing process, but we think it’s highly appropriate for this particular issue.

An interesting article appeared in the Law Gazette last week reporting that some conveyancing providers were being pressured into Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) avoidance schemes.

At 1st Property Lawyers we’ve had our fair share of potential conveyancing clients ring up for a quote and mention that they’d heard of a way to avoid paying SDLT.

Unfortunately for movers, these schemes nearly always turn out to be too good to be true and ...

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we not only provide you with a great quality conveyancing service, we also like to give you some advice and tips when it comes to the home moving process.

As conveyancing experts, we know of plenty of handy little tools that can help make your move that little bit easier.

So today’s news that the Police are launching a new crime mapping website can only be good for potential movers.

The new site will help people find out how many and what type of crimes have been committed in or around their street in the ...

It’s always nice to kick start another conveyancing week with some contradictory house price advice.

Movers and conveyancing providers alike will benefit when the government finally gets round to standardising these reports.

House prices in 2010 were marked by a north-south divide according to latest figures from the Land Registry.

Last year people in the south saw the value of their properties increase, although a major driver of this was a 6.2% increase in London.

In contrast, northern regions saw property values dip, with the North East experiencing the biggest decrease of 3.3%.

However, the Halifax have today published ...

Despite being online conveyancing experts, we still find time to marvel at other amazing things going on in the world.

With this in mind, we were excited to hear plans for British engineers to put a mobile phone into space to see if it can control satellites.

Mobile phones have come on leaps and bounds in the past few years and, whilst not as exciting as being blasted into orbit, the online conveyancing process has benefitted enormously from advances in technology.

A few years ago, receiving SMS text updates on your phone was considered a revolutionary step in online conveyancing. ...

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we like to keep an eye on everything that goes on in the world of online conveyancing.

As such, we often stumble across blog posts or articles offering top tips and advice on the conveyancing process and, recently, a lot of information on DIY conveyancing.

Given the current financial climate, it’s understandable that people will want to save as much money as possible. Problem is, the conveyancing process can be so complicated and intricate, trying to save a few quid can often end up costing you a fortune in the long run.

We’ve weighed up ...

Cold weather and difficult market conditions contributed to subdued activity in the property and conveyancing sectors in December, according to a report by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The RICS December Housing Market survey claims that new buyer enquiries continued to fall amidst chilly weather and even chillier lending conditions over the Christmas period.

First time buyer enquiries dropped for a seventh straight month, whilst the number of new instructions also fell as sellers held off putting their property on the market.

Meanwhile, members of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) have seen a surge in the ...

Today is Blue Monday, officially the most depressing day of the year (there’s even a formula to prove it!)

At 1st Property Lawyers, however, our expert conveyancing lawyers have got the perfect antidote to any ""rainy day feeling"" – a free EPC!

The free EPC will be available to everyone who instructs 1st Property Lawyers for their conveyancing.

For a bit more information on the free EPC with conveyancing package, and some more details on EPC’s in general, head over to our brand new EPC page now.
 

Records published online today have revealed the prices of some of Central London’s most notable properties – from a century ago!

The website ancestry.co.uk has digitised the National Land Survey from 1910, which shows the valuations for some of the Capital’s historic landmarks.

Anyone with a time machine handy can travel back a hundred years and snap up the Bank of England for £110,000 or even the Old Bailey – an absolute bargain at £6,000!

The price for an average property in central London stood at £14,000 – a tiny fraction of the whopping £430,000 of today.

All this looking ...

A momentous occasion today for the conveyancing team at 1st Property Lawyers – it’s the first time we’ve covered a story on house prices in our conveyancing news section in 2011!

Unfortunately, it isn’t the most optimistic news ever. The Halifax have reported that house prices in December 2010 were 3.4% lower than those in December 2009.

However, the Halifax were clinging to a slight glimmer of hope by commenting that the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchases – a leading indicator of completed house sales – increased in November following six successive monthly falls.

At 1st Property ...

Today sees the launch of the brand new mobile conveyancing website from 1st Property Lawyers.

The new mobile site will work alongside our enhanced conveyancing service, allowing movers to keep up to date with the details of their conveyancing transaction whilst on the move.

1st Property Lawyers customers will be able to access key letters and documents, check what stage of the conveyancing process their case is at and even email their conveyancer – all from their smart phone!

Over the course of the next few days we’ll be contacting all of our conveyancing customers with more details on ...

Happy New Year to all our conveyancing customers, past, present and future!

It’s a brand new year for the conveyancing industry and here at 1st Property Lawyers, we’re hoping that 2011 can be even better than 2010 for us.

Like many people, our conveyancing experts have been making their New Years Resolutions. Most of these involve the usual (give up chocolate, go to the gym more) and we’re slightly sceptical as to how long their resolve will last!

However, for people thinking of moving home and tackling the conveyancing process in the upcoming year, we’ve compiled a few tips for ...

We’d like to wish all of our conveyancing customers past, present and future a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We’ve got some exciting things for you all to watch out for in 2011, including further advancements to our enhanced conveyancing service.

But more on that next year. We’ll be back in the New Year for more conveyancing news and views from the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales.
 

A few weeks ago 1st Property Lawyers wrote a conveyancing news article on the confusion some movers experience when it comes to getting a survey during the conveyancing process.

This came off the back of some research released by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), claiming that 58% of home movers wrongly confused a mortgage valuation report with some of the more comprehensive surveys available.

Now, new research has been published suggesting this figure could be more like 80% - something which has the conveyancing experts at 1st Property Lawyers rather concerned.

The study by global research company, Ipsos ...

It’s a week until Christmas now (we count Christmas Eve here at 1st Property Lawyers!) and with the return of the cold weather and snow everything looks set for an exciting white Christmas.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we’ve got a few things of our own to bring a bit of excitement to our conveyancing customers.

As we mentioned earlier in the week, our online conveyancing service has been featured in the latest edition of the Which? Essential Guide to Buying, Selling and Moving House.

You can find more about this guide on the Which? Website.

As well as this, ...

Christmas is just over a week away now and we’re full of festive cheer here at 1st Property Lawyers HQ.

Apparently someone forgot to mention it to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), however, as the November RICS Housing Market Survey showed that more and more surveyors are reporting property prices falling rather than rising.

44% of participating surveyors reported prices falling which, although still gloomy, is ever so slightly improved on Octobers 49%.

RICS go on to state that first time buyers aren’t receiving any seasonal goodwill from mortgage lenders, with the availability of finance still the biggest ...

Only 15 days until Christmas!

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re getting very excited about the festive season, particularly as it coincides with the continued success of our new enhanced conveyancing service!

More and more of our conveyancing customers are opting to try out the new online service, and so far it’s been met with rave reviews.

Below is a selection of some of the comments our clients have left about our enhanced conveyancing:

Mr & Mrs Davey, Surrey – ""The whole email / online interface was something we really appreciated as it made everything more accessible. The text message updates were ...

‘Tis the season to be jolly! Today is the first day of December and, looking out the window at 1st Property Lawyers HQ, Christmas has certainly arrived in style!

With most of the country snowed under, the benefits of the new enhanced conveyancing service from 1st Property Lawyers really stand out.

Even the hardiest of postmen will be having difficulties delivering your mail which, if you’re in the middle of the conveyancing process and waiting for important documents to arrive, can be more than an inconvenience.

Our enhanced conveyancing service lets our clients access all aspects of their case file ...

It’s the start of another busy week in the world of conveyancing and it seems that the temperature isn’t the only thing that’s plummeted in the past month.

Whilst most of Britain is getting ready to brave the Siberian conditions, Hometrack have published their latest house price research.

During November the average house price in England and Wales dropped by 0.8%, following on from a 0.9% drop back in October.

According to the property intelligence group, the drop in prices is being caused by an increasing lack of buyer demand, with the seasonal slowdown kicking in a month early this ...

Everyone remembers that old rhyme, right? Here’s the church, here’s the steeple…now stump up some cash to help us repair it.

Ok, so that’s not exactly how it goes. But at 1st Property Lawyers we’re trying to make people more aware of the issue of Chancel Repair Liability and what impact it can have on your conveyancing and home move.

Chancel Repair Liability is a fairly archaic liability on property owners in England and Wales. It dates back to Medieval times and basically means that some property owners could be liable for repairs to the chancel of their local church....

1st Property Lawyers, like thousands of other people, will be desperately trying to stay awake tonight for the start of the Ashes!

To be honest though, after a full day of offering great conveyancing services, we’ll be hard pushed to make it through to the start of play in Brisbane at midnight.

If you’re looking to start the conveyancing process, there’s probably a million things zooming through your head at night, making sleep pretty much impossible.

Luckily, help is at hand as 1st Property Lawyers are helping to make the conveyancing process as stress free as possible.

