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In October 2018, the government announced that it would appoint a New Homes Ombudsman (NHO) to support homebuyers facing problems with their newly built home. In July 2019 , the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government launched a consultation process seeking views on delivery of the service.

It is also considering whether a code of practice should be created to give a clear framework for both builders and the NHO.

Why a New Homes Ombudsman is needed

The National New Home Consumer Satisfaction Survey, published in March 2019, found that 99 percent of those who bought a new home in 2017/18 reported a defect or snag to the builder, up from 91 percent in 2011/12. The number of buyers who would not recommend their house builder to a friend was 13 percent in 2017/18, up from 9 percent in 2011/12.

Shelter and YouGov found that 51 percent of new home owners have reported major problems with their properties including construction issues, lack of finishing and utility faults.

As well as problems with the build, consumers are also struggling with misleading marketing materials, lack of pre-purchase information and limited transparency in respect of costs and referral fees.

Most buyers would welcome access to their new property before completion, for themselves as well as their own independent surveyor or building consultant. Currently this is often refused.

With the government wanting builders to supply up to 300,000 new homes each year by the mid-2020s, an NHO will encourage high standards and provide recourse for buyers who are dissatisfied.

The government understands that house building is a complex process, involving many different trades and skills and that there may be flaws in newly constructed properties, but it wants to reach the point where all builders deal with problems quickly and treat buyers fairly.

Along with the NHO, a new consumer code has been suggested. While there are a number of codes already in existence, they currently have different standards and criteria, meaning consumers struggle to pin builders down when a problem arises. Complainants may have to deal with different consumer codes and warranty providers as well as the building company to try and have problems rectified.

When purchasers are uncertain who to turn to for redress when defects are not dealt with, some builders are able to continue providing homes of less than adequate quality.

Builders who are expelled from one code are free to join another by using a different warranty firm. This means they do not have to raise their standards. By providing a single point of access for the consumer, bringing a complaint will be simpler and builders will not be able to change to a different system to avoid ongoing sanctions.

The proposed role of a New Homes Ombudsman

The government’s consultation paper, ‘Redress for Purchasers of New Build Homes and the New Homes Ombudsman’, suggests that the initial role of an NHO would be to try and resolve disputes informally. The process is then likely to move on to try and bring complaints to a conclusion by way of recommendations for redress and possible financial awards to the consumer.

The NHO will not have the power to impose fines or instruct developers in the way that they work, however they could be given the power to expel or suspend them from the scheme, meaning they would no longer have the right to build and sell properties.

The government will set an upper limit to the amount that can be asked for by way of financial award, so the most serious claims will still need to go to court for settlement if the sum sought is higher than the NHO’s limit.

In cases where the NHO will not be making a binding decision, there is the option for it to make a recommendation to the developer, for example to buy back a defective property, to vary an unfair lease or to reduce onerous service charges.

Where remedial action is proposed, the NHO could be given the power to impose time limits on completion of the work.

A code of practice

A single, industry-wide code of practice for new build would ensure that builders understand what is expected of them and give the NHO a standard to which they can refer when assessing complaints. 

A code would cover areas including complaints procedures, ethics and conduct, particularly in respect of advertising and provision of clear pre-purchase information, transparency with regard to reservation fees, standards in respect of handover of the property, aftersales service for two years following completion, quality of the build, remedy of defects within a reasonable time frame, customer service standards and provision of a warranty. 

How a New Homes Ombudsman will benefit builders

The proposed new industry regulation is good news for builders who offer higher quality build standards and service than competitors. As those offering a substandard product are penalised and even prevented from selling, those who pay attention to detail and deal quickly and efficiently with snags will rise to the top.

The future looks likely to be more transparent for buyers, with publication of complaints figures, the names of those failing their customers and annual summary reports. The government believes that this openness will improve standards across the industry.  

The New Homes Ombudsman and conveyancers

Conveyancers are likely to notice some differences once the NHO is in place, with possible options to delay completion until a buyer has had a satisfactory survey as well as provision of more information in respect of warranty provisions, leasehold charges and information on future nearby developments.

By ensuring they have adequate case management systems in place, it should be routine to accommodate the extra work as a standard part of a new build transaction once the NHO and code of practice are in place and it is clear what is expected of a developer.

