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If we cast our minds back to last winter, which was the wettest in 250 years, the scale of the flooding that was suffered and the resultant damage can still be seen. According to the Environment Agency (EA) 7,000 households, along with a similar number of commercial and industrial premises, were flooded and over 150 severe flood warnings were issued. The Thames Barrier was raised nearly 50 times during the winter and, according to the National Farmers Union, 49,000 hectares of agricultural land was flooded which is very similar to the losses experienced in 2012.

Image: £2.3bn worth of investment into flood defences has been promised as part of the National Infrastructure Plan 2014.

With the recent Government announcement on infrastructure spending in the Autumn Statement, the discussion about these projects has been added to the national agenda. It would seem that one of the cornerstones of the Government's plan for economic recovery are these large projects but what of the impact that they can have on specific areas, home owners and house buyers?

In a recent poll conducted by leading property data and service provider TM Group, it was revealed that almost half of the conveyancers polled did not realise how serious a client’s flood risk could be.

Flooding is the biggest natural threat that the UK faces and, in England alone, more than 5 million properties are at risk, equivalent to nearly 1 in 6.

However, despite most environmental property searches containing an indication of a property’s likely risk of flooding, many conveyancers are still unaware of the likelihood of their client’s property flooding.

Image copyright altogetherfool

The Chancellor's Autumn Statement announced a major reform of SDLT for residential property transactions. With effect from 4 December, the structure, rates and thresholds are being changed to deliver a more efficient and fairer system. 

The new rates, which apply where purchases are completed on or after 4 December 2014, are set out below.  Each new SDLT rate will only be payable on the portion of the property value which falls within each band (rather than tax being due at one rate on the entire property value). 

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has announced the most substantial revisions to the lender handbook in more than a decade.

33 sections of part 1 of the handbook (accounting for more than 10%) will see revisions - the most since the second edition of the handbook was launched in 2002.

In turn, the CML has instructed all mortgage lenders to update their specific requirements that form the part 2s and have promised that these changes will be available through their website from 1st December 2014.

Proximity to London's sprawling underground rail network can be a real and serious problem for homebuyers. Not only can it impose planning restrictions on a property, but it can also cause vibrations and noise pollution -- and even lead to subsidence.

When the SRA published their Risk Outlook 2014-15 in July of this year to assess the key risks to firms in carrying out their regulatory objectives there was a new entry in the Risk Outlook chart compared to 2013, namely bogus law firms.

The other four including misuse of money, money laundering controls, a failure of service and diversity within the workplace remain, so where has this new threat emerged from?

The results are in. When we asked conveyancers from across the industry "Which sort of conveyancing work is your firm most focused on attracting over the next 12 months?", most respondents told us that they were targeting high street work.

In fact, almost three times as many conveyancers were interested in pursuing high street work than national panel work, whilst a surprisingly large number of the poll answered that they wanted to attract further business through online and digital channels.

While there are pros and cons to each method, it seems that most conveyancers opted for the traditional approach of gaining new instructions. However, as previously mentioned, there are ways to freshen up your firm's approach to winning high street business.

Law firms need to be aware of their attractiveness to criminals who seek to launder the proceeds of crime through conveyancing transactions. Image copyright Images Money.

The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) is stepping up its efforts to ensure that law firms do not become embroiled in money laundering activity and are compliant with the various regulations and legislation associated with anti-money laundering compliance.

In their Risk Outlook 2014-15, published in July, the SRA highlighted how law firms are an attractive vehicle through which to launder the proceeds of crime, such is the magnitude of funds being transferred by legal practices.

Ransom strip causes headaches for property developers in Essex, amid 5 years of legal wrangling. Image source: Daily Mail | Copyright Cascade News

Why Highways? - What's wrong with a SIM or local search?
Ah, a good question as sometimes the pain isn’t always recognised, it is just put up with.