Our new ...

Yesterday we announced the winner of our Facebook competition in association with Babycentre – the online forum for mums.

Throughout the course of the competition mums from up and down the country posted their great tips for moving home with kids.

So, 1st Property Lawyers are now pleased to bring you the ultimate top five tips for moving home with children…with help from the expert advice of mums everywhere!

Tip 5 from Emily Verney, Coalville

Make sure that you unload all kid´s stuff first, otherwise they just go all through the boxes to find what they want and everything ...

1st Property Lawyers, the UK’s most recommended conveyancing provider, are delighted to announce the winner of their Facebook Competition in association with Babycentre - the online forum for mums.

The winner of a luxury hamper and ""yummy mummy"" change bag is…Deborah Bentley from Shrewsbury!

Deborah posted her top tip for mums on the move on the 1st Property Lawyers Facebook Page. She’s pictured here with her 4 month old daughter, Lucy, and said ""I’m delighted to have won! The last time I won a competition, I was about 10 years old!""

Deborah’s winning top tip was…

I moved ...

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re constantly looking for new ways to tell you all about our great conveyancing services.

As the UK’s most recommended conveyancing provider we’ve got so many happy and delighted conveyancing customers that we’re constantly bombarded with emails and letters thanking us for the excellent conveyancing service we provide.

So, we thought ""why don’t we just let some of our conveyancing customers tell the world what they think of 1st Property Lawyers?""

Here are a couple of examples of the great feedback sent to some of our conveyancing lawyers recently:
 

Mr Johnson & Ms Fitchett, Aldershot ...

November’s House Price Index from Rightmove has seen new sellers slash their asking price by more than 3%, signifying the biggest monthly drop in asking price in 3 years.

With a large amount of properties remaining unsold, and tough lending criteria making things difficult for first time buyers, Rightmove have seen average asking prices for properties fall from £236,849 in October to £229,379 in the past month.

The price drop comes as sellers and estate agents attempt to attract cautious buyers to the market and boost sales ahead of the traditional Christmas slowdown.

Rightmove also said that 24,028 new sellers ...

1st Property Lawyers are delighted to announce the winner of our October housewarming hamper competition, in association with Spicers.

Congratulations to Anthea Atkinson, from Brixham in Devon.

Anthea got in touch with 1st Property Lawyers and was so pleased with her great value conveyancing quote that she instructed them to act as her conveyancer.

She’s currently in the midst of the conveyancing process on a number of properties and the Hamper came as a nice surprise.

She commented: ""My daughter and I were like kids at Christmas looking to see what was included! I just love the box, never mind ...

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are having a busy week.

We reported their claim that many movers are confused about surveys in our conveyancing news yesterday and RICS have today published their monthly house price figures for October.

49% of participating surveyors claimed that they had seen house prices fall rather than rise, compared to just 36% in September.

The RICS survey also showed that new buyer enquiries had dropped in October – the fifth consecutive month in a row – as potential buyers adopted a ""wait and see"" attitude to falling prices.

As always 1st Property Lawyers ...

New research from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has suggested that homebuyers in England and Wales are facing bills for thousands of pounds after failing to have the right survey done on their property before buying.

The report indicates that as many as 58% of respondents wrongly believed that a mortgage valuation report contained details on a property’s condition.

25% of homebuyers who only had a mortgage valuation report needed to make unplanned building works on their property after purchasing. These bills, on average, came to just under £2,000!

1st Property Lawyers recommend that all buyers get the ...

Remember, remember, the 5th of November…as the day you instructed 1st Property Lawyers to act as your conveyancer!

Tonight is Guy Fawkes, commemorating the failed attempt by a religious terrorist to blow up the houses of Parliament back in 1605.

Guy Fawkes’ methods were, perhaps, a little extreme. At 1st Property Lawyers, we’re trying to bring about changes to the conveyancing process in a somewhat more civilised manner.

Rather than hatching a fiendish gunpowder plot, we’ve been steadily improving our clients’ conveyancing experience by making everything much easier and quicker.

With our new enhanced conveyancing service, movers can complete ...

Our conveyancing poems were so popular yesterday that we’ve decided to bring you a few more.

Here are some more efforts by the conveyancing team here at 1st Property Lawyers:

A conveyancing Haiku poem by Chris Fleming

Get moving quicker,
With 1st Property Lawyers
Top conveyancing!

An Ode to Conveyancing by Laura Thistlethwaite

Conveyancing, conveyancing, what does it mean?
Does it mean going to London to visit the Queen?
Or is it much different, a task so complex,
Like the transfer of property from one person to the next?

Conveyancing’s hard work, and not for the weak,
So head online ...

Don’t worry, we haven’t gone crazy.

1st Property Lawyers were amused to hear of an estate agent who sent his staff on a poetry writing course to help sell more properties.

The agency in Brighton now features creative writing, poems and Haiku (17 syllable Japanese poems) on its website and in written property guides.

So inspired were we by this story that we thought we’d try a bit of it ourselves to help describe our great value conveyancing service.

Here are the best efforts of some of our team:

A conveyancing poem by Cassie Booth

Moving home can be such a ...

Not even Halloween could cause any conveyancing shocks at 1st Property Lawyers last month, as we once again recorded 100% customer satisfaction levels in our independent survey.

Every single one of our conveyancing customers were either happy or delighted with the conveyancing service they received throughout October.

And we couldn’t call ourselves the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales if 100% of our clients weren’t happy to recommend us, could we?

Luckily, they have…so we can. Here’s what some of them had to say:

Mr Kirkman, Devon – ""Your online service was brilliant and being able to upload ...

The property data company, Hometrack, have announced their latest monthly house price survey, showing that there may be some good news for the conveyancing industry – despite property prices falling in October.

An October 2010 drop of 0.9% means this is the fourth month in a row Hometrack have reported a decrease in house price – the largest fall since January 2009.

However, Hometrack also reported a 3.8% uplift in sales agreed, proving that the need for good quality conveyancing is all the more important in the current climate.

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re aware that, with all ...

We’re interrupting our weekly conveyancing horror stories to bring you a slightly different but related Halloween tale.

The Nationwide have published the results of their October house price survey, finding that the cost of a home in the UK fell by 0.7%.

The price of an average property now stands at £164,381 – down by £2,400 since September – continuing the downward trend since the start of summer.

As the most recommended provider of conveyancing in England and Wales, 1st Property Lawyers are fully committed to providing a high quality conveyancing service that suits you and your circumstances.

With ...

We’ve got another Halloween Conveyancing Horror story for you today, as we focus on an unsuspecting family who fell victim to inexperienced conveyancing solicitors who failed to spot major problems in the local searches!

Mr and Mrs Taylor and their two children had decided to move out of the city into a nice old house in a quiet country village. They’d read a few bits of information on conveyancing on the internet and had decided to instruct a local solicitor who they thought would know the area well.

Unfortunately for the Taylor family, they didn’t realise that their conveyancing solicitor ...

We’re bringing you another example of a conveyancing horror story today, with the chilling tale of a man who failed to instruct a conveyancing firm with a no move, no legal fee guarantee.

Once again, names have been changed to protect identities, and the content is not for the faint hearted!

Mr Evans had decided to instruct his local high street conveyancing solicitor to deal with his sale and purchase.

Everything seemed to be going well until, a couple of months down the line, his conveyancing solicitor phoned to say they would unfortunately be unable to continue his conveyancing work ...

Seeing how it’s Halloween this weekend, 1st Property Lawyers decided to get in the spirit of things and bring you some real life horror stories from the world of conveyancing, pulled together from the crypts at money saving expert.

Over the next few days we’ll tell you some truly shocking tales of customers who’ve experienced some nightmarish misfortunes at the hands of conveyancing lawyers.

For our first instalment, we focus in on an innocent young couple* looking to buy the house of their dreams…only to fall foul of the hidden fees charged by their online conveyancing provider!

Beware: the ...

So the Comprehensive Spending Review came and went and, once again, the conveyancing and property industries have escaped relatively unscathed.

With falling house prices (depending on which price index you read!) and tighter mortgage lending criteria, perhaps parliament thought the conveyancing and property market deserved a bit of a respite for the time being!

At 1st Property Lawyers, we remain committed to offering great value conveyancing no matter what happens in the rest of the economy.

We’re the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, so you can be sure that the conveyancing service you receive from ...

The conveyancing industry won’t be the only one holding its breath today, as the results from the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review  is announced to the public.

The general consensus is that the conveyancing and property markets escaped relatively lightly following the emergency budget back in June, so conveyancing firms across the country, as well as the property sector as a whole, will be keeping an eye on all the news coming out of Parliament this afternoon.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, 1st Property Lawyers will be on hand to provide movers with all the latest ...