Summary

In April 2019, James Brokenshire, Housing Minister at the time, said it was the government’s intention to introduce the NHO in shadow form before its formal launch. This will give builders and the NHO the opportunity to see how the scheme will work and make any adjustments necessary before a national roll-out.

The Minister also emphasised the government’s wish for high quality, well-designed homes that are beautiful, stand the test of time and provide what communities want and need.

The government’s vision of the future is one where standards are higher, developers offering poor quality are forced to improve or leave the industry and the customer can be assured of prompt and satisfactory resolution of problems. Builders who rise to meet the new standards should find their efforts rewarded as they spend less time resolving post-completion difficulties and benefit from good ratings and recommendations.

The government’s commitment made in 2017 to build 300,000 new homes per year has been well documented. Two years down the line, although the numbers are falling short of the goal, the future looks positive for the new build industry. 

In the year ended June 2019, 173,660 builds were completed, 8 percent more than in the previous year. Private new build completions were 7 percent higher than the previous year, and housing association completions were 12 percent higher.

At present, the amount of new properties being built each year is higher than the number of new households being set up over the same twelve-month period. A new household is formed, for example, by children leaving home to live in their own property, or by couples separating to form two households where previously there was one. The Office for National Statistics estimated in 2018 that the number of new households per year will be 159,000. Even factoring in a possible post-Brexit slowdown in building, construction is likely to continue to substantially outstrip the new households figure. 

Government strategy 

In October 2018, the government revisited its pledge of the previous year and stated that it was committed to delivering 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s. This was accompanied by suggested reforms designed to improve the planning process and deliver investment where needed.

New permitted development rights allow larger extensions and building upwards from existing properties, while development and land acquisition rules are to be made clearer in respect of the creation of new towns and garden communities. 

It is also intended to allow Local Authorities to sell surplus land and develop more brownfield sites.

The government recently announced in August 2019, its intention to provide £600 million of new money via the housing infrastructure fund towards the building of 50,000 new homes in five high-demand areas in London, Bedfordshire and Essex, along with accompanying infrastructure and public services. This is in addition to the £1.3 billion already allocated to 76,500 homes.

Quality will be important, following former housing minister Kit Malthouse’s claim that much of the homes being built now will soon be ripped down and bulldozed as unsuitable. The Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission has been set up to tackle the challenge of poor-quality design and build. Its recent interim report, published in July 2019, has started defining proposals to ensure that future builds are beautiful, sustainable and designed to meet people’s needs.  

Future developments 

As well as new build on vacant land, unused retail space is likely to be made more widely available for residential development. Online shopping accounted for 18 percent of all UK retail sales in 2018, with over 2,400 stores closed on the top 500 high streets that year as well as units on larger out of town retails parks becoming vacant. Local Authorities have been reluctant to grant permissions for change of use in case of a future upturn in retail fortunes, but if the downward trend continues it is likely that more retail space will be released.

Creating mixed developments helps retail sectors thrive, by bringing in homes alongside shops and restaurants. A return to more traditional designs of high streets with public squares is happening in some areas, with different architects being brought in to design different blocks to provide visual variety.

London developments are leading the way with innovation, with the canalside site at Fish Island Village combining a social enterprise campus providing working space for local creatives with one, two and three bedroom homes.

The older generation continues to increase in number, with households headed by someone aged 65+ estimated to account for 88 percent of growth from 2016 to 2041. The government is keen to see more later living accommodation built and intends to give greater encouragement to developments by ensuring that suitable sites are made available to a wide range of developers.  They want older people to be able to choose from a range of housing options, including retirement and care homes. This in turn would bring larger family homes onto the market as older people move to more appropriately sized accommodation. 

Newly built social housing figures remain low, with councils now preferring to target funding towards affordable housing. Part of the reason for this is the higher rents payable for affordable housing, typically 80 percent of the standard market rate, as opposed to social housing where rents are just 50 percent. Local authorities, particularly in the South East, are setting up their own housebuilding companies to combat lack of council homes, with profits from the sale of full-priced new build homes paying for construction of new social housing. 

The number of affordable homes being built is rising as councils insist developers include a number within larger developments. In 2017, the number was up 11 percent on the previous year to 53,572. 

With many younger buyers struggling to afford to buy a home outright, more co-living developments are being designed, with hotel-sized rooms for each resident together with shared spaces. These are designed as a solution primarily for the younger generation, who can benefit from shared amenities and leisure spaces and live within a community. The developments are designed to be a step up from shared houses. 

