Japanese Knotweed, an Invasive Species

/in , , , , /by

Japanese Knotweed was brought into the UK in Victorian times as an ornamental plant. What they didn’t know was that the plant has an invasive root system.

Read more

The Survey, an essential part of your Property Purchase

/in , , , , , /by

Purchasing a property is one of the largest investments that you will ever make and it is important that you have as much information about its condition.

Read more
Small Conveyancing Firm of the Year 2018

Winners of the prestigious award for Small Conveyancing Firm of the Year 2018

/in , , , , , , /by

Gaddes Noble Property Lawyers are very proud to announce that they have won the prestigious award for Small Conveyancing Firm of the Year 2018.

The LFS Conveyancing Awards are the largest and most prestigious event in the conveyancing calendar.  At this national event, over 700 solicitors, licensed conveyancers and conveyancing professionals enjoyed an evening of entertainment, a three course gala dinner and a nervous wait with other finalists to see who would be crowned winners.

Small Conveyancing Firm of the Year 2018

The award that we have won was available to all Small Conveyancing Firms. It gave us the opportunity to enter for offering a first class service but without having the large marketing budgets of our larger rivals and to compete against each other on a level playing field.

The judging process was over five stages and comprised of:

  1. Completion of an application so that the judges could make an initial assessment.
  2. A mystery shopping exercise to obtain a conveyancing quote. This process was scored on both the quality of the phone call and the subsequent quote pack that they received.
  3. A compliance check undertaken by Legal Eye. They requested several documents and policies and a score was given to each firm.
  4. A telephone interview by one of the judges.
  5. Shopper Anonymous undertook a client survey based on a net promoter score.

Managing Director, Lee Gaddes, commented ‘to win this highly acclaimed award is an honour and a testimony to our fabulous conveyancing team.

We all enjoyed the evening with our fellow finalists in Birmingham and never expected to win. The award now takes pride of place in our reception area in our offices in Huddersfield and will be our benchmark for the years to come’.

Small Conveyancing Firm of the Year North win 2018

Gaddes Noble Shortlisted Small Conveyancer of the Year

Shortlisted for the prestigious award for Small Conveyancer of the Year 2018

/in , , , , , , /by

Gaddes Noble Property Lawyers are very proud to announce that they have been shortlisted for the prestigious award for Small Conveyancer of the Year 2018.

The LFS Conveyancing Awards are now in their seventh year and are the biggest and most prestigious event in the conveyancing calendar.

The award that we have entered was available all Small Conveyancing Firms. It gave us the opportunity to enter for offering a first class service but without having the large marketing budgets of our larger rivals and to compete against each other on a level playing field.

We have been part of a five-stage judging process, comprising of:

  1. Completion of an application so that the judges could make an initial assessment.
  2. A mystery shopping exercise to obtain a conveyancing quote. This process was scored on both the quality of the phone call and the subsequent quote pack that they received.
  3. A compliance check undertaken by Legal Eye. They requested several documents and policies and a score was given to each firm.
  4. A telephone interview by one of the judges
  5. Shopper Anonymous undertook a client survey based on a net promoter score

Managing Director, Lee Gaddes, commented ‘to be shortlisted for this highly acclaimed award is an honour and a testimony to our fabulous conveyancing team.  We are all now looking forward to attending the awards dinner later this year in Birmingham’.

Tackling Unfair Practices in the Leasehold Property Market

/in , , , /by

There are two different forms of legal ownership, freehold and leasehold.

Read more
First Time Buyers, Stamp Duty Land Tax

First Time Buyers and Stamp Duty Land Tax and Minor Amendments to Higher Rates

/in /by

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced several changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax in today’s budget.  To keep our clients informed and up to date, below is a summary of the key points.

Stamp Duty Land Tax: Relief for first time buyers

A relief for first time buyers of residential properties costing no more than £500,000. First time buyers will pay no SDLT on the first £300,000 of the purchase price, with the remainder being charged at 5%. No relief will be available where the total consideration exceeds £500,000.

The relief is not time limited and will apply to transactions with an effective date on or after 22 November 2017. Legislation will be introduced in Finance Bill 2017 to 2018.

A guidance note is available on gov.uk, together with the draft legislation and explanatory note.

First time buyers can use the gov.uk calculator to work out their stamp duty land tax liability.

Stamp Duty Land Tax: Minor amendments to higher rates

Minor amendments to provide relief in certain cases including –

  • where a divorce related court order prevents someone from disposing of their interest in a main residence,
  • where a spouse or civil partner buys property from another spouse or civil partner,
  • where a deputy buys property for a child subject to the Court of Protection,
  • where a purchaser adds to their interest in their current main residence.