It seems like the whole world is ""going green"" at the moment – and conveyancing is no exception.

At 1st Property Lawyers were fully committed to reducing the environmental impact the conveyancing process can have.

With our new enhanced conveyancing service, clients can now dramatically reduce the amount of paper they use – making the conveyancing process more eco-friendly, not to mention more streamlined!

Clients are now able to complete key forms online, posting them straight onto our conveyancing case management system, saving time and printing costs.

They also have the option to scan and upload I.D. documents (such as ...

At 1st Property Lawyers were constantly looking at ways to improve and enhance our conveyancing service for our clients.

A few weeks ago we reported that we were introducing a new enhanced conveyancing system, designed to speed up the conveyancing process and make it even easier for movers to understand.

The enhanced conveyancing system has now been running for a few weeks and the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

Here’s what a few of our conveyancing customers have had to say about it…

Mr K, Devon – ""It was an excellent idea to have everything downloadable in pdf ...

Here at 1st Property Lawyers we’re used to seeing contradictory news on the state of the conveyancing and property markets – usually in the form of conflicting house price surveys!

Well, it now appears that mortgage lenders are adding to the confusion by releasing differing views on the number of mortgages being taken out.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) yesterday reported that mortgage lending in August 2010 was down by 8%, with remortgaging making up just 25% of home loans – the lowest proportion in over 25 years.

On the very same day, the Mortgage Advisors Bureau (MAB) released ...

With the days getting shorter and the winter nights drawing in, this is traditionally a busy time of the year for residential conveyancing.

Here at 1st Property Lawyers, we’re busier than ever with new conveyancing transactions coming in every day as movers look to complete the conveyancing process before Christmas.

But, with so many online conveyancing firms claiming to offer the best conveyancing service, how do you know which one is right for you?

Luckily, the bright sparks at 1st Property Lawyers have produced a series of handy conveyancing guides, giving you everything you need to know about the ...

September was another great month for satisfied conveyancing customers at 1st Property Lawyers.

100% of movers who took advantage of our great value conveyancing were happy or delighted with the service they received.

We also lived up to our claim as the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales – 100% of our conveyancing customers said they would be recommending our conveyancing service to their friends and colleagues!

Here’s what a few of them had to say:

Mr Rowthorne, Derbyshire – ""The level of service was absolutely fantastic. I’d heard all sorts of stories from people who’d moved in ...

1st Property Lawyers have teamed up with BabyCentre, the online Parenting Magazine, to offer some great advice on moving home with children.

We’ll be running a competition on our Facebook Page until the end of October, and all you have to do is post your Top Tip on moving home to be in with a chance of winning!

Up for grabs is a gorgeous gift set, containing over £200 worth of goodies from baby company, Mummy and Me Hampers.

On the 31st of October, all the Top Tips will be scrutinized by our panel of experts, who will vote ...

Everyday life is stressful enough, but juggling moving house and conveyancing with a full time job and other commitments can sometimes make you feel as if there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

At 1st Property Lawyers, we share that feeling. That’s why we’ve made changes to our conveyancing service by extending our opening hours until 10pm!

We already operate outside of the standard 9-5, open 8 til 8 during the week and even over the weekends too!

With our new opening hours, clients will be able to contact their conveyancing lawyer via email up until 10pm during the ...

Applications from conveyancing firms to the Land Registry dipped slightly in August, giving a good idea of the state of the conveyancing and property market as a whole.

With gloomy forecasts being bandied about left, right and centre in the media, it comes as little surprise to see that overall numbers of applications made by conveyancing firms fell from 250,000 to 229,047 from July to August.

The number of conveyancing firms making the applications also fell slightly, with a large proportion of these only posting 5 or fewer conveyancing applications.

August is traditionally a quiet month for conveyancing, with both ...

Here at 1st Property Lawyers, we’re always looking for innovative and entertaining ways to get our ""great conveyancing"" message across to our customers.

As a result, we roped in a few of our expert conveyancing lawyers to help us in making the first ever 1st Property Lawyers video!

The short film contains a brief tour of the 1st Property Lawyers HQ, as well as some insights into how the conveyancing process is handled by our conveyancing experts.

This includes our use of the latest conveyancing technology, something which allows us to save weeks on the conveyancing process.

We also ...

It’s been a while since we’ve brought you a selection of our happy and delighted conveyancing customers.

It’s not really that surprising, when you consider that we’ve had so many people happy to recommend our conveyancing services over the past few months.

Here are a few people who’ve taken advantage of the great conveyancing service here at 1st Property Lawyers recently…

Mr C, Leicestershire – ""We used 1st Property Lawyers for the first time recently to buy our first house. The service was brilliant, keeping us well informed along the way. They really pushed things for us when we needed ...

Homebuyers look away now…new research has shown that movers in the UK suffer the ‘worst mortgages in the world.’

The findings from Autonomous Research compared the official base rates of a number of countries, and found that the difference between what banks pay for funds and what they charge lenders is almost twice the amount than in Germany, France or the U.S.

So a British homebuyer taking out a £150,000 mortgage will pay £120 more per month than a homebuyer in America.

This is probably the last thing prospective homebuyers need to hear, but at least customers of 1st Property ...

Hidden conveyancing fees have been brought to the forefront of conveyancing news this week, as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled an online advert for a conveyancing firm was misleading.

The advert, headed ""Conveyancing Fees £99"", was found to have breached regulations as there were other compulsory conveyancing costs on top of the £99 advertised.

At 1st Property Lawyers we don’t believe in hidden costs. We always do our very best to make sure that whatever fee appears on your initial conveyancing quote is the same as the fee you pay at the end of the conveyancing process.

If you want ...

We reported in our conveyancing news last week that the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) expected to see asking prices drop by up to 10% in order to attract more buyers onto the property market.

Well, according to Rightmove, that’s almost exactly what’s happening!
Rightmove’s house price index for September reports that the asking price on UK homes has dropped for the third consecutive month, falling by 1.1% from August.

The Rightmove index represents nearly 90% of the UK property market and its figures are based on asking prices when a seller first puts their home up for ...

As far as interruptions to the conveyancing process go, a Papal visit is definitely up there as one of the most glamorous!

The pope’s visit to the UK certainly has the potential to disrupt more than a few conveyancing transactions.

This makes it even more important to choose a conveyancing lawyer you can rely on.

Fortunately for 1st Property Lawyers customers, we’re not the most recommended provider of conveyancing for no good reason!

We consistently get people moved in and out of their homes faster and with far less stress than most other conveyancing firms.

With the conveyancing process sometimes ...

The past few days have certainly been gloomy for first time buyers in the conveyancing and property market.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported that home loans to first time buyers were down 2% in August.

According to the CML, home loans for first time buyers fell to 19,400 from July to August, making up a 34% share of the market. This is the lowest share of first time buyers since before the credit crunch began in August 2007.

Tightening loan criteria are cited as possible reasons for the increased difficulty for first time buyers in finding a mortgage....

It’s not often that a Conveyancing firm gets the chance to be a hero and ""save the day"".

However, that’s just what 1st Property Lawyers did when it came to helping out Mr & Mrs Geddes on their conveyancing.

Having already instructed us to act on their sale and purchase case, they were shocked when their Estate Agent called to say that the person they were buying from had received a better offer and, unless they could exchange within 7 days, they would lose the purchase.

This was further complicated by the fact that they were selling a leasehold property, ...

It seems that the current economic climate is starting to have an impact on where people move to and from.

The reallymoving.com Migration Monitor looks at patterns and trends in the UK property industry to determine which postcodes are most popular and which are out of favour amongst home movers.

According to the most recent report, more and more people are moving away from towns in the North of England, with proposed government cuts to public sector services cited as one of the main reasons for this.

Equally, rising property prices and costs of living in London mean that this ...

Some more property price news to further confuse conveyancing lawyers and movers alike today, as the Halifax report that house prices actually rose in August.

The Halifax report comes barely a week after we reported in our conveyancing news that Nationwide suggested property prices had fallen 0.9% in August.

According to Halifax, the cost of an average property now stands at £167,953 – 2% higher than in July.

As always, 1st Property Lawyers advise movers to take any house price news with a pinch of salt.

As the most recommended provider of conveyancing in England and Wales, we’re fully committed ...

When it comes to choosing the right conveyancing lawyer, the term ‘cheap conveyancing’ is going to feature heavily in people’s thoughts.

However, the conveyancing process is one where the old adage ""you get what you pay for"" really proves true.

If something looks or sounds too good to be true, then it probably is – so conveyancing firms who claim to charge just £89 for cheap conveyancing should be treated with caution.