The new ‘green standard’ 

In October 2019, the Housing Secretary unveiled a new green standard for all new build homes, aimed at cutting carbon emissions for future generations.

The Future Homes Standard, as it will be known, will ban gas boilers and other fossil fuels from new homes by 2025, instead requiring builders to install cleaner heat sources such as solar panels or air source heat pumps, to cut carbon emissions by up to 80 percent. Stronger building regulations will also be implemented to reduce the carbon footprint.

Local Authorities are now expected to produce their own design guide, reflecting the unique setting, character and history of their area, to ensure that developers build attractive, well-designed homes that suit their locale.

It is also intended to reform the planning system to make it faster and more efficient. A simpler system will allow Local Authorities to process applications more quickly, benefiting both developers and individual householders who want to extend or modify their homes. Local Authorities will issue their own design codes, setting out the characteristics of well-designed places and demonstrating what good design means in practice.  

New build work for Lawyers 

With residential construction continuing to increase year on year, acting for developers or their buyers is a good target market for property solicitors. However, dealing with a new build purchase can be an onerous task for the conveyancer. The amount of paperwork is substantial and the checklist is long, including checking planning applications, road and sewer agreements, common parts maintenance agreements, NHBC inspections, building regulations approval, access rights, completion requirements and more in-depth checks on the site on which the property is being built, for example in respect of flooding or environmental contamination. 

As well as this, agents and developers can pile on the pressure, demanding a 28-day exchange period or loss of the reservation fee and, potentially, the buyer’s chosen plot. 

Solicitors aiming to take on a substantial amount of new build work in the future can create systems of work around the special considerations required and dedicate staff members solely to this type of conveyancing to ensure a good workflow. Building a good name with developers and agents when it comes to new build is likely to result in more referrals and repeat business. On-site sales teams will be happy to find a conveyancer who understands the pressures their developer faces to keep to a rapid turnover and ensure deposits are received on time.

There are also opportunities to act on the acquisition and sale of part-exchange properties for builders who offer this service. Again, this is a specialised service, as the seller will have no personal knowledge of the property and will need to complete as a matter of urgency to release locked-in funds. 

Summary 

There is much to be positive about in the realm of new build, with increases expected in all areas of residential construction and improvements in the planning system anticipated. As sustainability issues become increasingly important, builders will need to consider environmental impact as well as whether their designs are aesthetically pleasing and suited to the community they serve.

It promises to be an exciting time for developers, as pressure to stop building identikit homes, reduce carbon footprint and the requirement to best utilise available space forces more innovative thinking. For those prepared to take on the challenge of building the homes that people really need, the future looks bright.

With the government aiming to build hundreds of thousands of new homes over the next few years, the current planning trend is not sustainable. The creation of new garden towns and villages offers an attractive option for some of the housing needed, with strong infrastructure provided alongside new homes, meaning less travel and less congestion in nearby towns. 

The current system

Piecemeal planning consents mean that many current new build homes are tacked on to the edges of existing towns and villages. Builders include a minimal amount of infrastructure in their plans, simply relying on that which is already in place. As communities sprawl outwards, those in the new homes need to make car journeys into the town centre to access amenities such as health care, schools and shops, adding to congestion and parking problems.

The town or village residents are opposed to the new development, which takes away the nearby areas of countryside that they value and overburdens the historic centre. New build therefore gains a reputation for ruining traditional communities.

Landowners cash in on owning land around settlements, knowing that theirs is the next property that builders will be able to obtain planning permission for, raising prices. Builders, having paid a high price for the land, squeeze in as many homes as they can, minimising outside space and creating houses with unattractive proportions and tiny gardens.

The garden community solution

What people really want, when buying a new home, is a decent and affordable property, in a strong community with local facilities and a good school. Garden towns could provide this, with small commercial units provided alongside living accommodation. The modest unit size would allow for easy change of use, from retail to office to café, as well as meaning a low rental cost and minimal, if any, business rates.

What constitutes a garden community?

The government defines a garden community as having the following characteristics:

• A new, purpose-built settlement or large extension to an existing town
• A community with a clear identity and attractive environment;
• A mix of homes, to include affordable and self-build

The stated aims include;

• Job opportunities;
• Green space and public areas;
• Provision of roads, buses and cycle routes;
• Provision of schools, community and health centres;
• Long-term stewardship of community assets.

