Features
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Building better
Economic and ecological challenges have combined to focus attention on the perceived shortcomings of 70-year-old landlord and tenant legislation. Maria Shahid reports on how this is affecting the commercial property market and the litigators who work in it.
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Paper trials: Conveyancing and the Building Safety Act
Solicitors are turning down leasehold instructions, blaming unacceptable professional risks. New Law Society guidance will help but fresh legislation is still needed, hears Maria Shahid.
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Home truths
Average house prices are falling – just one of many developments piling pressure on residential conveyancers. Eduardo Reyes reports.
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Property and PII: How does it or how could it affect your firm?
Law firms should question if the property work they are doing is producing the expected benefits.
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Build back better
From net zero developments to green leases, ‘ESG’ has become part of the lexicon of the commercial property lawyer. Maria Shahid reports.
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How do capital allowances work during the sale of a property?
Dean Needham, Capital Allowances Technical Team Manager at Catax, a Ryan company, explains how to address Capital Allowances during the sale of a property. (Sponsored content.)
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Shaking the foundations
Commercial property values have dipped as interest rates have risen and lenders retreat. But a ‘wall of capital’ from overseas is offering limited respite, the sector’s lawyers tell Maria Shahid.
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Home ground
For residential conveyancers, commoditisation and unrealistic demands on their time amid a staffing crisis are high on a list of challenges. But, as Eduardo Reyes reports from the latest Gazette roundtable, there are signs that the downward pressure on fees is easing.
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Law Society spotlight: CQS arrives on a new platform
The Conveyancing Quality Scheme quickly became a vital tool in combating fraud and money laundering. Next month the quality mark is going properly digital, reports Jonathan Rayner.
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Not in my backyard
Reform of planning law is a sensitive area – especially for Conservative voters – but it is also essential to the government’s growth ambitions. Rachel Rothwell reports on a suite of looming reforms.
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Bringing the house down
A sustained boom in property transactions generated huge volume but has done little to resolve conveyancing’s systemic problems.
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Japanese knotweed: Disentangling fact from fiction
Few invasive plants capture attention and headlines like Japanese knotweed.
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Urban outfitters
Pandemic lockdowns wrought changes to our town and city centres that appear permanent. Lawyers have a critical role in helping to reconfigure our urban landscape, reports Melanie Newman