Here are some of the things to think about when you come across a ""cheap"" conveyancing firm:

• Read the Terms and Conditions CAREFULLY – Many conveyancing firms ...

The busiest day in the home moving calendar is fast approaching, and conveyancing firms all over the UK will be busy pushing through cases in order to make exchange deadlines.

According to the UK’s largest database of homemovers, the 1st of September is traditionally the day when most people move into their new homes.

Some of the reasons behind this could be children returning to school after the summer and the desire to move into a new property before the winter months set in.

At 1st Property Lawyers, we’ve had our busiest summer for new conveyancing instructions ever!

As the ...

A new survey has shown that many conveyancing firms face an uncertain future if they don’t adapt to meet consumers needs.

The research from a recent YouGov poll found that 60% of people wanted their conveyancing lawyer to have ‘specialist knowledge’ and an ‘approachable service’.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, it’s safe to say that we’re not surprised that the public are becoming disillusioned with conveyancing practices, many of whom are often over priced and don’t represent good value for money.

At 1st Property Lawyers, however, we consistently offer our customers a conveyancing service which ...

It is possible to do your own conveyancing, but unless you’re some high flying conveyancing lawyer we wouldn’t recommend it.

With so many risks, the potential for disaster is huge unless you really know you’re stuff.

However, some people still choose to have a go themselves, so we’re weighing up the pro’s and cons of DIY conveyancing.

What are the advantages of DIY conveyancing?

• Save yourself some cash
First and foremost, doing your own conveyancing can save you a bit of money in the short term. Despite most conveyancing providers offering reasonable prices on their legal fees, DIY conveyancing ...

It seems the property and conveyancing markets are still tough areas for first time buyers, as Halifax statistics show that first time property purchases have halved since 2007.

The number of first time buyers in the first half of 2010 stood at 94,600, with homeowners citing tight lending criteria and affordability being the main reasons to avoid buying a home.

1st Property Lawyers have a bit of good news for first time buyers, however. We’ll soon be releasing our ""First Time Buyers Guide to Conveyancing"".

Buying a house and going through the conveyancing process for the first time can be ...

It seems that conveyancing providers and movers alike are finally going to see some clarity when it comes to reporting house price changes.

The government is to launch an investigation into the usefulness of its own house price reports – the Land Registry and CLG (Communities and Local Government) surveys.

This follows a wave of confusing and contradictory property price surveys over the past few months, where the average house price could differ from £236,332 on Rightmove to £170,000 in the Halifax index.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, 1st Property Lawyers are obviously very ...

Sift through all the confusing and contradicting reports on the state of the property and conveyancing markets and there’s one thing that stands out – property prices are definitely levelling out.

This is good news for first time buyers who, up until now, they have found themselves increasingly priced out of the housing market by unrealistic valuations from sellers and tighter restrictions on mortgage lending.

The property portal, Zoopla, said: ""Levelling house prices could spell bad news for conveyancing providers however, with warnings on more and more conveyancing cases collapsing as mortgage valuations don’t support the prices buyers have ...

• Instruct your conveyancing provider early on

As soon as you make an offer on your dream home the first thing you should do is instruct your chosen conveyancing provider.

Remember, choosing the right conveyancing lawyer for you can really speed up your moving process.

Also, the earlier you contact your conveyancing provider, the more conveyancing work they can do up front.

• You’ve made your offer…now to get moving!

First things first – fill in the starter pack! This contains some vital information for your conveyancing lawyer, such as property details, some personal information and your bank details.

It’s ...

More Green Conveyancing news today from 1st Property Lawyers, as it’s announced that new EU legislation will make it compulsory for sellers to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) in place before a home is put up for sale.

Currently, movers only have to provide evidence that an EPC has been commissioned before marketing their property and beginning the conveyancing process.

However, we reported a few weeks ago on how the government were proposing to increase Stamp Duty on homes with poor energy efficiency.

This new legislation, to be introduced in 2012, will effectively brand all properties with a Green, ...

Our conveyancing news has been dominated by house price stories in recent weeks, but it appears that some people haven’t taken notice of the latest reports on the state of the property and conveyancing markets.

A flat overlooking Hyde Park in London has just been sold for a world record
£140 million pounds!

The flat comes complete with private wine tasting facilities, security measures to rival the White House and an underground passage to Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant, providing 24-hour room service.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales it’s fair to say that we see a few ...

• Before you even put your home up for sale – Get an Energy Performance Certificate!

Following the suspension of Home Information Packs earlier this year, it is now a legal requirement for a seller to have commissioned an EPC before marketing for sale.

The EPC grades the energy efficiency of a property and can be useful to potential buyers.

For more information on EPC’s, click here to check out our handy guide to Energy Performance Certificates.
 

• Choose the right conveyancing provider

As we’ve said many times throughout this Spotlight on Conveyancing series, choosing the right conveyancing lawyer ...

More house price news confusion today, as Halifax add their latest index into the mix and claim property values actually rose by 0.6% in July.

Last week, 1st Property Lawyers reported that Nationwide had seen a drop of 0.5% in property prices in July and this latest survey from the Halifax continues the mixed signals coming out of the property and conveyancing industry.

According to Halifax, the average price of a UK home now stands at £167,425.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, 1st Property Lawyers are still experiencing high numbers of movers taking advantage of ...

In today’s busy culture, many people are cash rich but time poor when it comes to buying a home.

If you’re on a tight schedule, the last thing you need is for your conveyancing process to drag on and on, potentially jeopardising your move.

So having a conveyancing provider who can reliably take care of the complexities involved in conveyancing, whilst at the same time getting the job done efficiently and with as little fuss as possible, can be priceless.

Some of the benefits of choosing an online conveyancing firm are:

• It’s faster – instead of waiting around for ...

In typical house price fashion, no sooner has one organisation published their latest findings on the property and conveyancing market, than another comes along and publishes contradictory reports straight after!

Following on from the Land Registry statistics released yesterday, Nationwide have reported that house prices fell by 0.5% in July, reducing the cost of an average UK home to £169,347.

This is supposedly the first time since February that house prices have fallen, and conveyancing providers will be looking to see whether this might help stimulate the conveyancing market by bringing properties back into many peoples price range.

At 1st ...

The Land Registry have released their latest house price figures for June.

Despite gloomy predictions on the state of the property and conveyancing industry, the statistics show that house prices rose by 0.1% from May to June, and were now at the same levels of summer 2006.

The average property in England and Wales now costs £166,072 – an increase of 8.4% on June last year.

Conveyancing lawyers and people looking to move home are starting to see a levelling off of house prices in recent months, with the abolition of HIPs and the Emergency Budget contributing to confusion in ...

We always knew 1st Property Lawyers were in tune with the public. Our Spotlight on Conveyancing series seems to have come at the perfect time!

New research has shown that 57% of adults in the UK don’t even know what the term conveyancing means.

The survey, carried out by reallymoving.com, shows that vast numbers of the public are completely unfamiliar with the conveyancing process and are confused as to what a conveyancing lawyer actually does.

25% of respondents wrongly believed that a surveyor could carry out conveyancing transactions, instead of a conveyancing lawyer, and 1 in 5 believed it was ...

So you’ve followed the conveyancing advice from 1st Property Lawyers so far, and you’ve received a conveyancing quote from a reputable conveyancing firm.

But what does it actually mean?

A conveyancing quote is basically split into two parts:

• The Legal Fee, and
• The Disbursements

Legal Fee

The Legal Fee is a professional fee designed to cover things like the risk involved to the conveyancing firm during the conveyancing process and the time spent by the conveyancing lawyer on the transaction.

Be wary of firms that advertise ""cheap conveyancing"", as low Legal Fee’s are often designed to lure you ...

Conveyancing lawyers and home movers up and down the country will be interested to hear that the government is toying with the idea of introducing an extra tax to homes without sufficient insulation.

The plan being considered by ministers would involve adding an extra 0.5% onto Stamp Duty, and could come into effect as soon as 2012.

At present, a property for sale is legally required to have an EPC, grading the energy efficiency of a home.

It is hoped the plans would boost the conveyancing industry, as owners would have an incentive to upgrade before putting their home on ...

Some good news for the conveyancing industry at last, as the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) announced that mortgage lending rose by 15% from May to June.

The £13.1bn lent in June was also an increase of 7% from the same time last year, although conveyancing providers should note that the CML suggests that this is more to do with increasing activity in the conveyancing and property markets rather than lenders relaxing their criteria.

1st Property Lawyers are still getting high levels of new conveyancing instructions however, and, as we reported last week, we recorded our third successive month of ...

Until quite recently the process of conveyancing was historically handled by conveyancing solicitors, either as a standalone practice or as a smaller facet within a larger firm.

In 1985, however, the conveyancing process was revolutionised with the introduction of a new type of lawyer: the Licensed Conveyancer.