Advantages of garden community living

Done properly, the garden community provides a vibrant, mixed-use environment with an attractive and functioning centre, public areas and the capacity for future growth. It should also be self-sustaining, meeting many of the residents’ needs locally, including schooling, health care, shopping and dining. 

Travel should be possible by walking, cycling, rapid transit or park and ride, thereby cutting congestion. By situating the new community away from existing towns and villages, not only is traffic to those centres kept at a manageable level, but the countryside surrounding them is maintained and the historic nature of older settlements preserved.

While residents of garden communities will still travel to large shopping centres and leisure facilities, the daily journeys to work, school and local shops can be made without adding to traffic problems in existing towns. This will offer a better quality of life for residents than those living on housing estates on the outskirts of busy towns, where traffic to the centre is increasingly slow.

By including smaller units for retail and other commercial use, the community will be assured a variety of independent shops, cafés etc. as well as offices and creative work spaces.

Policy needs

Much national policy is now in place. My Garden Village proposals were adopted by Government in 2016, the New Towns Act updated in the following two years, and further supportive updates to the National Planning Policy Framework just this year. 

For the country to benefit from new garden towns and villages, as well as protecting existing historic communities, best practice is Local Authorities working to put local plan policy in place to set out the key criteria they will require to support new settlements around placemaking, community infrastructure, and mixed use. 

Often, landowners will willingly cooperate, but need to understand that land value needs to reflect the need for this placemaking investment – on land that otherwise only has agricultural value. But where landowners won’t accept this, they need to bear in mind that the updated New Towns Act has made it quicker and easier for Local Authorities to acquire agricultural land at existing use value for larger new settlement proposals. 

Either way (and working with land owners is likely to be preferred in most cases),  the key is that this is land otherwise holding only agricultural value as it is not on the edge of town – and capturing part of the value uplift of development permission to create the needed infrastructure and community place making of a 21st century market town or village is the ‘price’ of the right to build these homes. So Local Authorities need to make it clear that planning consents will only be granted if the community needs are met within the proposals. 

Large scale strategic planning will be needed to put together a garden community proposition. The authorities should consider proactively seeking out suitable land, and landowners and communitiers need to know this scale of proposal will only happen with the right infrastructure and great placemaking – that’s the difference this approach brings.

Government support

The government’s second “Garden Communities” prospectus, published in August 2018, expresses clear expectations of quality, following the Garden City principle. Funding of £2.85 million has been put aside to support the development of 19 new garden villages, creating 73,554 homes. In February of this year, £9 million was put towards existing garden community projects, to try and speed up planning work. The following month, the government announced £3.7 million towards five new garden towns set to provide 64,000 homes, with the funding going towards planning consent work, specialist surveys and less profitable parts of the infrastructure build. In total 43 new Garden Towns and Villages have now got official government support since the policy was adopted in 2016 – to deliver more than three quarters of a million new homes. Many more are under consideration.

In summary

The garden community is just one part of the new build policy that the country needs in order to have enough housing stock for the future. Alongside it, we also need urban regeneration and carefully controlled urban expansion, with sufficient facilities to prevent them becoming simply dormitory extensions.

The creation of new settlements offers a good quality solution for the future. They will offer larger, affordable, pleasant homes with good-sized gardens and an attractive environment combined with a sustainable, economically vibrant town or village centre. When the land has been acquired at low cost, there is more scope to include a variety of premises for small entrepreneurs to open the local shops, cafés and pubs that make historic communities so sought after. The inclusion of basic units will encourage local workers such as plumbers, electricians and accountants to open there, bringing more services and helping the town or village become more self-sustaining. 

If Local Authorities can learn how to support the planning of these new garden communities, they will be able to provide the homes that people really want.

With thanks to Lord Taylor of Goss Moor

In February 2019 The House of Commons released a briefing paper about Improving the Home buying and selling process across England. The paper identified the main concerns with our current home buying and selling process as:

-Time taken to complete a transaction

-Transactional failures 

-Consumer inexperience

-Lack of transparency

-Weak regulation of Estate Agents

-Lack of digitalisation

In October 2019, tmgroup hosted two events in Reading and Liverpool to discuss these challenges and to look at ways the current home buying process can be improved.

Our panel of industry experts looked at creating quality homes, providing modern homes for rent, what the consumer wants from the home purchase process, leasehold reform and how regulation can be aligned across the industry.