Additionally, legislation will be provided to prevent abuse of relief for replacement of a purchaser’s only or main residence by requiring the purchaser to dispose of the whole of their former main residence and to do so to someone who is not their spouse.

The changes will apply from 22 November 2017. Legislation will be introduced in Finance Bill 2017 to 2018.

ATED: 2018 to 2019 annual chargeable amounts

The ATED annual charges will rise 3% from 1 April 2018 in line with the September 2017 Consumer Prices Index. A Treasury Order confirming the charges will be published shortly after Budget.

The new rates will be –

Property Value Annual chargeable amounts for the 2017 to 2018 chargeable period Annual chargeable amounts for the 2018 to 2019 chargeable period
£500,001 to £1,000,000 £3,500 £3,600
£1,000,001 to £2,000,000 £7,050 £7,250
£2,000,001 to £5,000,000 £23,550 £24,250
£5,000,001 to £10,000,000 £54,950 £56,550
£10,000,001 to £20,000,000 £110,100 £113,400
£20,000,0001 and over £220,350 £226,950

Great news for First Time Buyers

The changes apply from today so any first time buyer purchasing a property and completing from today will not have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax if they are purchasing the property for £300,000 or less.

The calculator referred to earlier is a very helpful online tool but please do not hesitate to contact Gaddes Noble Property Lawyers if we can be of any assistance with the new rates of SDLT.

Conveyancing and Estate Agents

Traditional Estate Agent or Online Estate Agent?

/in , , , /by

Discussing the effect on Clients and Conveyancers

Traditional Estate Agent

Most high street Estate Agents will typically charge an average of £1500.00 or a percentage of the sale price, on a no sale no fee basis, with no deferred payment, so they get paid when the property sells.  They usually often offer, a dedicated sales team, extensive sales progression work and local market knowledge.

Online Estate Agent

Most online Estate Agents will typically charge an average of £750.00, usually payable up front with a deferred payment charge/loan as an option. Big names in the online market are PurpleBricks, eMoov, Tepilo, HouseSimple, YOPA, Settled and Hatched.

Conveyancing Explained

When a new client instructs us to act on their behalf in the conveyancing, the property has already been sold, usually by the Estate Agent.  When a property has sold and Solicitors/Lawyers have been instructed, we receive a Memorandum of Sale from the Estate Agent.

Whether it be a traditional or online Estate Agent, we receive a detailed Memorandum of Sale detailing the main terms of the transaction which usually includes:

  • The full address and postcode of the property
  • The sale price
  • The names and addresses of the seller and purchaser
  • The name, address and contact details of the lawyer they have instructed
  • Any special remarks or conditions

We use that information to open your new file and start the conveyancing process.

The Main Differences

The main difference that we find is that a traditional Estate Agent will contact us several times throughout the transaction, often by telephone for updates on how the matter is progressing.

They will also contact the other party’s Solicitor/Lawyer for updates on their part of the transaction.  Updates will also be asked for by email and then the information passed on to the seller and buyer.  It is a ‘hands on’ approach and ensures that sales progression is maintained and all parties are fully informed and up to date.

An online Estate Agent will rarely contact us once a property has reached the conveyancing stage and sold subject to contract, their contact with us, the seller and the buyer will be minimal.

Once contracts have been exchanged and a completion date set as legally binding, we will always inform the Estate Agent whether they are traditional or online.

  • With a traditional Estate Agent, a fee invoice will usually be generated to be paid on the day of completion.
  • With an online Estate Agent, the fee will have usually been paid upfront and therefore their involvement at this stage is usually not needed.

We also find the day of completion very different with the Estate Agent models compared here.

  • With a traditional Estate Agent, the seller’s keys are deposited with the Estate Agent at their office ready for collection by the purchaser when legal completion takes place.
  • With an online Estate Agent, the onus is on the seller and buyer to meet and hand over their keys direct, once we have confirmed that funds have been received.

With a property sale, you are welcome to leave the keys to your property with us for collection if this assists you on the day of completion.

Conveyancing Service

Whichever model you choose to sell your property we can act on your behalf in the conveyancing of your property.  We will assist you with any negotiations that you require and be in regular contact with your buyer or seller’s Solicitor, we will ensure that funds are received into our client bank account on your behalf before you hand keys over to your buyer.

Residential Conveyancing
New Build Conveyancing
Commercial Conveyancing