Over the course of the past couple of decades, Licensed Conveyancers have radically changed the way conveyancing is handled, and the conveyancing process of today is virtually unrecognisable from the conveyancing process back in the Eighties.

The 21st Century is one reliant on technology, and the conveyancing industry has had to adapt to ...

After our 3rd successive month with 100% of our customers happy or delighted with our conveyancing service, 1st Property Lawyers thought we’d hand it to our happy customers to explain why our conveyancing is so good.

Mr B, Coventry – ""We were really impressed with how quick and easy everyone made everything. As first time buyers we were flying blind a bit, so having someone talk us through the conveyancing process was really helpful.""

Mr R, Stone – ""I’ve already recommended you to my brother. Everything was really good, our Conveyancer was so quick at getting everything done…we ...

Two reports made their way onto 1st Property Lawyers’ conveyancing radar this week, with FindaProperty and the monthly survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors bringing both good and bad news for the conveyancing market.

FindaProperty, one of the largest portal sites in the UK, have indicated that the number of properties for sale has risen by 43% since January 2010.

Conveyancing Lawyers will welcome this news as it could mean an increase in new conveyancing instructions in the short term.

However, the RICS report tempers this good news slightly, suggesting that house prices will continue to fall as ...

If you’re new to buying or selling property, chances are you’ve never heard of the term ‘conveyancing’.

However, once you start looking a bit closer at the whole moving process, you start to realise just how important conveyancing is, and just how vital a role your conveyancing lawyer or licensed conveyancer plays in helping you move home.

To keep things simple, conveyancing is the term used to describe the transfer of ownership of a property from one person to another.

Sound a bit too easy?

We can assure you, the conveyancing process is a lot more complicated than simply getting ...

At 1st Property Lawyers, we’re always on the lookout for ways to make the conveyancing process easier for our customers.

We take advantage of the latest in conveyancing technology, operate longer opening hours so our conveyancing lawyers are on hand whenever you need them most and bend over backwards to offer the friendliest, most knowledgeable conveyancing service around.

All of which is really useful to movers and, as we’re the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, is something they appreciate.

But we asked ourselves: what if you’re new to the property market, and have never come across conveyancing ...

It seems that the current unease in the conveyancing market is starting to filter through to movers, as the percentage of people who expected property prices to go up in the next 6 months dropped from 81% to 78%.

The survey from Zoopla also found that 34% of people thought that getting a mortgage was the biggest obstacle preventing them from buying a home.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, 1st Property Lawyers are confident that we’ll still be able to provide the same great conveyancing service – no matter how gloomy the conveyancing industry seems ...

At 1st Property Lawyers we pride ourselves on being able to offer great quality conveyancing services up to 3 weeks quicker than the national average.

So we were interested to see that a new survey from mortgage provider ING Direct found that the average homebuyer spends just 21 minutes choosing their new home!

Some of our conveyancing lawyers spend longer than that doing their hair in the morning!

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, we realise that many people feel rushed into decisions when moving home, especially during the conveyancing process.

There are so many things ...

Last week we reported on the emergency budget and what it could mean for the conveyancing industry.

Despite the conveyancing industry appearing to escape relatively lightly amidst all the cuts, it seems that the Stamp Duty exemption for 1st time buyers may not be around for much longer.

In a statement, the Treasury announced that: ´As announced in the Coalition Agreement, the Government will review the stamp duty land tax relief for first time buyers taking into account its impact on affordability and value for money.´

This sounds rather ominous, and conveyancing firms across the UK will be keeping an ...

Once again, it’s a week for house price news here at 1st Property Lawyers.

After reporting the latest publications from the Land Registry and Hometrack in our conveyancing news, Nationwide have since released their own figures on the state of property prices and the conveyancing market.

The data from Nationwide suggests that house prices are up by 0.1% from May, echoing the findings of Hometrack from earlier in the week.

Nationwide also claim that the abolition of HIPs have contributed to the fall in house prices, with supply increasing as more and more homes come onto the market.

Conveyancing ...

A 1st Property Lawyers story on house prices just wouldn’t be the same without a contradictory one being released the very next day!

In our conveyancing news yesterday, we reported on the monthly house price survey from the Land Registry for May, which found that prices were down by 0.2% compared to the previous month.

Since the publication of yesterdays article, we’ve seen that Hometrack have published their monthly survey, suggesting that prices were up by 0.1% but conveyancing instructions from new buyers were declining.

Conveyancing providers will also be interested to hear that the supply of ...

It’s all been a bit quiet on the property price front recently, as other things dominate the conveyancing news.

However, the Land Registry has today published its monthly House Price Index for May, suggesting that prices dropped for the first time since April 2009.

The average property in England and Wales now costs £165,314 - a monthly change of -0.2%.

The conveyancing industry has been expecting a levelling off in terms of house prices for some time now, and the data from the Land Registry certainly backs this up, as prices increased by 8.2% over the past year – the ...

1st Property Lawyers are certainly in a football mood today, and we can already feel the excitement and anticipation ahead of England’s all important match with Slovenia.

Despite the somewhat inconvenient scheduling of the game (smack bang in the middle of our conveyancing day!) our clients can rest assured that our expert conveyancing lawyers won’t be distracted by events unfolding in South Africa.

As the UK’s most recommended conveyancing provider, there’s nothing more important to us than ensuring your conveyancing process runs as smoothly and as quickly as possible.

In fact, we don’t even think an earthquake could affect our ...

Amidst all the World Cup excitement yesterday, movers may be forgiven for missing the latest release of mortgage lending figures from the British Bankers Association (BBA).

1st Property Lawyers, however, never miss a trick when it comes to conveyancing news, and whilst most of the country was glued to the TV, we were busy deciphering what these latest statistics might mean for the conveyancing industry.

The BBA suggest that mortgage lending is at its highest level so far this year, with approvals up by around 2% since April.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, 1st Property ...

After several weeks of second guessing in the conveyancing industry, the emergency budget was finally announced earlier this afternoon.

Despite all the hype and conjecture, conveyancing firms remain relatively unaffected, and the budget itself doesn’t appear to have any direct consequences for conveyancing.

Perhaps the biggest impact on the conveyancing industry could come through an increase to Capital Gains Tax (CGT).

As of midnight tonight, higher rate tax payers will have their CGT increased to 28%, far less than the 40% or even 50% some conveyancing solicitors had predicted..

This could affect many second home owners and buy to let ...

The conveyancing industry is eagerly anticipating the emergency budget tomorrow, with conveyancing firms up and down the country waiting to hear how new legislation might affect the conveyancing market.

High on the agenda will be planned rises in Capital Gains Tax (CGT), something that many experts in the conveyancing industry predict could lead to landlords selling their rental properties in the immediate future, avoiding any increases in CGT down the line.

There’s also news of a further blow to first time buyers, as the Bank of England looks ready to set a cap on high loan to value mortgages, preventing ...

When you instruct a conveyancing solicitor or licensed conveyancer for your home move the last thing you want is for the conveyancing process to take up more of your time than is necessary.

At 1st Property Lawyers, we think the less time you spend sorting out your conveyancing, the more time you have for visiting your new house and researching your new neighbourhood.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, not only do we provide a high quality, fast conveyancing service, we’re now making the conveyancing process even easier for movers!

The new Conveyancing reviews page on ...

Despite the disruption the abolition of HIPs caused the conveyancing market it seems that this may have resulted in an increase in the number of new conveyancing instructions and the number of homes up for sale.

According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) the decision to scrap HIPs saw the rate of new conveyancing instructions rise from 11% in April to 21% in May.

The RICS monthly report also showed that surveyors were more optimistic on the house price front, with 22% more chartered surveyors reporting a rise in property prices rather than a fall.

1st Property Lawyers ...

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re determined to give customers the best conveyancing service available. We want you to be in your new home as quickly as possible and without all the stress and hassle normally associated with the conveyancing process.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales we thought it would be a great idea if our customers could see what previous clients had to say about the conveyancing service they received.

We’ve now got a great new conveyancing reviews section on our website that lets you view the area of England or Wales you’re thinking of ...

After all the contradiction and confusion over house prices last week, we at 1st Property Lawyers thought we’d release a few statistics of our own today.

As the most recommended conveyancing provider in England and Wales, it’s obviously very important to us that our customers are as happy as possible with our conveyancing service.

At the end of every completed conveyancing transaction an independent survey is conducted in order to get an accurate view of what customers are saying about the conveyancing process here at 1st Property Lawyers.

For the past two months running every customer of 1st Property Lawyers ...

Barely two days have passed since the Land Registry reported their findings on the state of the country’s property prices, and now 1st Property Lawyers are able to bring you the latest update on the conveyancing market and what it might mean for the conveyancing for your new home.