Theme 1: CREATING HOMES

How do we provide quality homes for all? 

Lord Taylor of Goss Moor walked us through the history of development planning and some of the key decisions that have led to the rise in sequential development and the negative impact this has on not only the local property market but the local infrastructure. 

He has been involved in creating a Garden Villages and Towns policy for the government and explained the advantages of creating this type of community. By placing the new development at a distance from existing towns and villages and ensuring it has its own infrastructure, to include transport links, community space, schools, health care and shops, car journeys into nearby towns would not be an excessive burden. This is in contrast to much of the current new build planning, where small estates are tacked onto the outskirts of existing towns and villages, with the assumption that they can use the existing town facilities.

Theme 2: RENTING HOMES

Providing habitable homes in multiple occupation (HMOs) – is this just a pipedream?

Vicki Peers (Inside Liverpool) showed us that some investors are creating modern safe spaces for renters. However, while habitable HMOs are possible it can also be costly, which means there are still investors that are cutting corners. So, what can be done to ensure all HMO owners meet the same basic standards?

We asked Vicki for three suggestions to help improve this area of the industry:

More industry education – the new wave of investors is keen to become educated and many attend seminars around the country. If the latest generation of landlords want to remain in property, there should be more CPD/education events they can attend. The only ones currently available are organised by RLA/NLA and are generally focused only on legislation.

Greater experience needed for HMO ownership – currently mortgage lenders are pretty relaxed about the experience necessary to buy an HMO. Simply being a single-let landlord for 1-2 years is enough for most lenders. But HMOs come with many more challenges, both during the refurbishment/development phase, and in the ongoing management. It could, for example, be made a term of the mortgage that a buyer must employ a reputable HMO specialist letting agent, to avoid the DIY attitude of some buyers to keep their costs down.

Regulation of the rent to rent (R2R) model – some investors who don’t have the cash to buy an HMO use R2R, whereby they take control of the house for a landlord and pay an agreed rent, then let out each room individually, retaining the profits. There appears to be little regulation around this and there is a grey area regarding who the HMO licence is held by, how much experience a renter needs to have and what happens to the tenants when the renter/landlord agreement breaks down.

How do we provide quality rental for all?

At the Reading event, Dr David Smith (Anthony Gold Solicitors) identified the main issues surrounding the rental market as:

-Tenant education

-Landlord knowledge and awareness

-Failure to deal with rogues

-Weak powers to deal with property

-Overly complex structures

-Lack of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) skills and findings

-Too many courts and tribunals

David’s three key suggestions to help improve and tackle some of the key issues are;

Better information to prospective landlords at the point of purchase regarding their obligations. Ideally the government would improve their How to Rent Guide, which would be distributed to potential landlords by estate agents and conveyancers.

More awareness of tenant rights and stronger signposting at all levels to existing sources of information such as Shelter.

Governmental approval of the existing private rented sector (PRS) Code and signup from every part of the sector, with some element of compulsion or the ability to deal with those who are not complying with that code. Some of the power to do this already exists but it is not properly implemented.

Panel Discussions

Theme 3: THE HOME PURCHASE PROCESS

What does the consumer really want from a property transaction?

Clear themes from both panel discussions were that the consumer wants certainty, minimal fuss, transparency, information/guidance, confidence in their purchase and finally trust in their investment.

Our panel of experts discussed how this could be delivered, questioning whether increasing the level of information would mean that the consumers would then need more education to understand it all. 

There was a consensus that the value of industry experts and their guidance is undervalued, for example it was noted that many consumers still choose not to have a home survey completed, even though without one a consumer could be around £5k worse off. So why is guidance by the experts sometimes dismissed by the consumer? Is it because the perception is that it isn’t needed?  Should we create an MOT/Service check for the Home Purchase Process? Does more need to be done to enlighten the consumer around the value of the expertise they are paying for? 

Theme 4: LEASEHOLD REFORM

What really caused the ground rent scandal? 

The 2018 report ‘Understanding the consumer experiences of the conveyancing legal services’ by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) states that 20% of consumers who bought a leasehold property cannot recall being provided with information regarding ground rent, service charges and/or length of lease.

With that in mind, was the ground rent scandal due to lack of information and knowledge? Should the conveyancer have provided more? Or does the consumer have a responsibility to understand what they are purchasing?