Nationwide have today published their monthly survey suggesting property values rose 0.5% in May, pushing the average cost of a home in the UK up to £169,162.

The conveyancing industry is still coming to terms with the absence of Home Information Packs (HIPs) and, with sales still relatively low, prices ...

1st Property Lawyers are back again this week with the latest offering in our conveyancing mythbusters series.

Myth Number Eight – Your conveyancing Solicitor is never around when you need them the most.

Myth – once again, it all comes down to choosing a conveyancing firm you can trust to act in your best interests, and to be there when you need them.

Some high street conveyancing solicitors have tarnished the reputation of the conveyancing industry in the past by charging hefty prices without actually doing much work.

And whenever customers called for updates on how their conveyancing was progressing ...

It’s that time again here at 1st Property Lawyers – the Land Registry have published their house price statistics for April, giving a good indication of how things are looking in the conveyancing industry.

With all the uncertainty in the build up to the election the conveyancing industry was braced for a downturn in house prices as sellers lacked confidence in the property market.

The Land Registry data shows this is not quite the case, as the average house price in England and Wales rose - but only by 0.2%, up to £165,596.

Conveyancing firms will be heartened by ...

1st Property Lawyers’ customers may or may not have been aware of all the chaos in the global markets recently.

Unfortunately, the conveyancing market hasn’t really fared much better of late, with the confusion surrounding the hung parliament and the subsequent abolition of Home Information Packs.

Now more than ever, movers need to feel confident that their conveyancing provider can look after their conveyancing case, getting them moved quicker and with a minimum amount of stress.

1st Property Lawyers can offer just such a conveyancing service. We survey all of our movers once they’ve completed to see what they thought ...

The conveyancing industry is a bit up in the air at the moment. Having accepted the loss of HIPs in last weeks coalition announcement the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) today published figures stating that mortgage lending in April rose at its slowest rate for nine years.

1st Property Lawyers reported last week that the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) had indicated an increase in mortgage activity, particularly amongst first time buyers, over the past few months.

Today’s statistics from the BBA suggest that a combination of the end of stamp duty relief in December, severe winter weather and uncertainty surrounding ...

Cuts, cuts and more cuts. That’s all 1st Property Lawyers are hearing at the moment as the new coalition government struggles to come to terms with the UK’s deficit.

So far the only casualty in the conveyancing industry has been the controversial Home Information Pack.

With the Queen’s speech today officially opening the new session of parliament 1st Property Lawyers will be closely following events to see if anything will be affecting conveyancing directly.

In the meantime, customers of our high quality conveyancing service can continue to rely on 1st Property Lawyers to make moving less hassle.

With most other ...

We’re carrying on with our conveyancing myth busting crusade today, albeit in a slightly different format.

Although not strictly a myth, 1st Property Lawyers find that many movers are unsure on how to best judge a Conveyancer.

The sheer number of conveyancing solicitors and licensed conveyancers means movers have more choice than ever when it comes to choosing the right conveyancing firm for them.

But how to tell a good conveyancing provider from a bad conveyancing provider?

At 1st Property Lawyers, we’ve found that more and more people are relying on word of mouth and direct recommendations from their family ...

It’s now official – as of midnight tonight homeowners will no longer be required to provide a Home Information Pack when selling their homes.

In a statement this morning, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Housing Minister Grant Shapps announced that an order had been laid suspending HIPs with immediate effect, pending primary legislation for a permanent abolition.

Any sellers looking to market their property will still be required to commission an Energy Performance Certificate, and this must be produced within 28 days of putting your home up for sale.

1st Property Lawyers would advise anyone who’s just ordered a HIP ...

Following on from news of better mortgages for first time buyers, 1st Property Lawyers were pleased to see the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) on Monday.

As the conveyancing industry enters its traditional busy period the report showed that mortgage lending increased 45% year on year in March, with 45,000 loans totalling more than £6bn.

The CML also added that first time buyers were contributing a large amount to the increase, borrowing 17,300 loans worth around £2bn in March. This was up 27% on February and 42% when compared to March 2009.

1st Property Lawyers welcome ...

We´re back with another conveyancing myth all ready to be busted by the experts here at 1st Property Lawyers.

Myth Number Six - Conveyancing firms treat you like ‘just another number’

Myth - just be careful which Conveyancer you choose to instruct.

Some conveyancing firms are so focussed on churning out hundreds of cases they neglect their customer service to the point where, instead of alleviating the stress in home moving, they actually add to it. Having no dedicated Conveyancer can often be a by-product of using a low-cost conveyancing firm.

Instead of just opting for the cheapest quote from ...

1st Property Lawyers are happy to report some good news for first time buyers.

The Post Office has taken a step into the 90% loan-to-value (LTV) market with their new two-year fixed rate mortgage at 5.45%.

This beats similar offerings from the Co-operative and Britannia, both of whom currently have a 90% LTV mortgage at 5.49%.

As the UK’s most recommended Conveyancer, 1st Property Lawyers have seen first hand just how tough it is for first time buyers to get onto the property ladder at the moment.

Despite the stamp duty exemption for first time buyers in the budget ...

So after all the discussions and compromise Britain finally has a coalition government and a new Prime Minister in David Cameron.

The country’s going to see some big changes over the next few months but fortunately, 1st Property Lawyers ability to offer excellent conveyancing isn’t one of them!

As the UK’s most recommended Conveyancer, we’ve been keeping a close eye on all the latest news and developments to come out of Westminster and what they mean for conveyancing.

The big question in the conveyancing industry is: What will happen to Home Information Packs?

As part of the coalition agreement reached ...

As reported last month on the 1st Property Lawyers website it seems the general election hasn’t had the negative impact on the conveyancing industry many were predicting.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) today announced that a greater number of their surveyors had witnessed an increase in property prices over the last three months.

In their latest monthly housing market survey, RICS say that 17% more surveyors reported a rise in prices in April, up from 9% in March.

1st Property Lawyers have seen a huge increase in new conveyancing business over the past couple of months and ...

The last few weeks have been fairly chaotic here at 1st Property Lawyers, the UK’s most recommended Conveyancer. With discussions still ongoing between the 3 major political parties, there’s still plenty of confusion over who will be forming the next government.

If the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives form some sort of coalition, there will be several shake-ups in the conveyancing industry.

Foremost will be the disappearance of Home Information Packs. Both parties are pledged to abolish them and, with David Cameron stating in a pre-election interview that he would start legislation to get rid of HIPs sooner rather than ...

There are a few bleary eyes here at 1st Property Lawyers this morning, as we stayed up most of the night to see the election results roll in.

With only a few seats still to declare there is no chance of any party winning an outright majority, so the Conservatives will sit top of the pile, with the largest party in a hung parliament.

So what does this mean for the conveyancing industry, and for people looking to move home in the future?

At this stage it’s still impossible to tell for sure. 1st Property Lawyers, like everyone else in ...

Today’s the big day and, as Britain takes to the polls for the general election, 1st Property Lawyers are trying to work out what might be in store for the conveyancing industry once the votes are tallied up.

Long tipped as the favourites to win the election, the Conservative party has made abolishing Home Information Packs one of its top priorities.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, David Cameron said that he would get started straight away on legislation that could see HIPs disappear by the end of the summer.

At 1st Property Lawyers we’ve been keeping an eye ...

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re aware that moving home can sometimes be a testing time.

As the UK’s most recommended conveyancer we do everything possible to alleviate some of the stress involved in the conveyancing process, but for many people, the thought of moving away and leaving so many memories behind can be too much.

According to a recent survey by reallymoving.com, some movers can be so reluctant to part with aspects of their former house that they badger their removal firms with requests that 1st Property Lawyers consider to be…slightly bizarre!

Having questioned 50 UK removal firms, reallymoving.com ...

It’s less than 48 hours until Britain takes to the polls and, despite many people predicting a fall in conveyancing instructions in the run up to the election, 1st Property Lawyers are experiencing record levels of business.

With the new changes in Stamp Duty beginning to take effect on new buyers, the Bank of England today published figures suggesting mortgage lending had improved slightly in March.

This has added fuel to the speculation that the housing market is slowing down, with the Land Registry reporting last week that they’d seen house prices fall 0.6% in March, despite contradicting statistics from ...

With exactly one week to go until Britain takes to the polls for the General Election 1st Property Lawyers has received news that Nationwide are reporting a 1.0% increase in property prices over the past month.

The average house price now stands at £167,802 for April, 10.5% higher than this time last year.

Nationwide also state that, despite the last Parliament overseeing one of the worst recessions in history, house prices have grown by 6.7% between May 2005 and April 2010.

Nationwide go on to predict that the ""increase in new instructions from sellers may contribute to the gradual flattening ...

We’re continuing our myth busting mission today as we try to alter some common misconceptions people have about the Conveyancing process.

Myth Number Five – Conveyancers are just out to rip you off

Myth – some might be! Just be careful which conveyancer you use and always read the terms and conditions very carefully.

There are some conveyancing firms out there who are just looking to make a quick buck at the expense of their customers.

At 1st Property Lawyers we firmly believe that our conveyancing service needs to represent value for money. We always quote a flat, fixed fee ...

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re seeing more and more causes for optimism in the property market, and our conveyancing is certainly attracting interest from customers who want real value for money from their conveyancer.

Today saw a possible bright spot on the horizon for movers as the British Bankers Association (BBA) announced that the number of loans approved for home purchases had increased by 20% over the past year – meaning more people are moving home.

The BBA report that the effects of the Stamp Duty change at the beginning of the year has now ""worked through"" and the average ...

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the London Marathon yesterday.

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re well aware of the hard work and dedication it takes to complete such a gruelling challenge.

After all, becoming the UK’s most recommended conveyancer isn’t something that happens overnight.

And, despite other conveyancers who may tell you otherwise, the conveyancing process can be a sprint, not a marathon.

By taking advantage of the latest in conveyancing technology, combined with our dedication to customer satisfaction, 1st Property Lawyers are able to shave not just days off the conveyancing process, but weeks!

Our expert Conveyancers are ...

David Cameron made light of yesterdays incident of being confronted by a giant chicken, and subsequently hit with an egg, by joking: ""Now I know which came first – the chicken not the egg!""

At 1st Property Lawyers, we’ll be glued to the edges of our seats later on tonight, to see the latest live TV Leaders Debate, and which party leader if any, will get ‘egg on their face.’

When your thinking about moving home, the last thing you want to end up with is ‘egg on your face’, which does happen more often than you’d think. Last year, ...

We’re continuing our myth busting mission today as we try to alter some common misconceptions people have about the Conveyancing process.

Myth Number Four – Conveyancers never contact you and YOU have to do all the chasing!

Myth!

There’s nothing worse than not knowing! If your conveyancer isn’t keeping you up-to-date on the progress of your case then this can add to the already considerable stress of moving home. At 1st Property Lawyers we’ll always keep in regular contact with you, even if we’ve got nothing new to tell you. And by operating longer opening hours and utilising SMS text ...

In the face of election uncertainty and varying opinions on the state of the housing market, 1st Property Lawyers, the UK’s most recommended conveyancing provider has proven once again that our dedicated approach to getting customers into their new homes as quickly and efficiently as possible is hugely popular.

On the back of a successful February the number of people using our great conveyancing service rose by 20%.

And despite the high increase in instructions we’ve still managed to offer unbeatable customer service, with 90% of movers using 1st Property Lawyers saying they would recommend the conveyancing service to their ...

With all three political parties laying down their pledges for the election in May, we´ve been assessing what impact they´ll have on the conveyancing market and customers of 1st Property Lawyers.

What they say on…Stamp Duty

Stamp Duty has been a hot topic here at 1st Property Lawyers ever since the budget announcement exempting first time buyers from stamp duty tax on properties under £250,000.

Labour – Following on from their commitment back in March, Labour have said they will maintain the stamp duty threshold at £125,000 although for two years first time buyers will be exempt from stamp duty ...

With all three political parties laying down their pledges for the election in May, we´ve been assessing what impact they´ll have on the conveyancing market and customers of 1st Property Lawyers.

What they say on…Housing Affordability

Since the recession 1st Property Lawyers have been keeping a close eye on the problem of housing affordability, and we know that first time buyers using our conveyancing services have found it hard to get onto the property ladder.

Labour – Say they want to create a society in which everyone is given the chance to own their own home. They’re continuing their Home ...

With all three political parties publishing their Manifestos for the election in May, we´ve been assessing what impact they´ll have on the conveyancing market and customers of 1st Property Lawyers.

What they say on…HIPs!

1st Property Lawyers were very keen to discover what the major political parties had in store for Home Information Packs. We want to ensure that customers of 1st Property Lawyers are kept fully informed on all the issues surrounding HIPs so they don’t pay a penny more when it comes to selling their home.

Labour – Have pledged to continue to enforce the use of HIPs ...

1st Property Lawyers were very interested in news coming out of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) today as they released results of their housing market survey for March.

It reported the number of people trying to sell their home is at its highest level since 2007, with new instructions from sellers outstripping enquiries from would-be buyers for the third month in a row.

The Surveyors body go on to say that the rise in numbers of homes for sale may also impact on property prices as stocks increase and sales decrease, with RICS stating that they expect prices ...

We’re continuing our myth busting mission today as we try to alter some common misconceptions people have about the Conveyancing process.

Myth Number Three - Conveyancing Takes Ages!

Myth!

The Conveyancing industry in the UK has had this reputation for a long time. At 1st Property Lawyers we realise that what customers want most is to have their sale or purchase taken care of as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Life’s too short to be worrying about whether your conveyancer has seen the local drainage searches or made enquiries about building permission for that extension the seller had done ...

Are they up? Are they down? House prices are yo-yoing at the moment and 1st Property Lawyers are keeping an eye on the market to keep you up to date with all the latest news.

Halifax have added their latest statistics into the mix today, with figures showing a 1% rise in property value for March.

The Halifax goes on to say that house prices increased by 0.6% from the last quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010, a sign of slowdown in the trend rate of house price growth, as the third and fourth quarters of 2009 ...

We’re carrying on with our myth busting mission today as we try to shed some light on some common misconceptions about the conveyancing process.

Myth Number Two - Local solicitors are always best

Myth!

This is simply not true and 1st Property Lawyers are astounded by how many movers have come to us saying they thought they had to use a local solicitor. Conveyancing is all about crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s.

At 1st Property Lawyers, our modern, proactive, streamlined approach means that our Conveyancers offer great service, are professional and get you moved quicker. If your local ...

We hope you all had a great Easter break! How many of you spotted our April Fool’s story about the Hollywood film crew visiting 1st Property Lawyers?

Bank Holidays always seem to fly by for 1st Property Lawyers, but we’re back now and raring to go for what usually proves to be the busiest time of the year for conveyancing providers.

At many conveyancing firms ‘busy’ usually means customer service goes out the window as conveyancers struggle to meet the high levels of demand.

Not at 1st Property Lawyers, where we always have your best interests at heart. We’re only ...

Conveyancing in the UK has come in for some flak over the years.

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re trying to change the way people look at the conveyancing process so they embrace it as something that can make your move stress free. We’ve come up with a useful guide highlighting some of the myths associated with conveyancing, and how we can make the process much easier.

Watch out over the next few weeks as we sort out the truths and un-truths in the world of conveyancing!

Myth Number One - You always have to use a Solicitor

Myth! A Solicitor ...

More news on house prices has reached 1st Property Lawyers today with Nationwide reporting a 0.7% rise in the UK’s average property value over the last month.

The average price of a property in the UK now stands at £164,519, 9% higher than it was in March 2009.

This follows the Land Registry’s announcement last week that February’s property prices had fallen 0.3% as a consequence of bad weather and the end of the Stamp Duty Holiday.

Nationwide’s Chief Economist, Martin Gahbauer, said it now looked as if there were outside factors affecting the cost of moving home.

""With greater ...

With Easter just around the corner we at 1st Property Lawyers thought we’d take this opportunity to demonstrate just how ‘eggcellent’ our conveyancing service really is.

Easter usually signals the lead up to our busiest time of the year and, with house prices relatively low and the Stamp Duty relief for 1st time Buyers beginning last week, 1st Property Lawyers are really ‘eggcited’ about the next few months.

In 2009 the total number of movers almost doubled over the Easter period. Combine the traditional rise with the Stamp Duty incentive and 2010 looks set to be a conveyancing ‘eggstravaganza’!

All ...

The eagerly anticipated (by 1st Property Lawyers, anyway) February house price statistics have been released today by the Land Registry.

The figures, based on the actual price a property sold for, are widely regarded to be the ""most accurate barometer of the property market.""

The Land Registry reports that the average house price has risen by 7% from February last year, to £164,455.

However, February 2010’s house price is down 0.3% on January 2010’s, indicative of continued uncertainty in the property sector.

The end of Stamp Duty relief and bad weather at the beginning of the year were ...

A report in the Law Society Gazette suggests that the majority of people would rely on recommendations from friends and family when it comes to choosing a solicitor.

As the most recommended conveyancer in England and Wales, 1st Property Lawyers came to that conclusion a long time ago. We’ve always been able to provide a highly efficient, customer friendly service that keeps people coming back for more!