Beth Rudolf (Conveyancing Association) and Sebastian O’Kelly (The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership) identified that one way to help improve knowledge about leasehold is to establish a benchmark of information that is provided for any leasehold transaction.

Theme 5: ALIGNED EFFECTIVE REGULATION

How do we align regulation to create a better home process for all?

Regulation is a topic frequently mentioned at industry events. It is a vast and fragmented area, so we asked the panel for their suggestions on aligning it across the property sector with a view to providing the following: 

-A better understanding for the consumer

-More transparency

-Consistent data standards

Panellist: Alan Milstein, Chairman – RPSA

1. Snagging surveys for new build - consumers are disadvantaged by being discouraged from obtaining independent advice about the quality of their new home. We need an industry-wide initiative to create a set of snagging survey standards.

2. Surveys for home buyers - industry terminology and culture does not encourage buyers to commission independent condition reports on their proposed purchase. Property professionals need to understand the value surveys can bring to the process and advise clients of their importance.

3. Surveyor standards have been too low and inconsistent – the Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA) are launching the Certified Building Surveyor scheme to ensure that all buyers receive a thorough report that delivers high quality and value for money.

Panellist: Ana Bajri, Associate Director, Internal Standard Team – RICS

1.Consumer education - sharing of consumer education content, resources and information. Cross industry collaboration would ensure consistent messaging and well-informed consumers across the transaction timeline

2.Industry education and information - sharing best practice, who does what throughout the transaction process including information on the roles of professionals involved in the transaction process i.e. conveyancing, surveyor etc., economic statistics on property market, cross- sector training etc.

3. Property industry standards - cross- collaboration to ensure consistency and transparency between professionals and solution providers across the home buying & selling process in delivering high level of service to consumers.

 Panellist: Beth Rudolf, Director of Delivery – Conveyancing Association

1. Adoption of an agreed data model across the industry which technology providers could map to in order to enable the free flow of data between the stakeholders. This would deliver real time chain progress transparency to manage customer expectation and improve the customer experience.

2. Using the Buying and Selling Property Information to aggregate data much earlier in the process, stimulate the use of digital services, reduce additional enquiries and post valuation queries and provide one source of truth that the stakeholders can rely on. Ensure that the buyer has sufficient information prior to offer to avoid a repeat of the leasehold mis-selling scandal.

3. Establish digital identities which all stakeholders could rely upon and which would confirm that the seller was the genuine owner of the property. Also, verification of the source of the buyer’s funds and wealth, eradicating fraud and improving the consumer experience by removing the need to verify identity to multiple parties in multiple ways.

Panellist: David Pope, Entity Authorisation and Client Protection Manager – CILEx Regulation

1. Continuing to work with other stakeholders on how technology can be used throughout the process.

2. Looking at how information can be shared better to improve standards.

3. Restoring the value in the transaction.

Panellist: Eddie Goldsmith, Founder Member – Conveyancing Association

1. Establish a Rulebook synergy across the Conveyancing regulators instead of having three different sets of rules.

2. Create a Legal Services Authority to ensure consistency of regulation.

3. However, having the same set of rules when it comes to retirement/closing a business creates huge barriers and is unfair, so this needs to be taken into account.

Panellist: Paula Higgins, Partner and Head of Operations – Home Owners Alliance

1. Open and transparent communication amongst all parties during the homebuying process, including a clear timeline to help consumers. Technology can help here.

2. Earlier legal commitment from buyers and sellers. Reservation agreements (money down at point of agreed sale) could help here, as well as more upfront information provided about the property.

3. Streamline paperwork and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements - the principle of the consumer providing the information once and making best use of information held publicly.

Panellist: Sebastian O’Kelly, Founder – Leasehold Knowledge Partnership

1. Surreptitious investment assets in the homes of ordinary families need to cease, whether ground rents (which are not for services) or abused management and permission fees.

2. Blocks of flats should be built with a residents’ management company, so that those with the greatest financial commitment to a site actually control it.

3. The sale of flats (and houses) as leasehold tenancies is unique to England and Wales and is fundamentally flawed. Commonhold exists on the statute book, needs some updating (currently under way with the Law Commission) and needs to be compulsorily enforced owing to the repeated abuses of the leasehold system.