In fact, our service is so good, 9 out of 10 customers who used 1st Property Lawyers for their conveyancing said they would recommend our services to their friends and colleagues.

But that ...

1st Property Lawyers are in a celebratory mood today. The dedicated consumer website Money Saving Expert has just published a guide to home buying and it seems 1st Property Lawyers are one of the Money Savers’ favourite providers of conveyancers.

As well as supplying a handy list of do’s and don’ts for people looking for a conveyancer, the guide also gives some great advice on what you can expect from the moving and conveyancing process as a whole.

Obviously this is great news for 1st Property Lawyers and shows that our combination of expert conveyancing, innovative working practices and first ...

Big news to come out of today’s budget.

Alistair Darling announced that Stamp Duty for first time buyers will cease for properties under £250,000.

This will take effect from midnight tonight and will last for this year and next.

The chancellor stated that this would mean 9 out of 10 first time buyers will save up to £2,500 in Stamp Duty.

This will be funded by an increase in Stamp Duty for people purchasing properties over £1m to 5%. However, this won’t come into effect until April next year, if Labour are triumphant in the General Election.

At 1st Property ...

Home Information Packs (HIPs) have come in for another bout of bad press recently as it emerged that an investigation by the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) discovered 1 in 3 HIPs in Birmingham to be unsatisfactory.

Critics of HIPs were naturally quick to jump on this latest controversy claiming it provided further proof that HIPs have had their day.

At 1st Property Lawyers we’re not so sure.

With more and more propaganda stating the likelihood of a ‘Hung’ Parliament, and some bookies offering 13/8 odds on a no overall majority, it’s still not evident whether HIPs will disappear after ...

Although 1st Property Lawyers specialise in conveyancing that doesn’t mean we can’t help and advise you on things beyond the legal process of moving house.

As stressful as the transfer of a property from one person to another can be, we’re acutely aware that the hassle doesn’t magically end as soon as you’ve moved in.

According to a study by Halifax Home Insurance more than 360,000 Brits moved home last year because of problems with the neighbours!

60 per cent of these people cite aggressive behaviour as a cause for complaint, with 53% attributing excessive noise as a factor for ...

When it comes to choosing the right conveyancer, it’s best to approach the world of conveyancing the same way you’d approach shark infested waters!

All might seem well on the surface, with a very competitive looking price for the legal service you require, but once you get in deeper you realise there’s all sorts of hidden nasties just waiting to bite you.

We want to help you make a well informed decision when choosing a legal firm you can trust. Here’s 1st Property Lawyers (almost) impartial guide to choosing a conveyancer.

• Deal with a specialist!

Using a property solicitor ...

Happy St Patricks day, everybody.

With millions of Irish (and not so Irish) revellers celebrating today we thought we’d ‘craic’ on and show you just how Sham-rockingly great 1st Property Lawyers are when it comes to conveyancing!

With the growing popularity of online conveyancing many customers are discovering that choosing a conveyancer you can trust isn’t as easy as it first sounds.

As already mentioned on the 1st Property Lawyers website its important not use the first property lawyer (excuse the pun) that pops up just because they’re the cheapest.

Far more important is the standard of service the conveyancer ...

Despite Nationwide and Hometrack taking a cautious view of the latest house price figures, business at conveyancing provider 1st Property Lawyers is booming, with a 112% rise in our caseload compared to this time last year.

Icy weather and the end of Stamp Duty relief in January have been cited as probable causes for the levelling off in property prices but that hasn’t stopped thousands of movers from taking advantage of the excellent conveyancing service 1st Property Lawyers provides.

In recent weeks, a raft of reports have come out with some saying that UK property prices are falling again, and ...

We at 1st Property Lawyers relish being able to bring you little snippets of good news now and again.

New research from the property website Zoopla suggests that falls in house prices and mortgage rates over the past few years have resulted in UK house price affordability being at its highest level since 2003.

A home is classed as ‘affordable’ if one third of the median income is sufficient to cover mortgage repayments and the average UK earner can now afford 58% of all properties.

So what does this mean for movers?

This is great news for everyone thinking of ...

Everyone knows that moving can be stressful so 1st Property Lawyers were interested to see the latest Home Mover boxes, and we can’t fail to notice the similarities between them and the excellent conveyancing service we provide.

Home Move boxes provide an assortment of essential goodies to help out movers from day one in their new home, from tea and coffee to toilet roll and cleaning products, helping to ease much of the stress that only comes after you move in.

1st Property Lawyers whole approach is designed to minimise stress. We will guide you through each step, from your ...

Once again 1st Property Lawyers appear to be bucking current trends by recording our busiest February since 2007.

Despite the unsettled state of the UK housing market it seems that many people are still looking to move home and 1st Property Lawyers first class conveyancing service is in high demand.

A combination of our excellent customer service, fast completion times and great value conveyancing has seen the number of people choosing to use our legal services rise by 61% since January, and a whopping 83% when compared to February 2009.

Laura Thistlethwaite suggested that the reason 1st Property Lawyers business ...

• ""You were brilliant; I’ve had no problems whatsoever. You really provided great value service and I’m definitely planning to use you again when I buy my next property.""
Mr J, Sheffield

• ""My conveyancer was excellent, I couldn’t have hoped for better. Whenever we spoke things were immediately followed up. I was thoroughly delighted with my conveyancing service and I have already been recommending you to my friends and colleagues.""
Mr D, York

• ""It all went so smoothly. Everybody we spoke to really knew what was going on with our case and were able to deal with it. ...

Conveyancing provider, 1st Property Lawyers are pleased to report that the latest figures published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) earlier this week suggest promising signs of recovery in some of Europe’s housing markets.

Low interest rates and reviving economies are helping to repair the damage caused by the global financial crisis. This certainly resonates at 1st Property Lawyers, where we’ve doubled our market share in the last 12 months, just by sticking to conveyancing – albeit with a 21st Century twist!

The RICS study finds that Britain enjoyed a rise of 1% in 2009, coming fifth behind ...

Talk about the perfect metaphor!

After purchasing what appeared to be the perfect second home on a picturesque cliffside outside Torquay, the proud owner would be forgiven for being ‘too devastated to speak’ after a large portion of the garden suddenly disappeared overnight.

The six bedroom property, which sold for £154,500 at auction last week, now stands a precarious 50ft away from a 300ft drop into the sea, making somewhat of a mockery of the marketing brochure which stated the house was ""set in extensive cliff top grounds…with glorious views"".

Back to the metaphor, though.

Imagine the house is a ...

1st Property Lawyers provide world class customer satisfaction by bringing the traditional approach of conveyancing services into the 21st Century.

Using a combination of the latest technology and a personal approach that we think is unique in the conveyancing market, 1st Property Lawyers are able to offer you a highly efficient, friendly conveyancing service.

At the start of the process you will be designated your own personal case handler who will be on hand whenever you need them – either by phone, post or email, whatever works best for you!

They’ll guide you through every step of the process, ensuring ...

The home-buying and selling market is crying out for an innovative and encouraging new business model, according to the latest report from the Office of Fair Trading.

The report also goes on to suggest that online services have the potential to transform a market still dominated by traditional estate agents – a situation which has led to lack of price competition and ‘sticky’ commission rates.

1st Property Lawyers recognised this a long time ago and, without wishing to blow our own trumpet, we think we’re leaps and bounds ahead of our competitors in providing our customers with first rate conveyancing ...

After being on the front line of the mad rush to complete property purchases before the end of the stamp duty holiday, 1st Property Lawyers aren’t really all that surprised that latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the central provider of statistical and economic information for the property market, show a slump in lending compared to December 2009.

Couple that with the severe weather we experienced at the start of this year and it’s no wonder that January 2010 is the worst January for 10 years.

However, it’s not all as ominous as it sounds and there ...

Rob Gurney, one of the directors here at 1st Property Lawyers turned into a movie star for the day yesterday.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the regulatory body for specialist Property Lawyers, were at the offices for the day, shooting a promotional video for their new website, and Rob was the star of the show.

Rob commented: ""The video director said I was a natural, and seriously asked whether I had done any work like this before, I’m looking forward to seeing the final edit so I can make my own decision.""

As soon as we see the final cut, ...

Leicester based 1st Property Lawyers recently launched a new website design, aiming to show that conveyancing doesn’t have to be a stressful experience and reflecting the friendly, experienced personalities that make up our conveyancing team. It’s certainly a long way from the traditional stuffy image of High Street Conveyancing Solicitors!

Commercial Director, Mark Montgomery said: ""The feedback so far to the new site has been great, and we plan to showcase more of our happy customers and give them the opportunity to have their say on the site.""

Laura Thistlethwaite, Marketing Co-Ordinator added: ""We’re always looking at more appropriate ways ...