Panellist: Simon Wilkinson, Board Director – Propertymark

1. Encourage lawyers to engage with the Government’s transformation reform agenda. 

2. Technology and training are key and estate agents need to move forward or move on.

3. Implementing processes now will help to increase profit.

FCI’s Planning and Premium Plus Planning Reports – Coming November 1st 

Two new FCI reports focused around planning will be available to order on tmconvey from November 1st. 

FCI Planning sample report: Click here to view

FCI Premium Plus Planning sample report: Click here to view 

FCI Planning will highlight planning and development activity in the local area surrounding the property for the preceding 10 years, including planning restrictions and major developments, which may impact the homebuyer’s enjoyment or future property value. The search radius varies dependent on the property location, with application and development data displayed in order of proximity from the property.

With FCI’s typical clarity, current and historical planning results are presented clearly by type for ease of review:

• Extensions and Small New Builds

• Developments

• Change of Use

• Lawful Development Certificate Applications

• Telecoms

• Planning Restrictions

Pricing: £24+ VAT

Users of FCI Premium will be familiar with its comprehensive residential assessments, covering Environmental, Flood, Ground Stability, Energy & Infrastructure, and Air Quality risks. And now things are set to get even more comprehensive, with the addition of the Planning component detailed above. The new aggregated report is badged as FCI Premium Plus Planning.

Pricing: £65 + VAT 

If you have any questions, please get in touch with your Account Manager or our friendly Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk

We really appreciate all the ongoing feedback from our users and, like any good tech company, we use this to continually innovate and develop our platform and services.  With this in mind, please see below a summary of some our most recent enhancements;

Mirror copy of AP1

As of the 7th November you will be able to download a mirror copy of the Land Registry AP1 application form for each case. Populated fields will be automatically pulled across from the form filled out on our post-completion service, and there’ll be the same look and feel for consistency.

Map Search enhancements

We’ve further improved Map Search creating a sharper, crisper version of the mapping district and improving load and rendering times for a quicker experience.  Below is the now sharper, crisper image quality

Share fees

Do you want to share the fees shown on tmconvey with your accounts department? Yes, but without printing all that extra search detail? No problem, as of the 7th November we’ve now simplified things so you only have to show the top-line fee information.

CMS integration

We touched last month on integrating tmconvey into case management systems, and we are continually developing our API to introduce more efficiencies and functional gains. We’ve been looking at improved ways of servicing information, and users can now see more concise order summaries lodged into their case plans.

Please keep the feedback coming.

When you add a new case using a Title Number the digital map outline will either display the Freehold outline in green or Leasehold outline in purple.

You will also see the type of Title along with the Title number displayed in the outlines box on the right-hand side of the screen.

Keep people who need to know in the know! You can select up to five people and have them receive notifications, delivery time updates and queries  - a real time-saver and great for holiday cover.

Based on research and client feedback, CLS are pleased to announce numerous enhancements to their policies. 

Please see below for more details;

Wording Changes

Absent Landlord - TP56 & TP253
Now our policy covers both absent and unresponsive landlord and Statement of Fact B has been updated to reflect this.

Lack of Planning and/or Building Regulations - TP51 & TP260
We have now made it clear that our policy covers for lack of building regulation certificate as well as works under the competent person scheme including Part L in respect of boiler installation and HETAS, Part P in respect of electrical installation and NICEIC & FENSA Certification.

Another positive change is that we have expanded cover to now include lack of certification for works carried out over 6 months old as standard.

Defective Lease - TP274
We have increased coverage on this policy, the additional insured risks include loss arising from missing pages in the Lease or, where a plan is referred to in the Lease and is missing or uncoloured.

Limited / No Title Guarantee – TP269
Now our policy covers both Limited Title Guarantee and No Title Guarantee and an additional Statement of Fact has been added to reflect this.

Forfeiture of Lease (Housing Act 1988) (Lender) – TP268
We have reworded this policy following customer feedback. The new wording ensures that the coverage is clear.

Lack of Support cover in the Flat/Maisonette policy – TP54
We have increased coverage on this policy, the additional insured risk now includes cover if your lease is defective and does not contain appropriate rights of support and/or shelter.

Number of Risks:
We have expanded cover for our lender only and non-successor policies to include cover for any subsequent lender under the original mortgage deed, on the following risks:

• Insolvency Act (Current transaction) Lender Only – TP199 & TP251
• Forfeiture of Lease (Bankruptcy/Insolvency) – TP57
• Forfeiture of Lease (Breach of Covenant) – TP58
• Forfeiture of Lease (Housing Act Repossession) – TP268
• Building Standards – TP87
• Right to Park – TP256
• Search Insurance (New Build/ Works in last 12 months) – TP240 & TP241
• Search Insurance (No search, validation or delay) – TP60 & TP64

We have also expanded cover for our 15 and 25 year policies to now include cover for the term of the mortgage, on the following risks:

• Absent Landlord – TP56 & TP253
• Contingent Buildings – TP55 & TP254
• Defective Lease – TP274
• Flat/Maisonette – TP54
• Forfeiture of Lease (Breach of Covenant) Purchaser – TP255
• Contaminated Land – TP221 & TP125

How law firms can take ownership

There have been multiple attempts to improve the home purchase process. Most have failed but there are, finally, signs of progress from the emergence of an array of ‘prop-tech’ start-ups through to some compelling proposals from the Home Buyers and Sellers Group.  

Whilst encouraging, it will be hard to secure widespread adoption of new working practices across a siloed transaction that is governed by multiple regulators, hamstrung by conflicting commercial interests and typically generates low margins. And that’s just some of the challenges that those who are trying to drive change, face. It is, therefore, likely to be several years before we see the universal adoption of some of the more recent proposals.   

In the meantime, savvy law firms are recognising that they can, independently, improve the consumer experience of a property transaction and that it makes commercial sense to do so.     

Why hasn’t the conveyancing process evolved?

Conveyancing has, in many instances become so low cost, that it is in effect a ‘lost leader’. The principle of a lost leader is based on the theory that you secure a customer with a great offer and then having undertaken one deal, you sell them a higher margin product or service.  Unfortunately many law firms have forgotten the second part of the equation and are conveyancing hundreds of matters a year, at a loss, with no likelihood of, or strategy for recouping the loss from the consumer by selling them another service.  

Managed well, conveyancing represents a great opportunity to upsell; to generate referrals from satisfied clients and to boost increasingly important trust pilot rankings. Over time this can help reduce reliance on lower margin referred business.  For those firms that rely on referrers, the ability to demonstrate, to referrers, that the firm’s client service makes a tangible difference to transaction times, reduces abort rates and results in a happy customer, is becoming more important in an increasingly competitive market. 

However the challenges associated with re-engineering a low margin process, dealing with the challenge of legacy systems, securing internal support for change and aligning innovation with regulatory requirements has meant that many law firms have struggled to justify the often complex and expensive process of adopting technology that makes a tangible difference to the consumer experience. 

A simple solution 

The emergence of ‘off the shelf’ consumer portals, like tmconnect, is making it easier for law firms to rapidly adopt platforms that have a positive impact on the consumer but also enhance efficiency, freeing up conveyancers to offer valued advice rather than dealing with  myriad low level tasks that can be managed via a portal that also provides consumers with meaningful updates on their transaction.  

Well-designed portals also provide a secure environment for the completion of documents and key stages in the conveyancing process from anti-money laundering checks through to search ordering.  Furthermore, choosing the right provider can mean that a law firm gets invaluable advice from a partner with technology and property transaction know how meaning that some of the challenges, for example integration with legacy systems can be easily overcome. 

The drive for change does not end with a consumer portal

Those reading this article will be all too aware of the fact that residential property transactions in England and Wales don’t work as efficiently as they should.  Consumer portals won’t, in isolation, mend a broken process which is why we are proactively working with all the key stakeholders in the property transaction to lobby for change and to help property professionals align myriad solutions and systems to provide a better consumer experience.  

We are encouraged by the output from the Home Buyers and Sellers Group and we are actively working on initiatives that improve the collection and distribution of data at both the start of and throughout a transaction.   However we do see regulation and the challenges of aligning the systems of multiple parties as a barrier to delivering really meaningful improvements, particularly in areas such as Anti-Money Laundering. 

There is and will continue to be a real need for all those involved in delivering and regulating property transactions to work together to deliver a truly streamlined process which allows property professionals to provide valuable and meaningful advice where it’s needed to those who need it most.    

About tmconnect

Developed by tmgroup, the UK’s leading provider of property searches for over 20 years, tmconnect is a secure and customisable conveyancing platform that allows multiple parties to access and share one view of a transaction. 

With thanks to Emma Vigus, CCO, tmgroup