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28 May 2020 / Veronica Cowan
Issue: 7888 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Property , Conveyancing
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The home front

21526
COVID-19: Lockdown liberty? Veronica Cowan reports
  • Steering stimulus: confidence boosting measures.
  • Release reaction: agents taken by surprise.
  • Vagaries of video viewings: not quite lift-off.
  • Urban sprawl versus coast and country.

Estate agents, conveyancers and surveyors won’t be breaking open the champagne just yet. Despite the government’s loosening of restrictions on home sales, things could change if it became necessary to re-impose a pause on house moves. There is also concern that the appetite, or financial ability, for moving might have been diminished, along with reports of some buyers reducing offers agreed before the shutdown.

Steering stimulus

Against this background, the government will face renewed pressure to cut stamp duty to stimulate the property market and Hew Edgar, head of UK government relations at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reports that, following its call on the government to explore confidence-boosting measures for the residential market as it reopens, its member survey data suggested its proposal for a stamp duty holiday would boost transactional activity, helping people move home.

Meanwhile,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Sally Ann Masih, Suzy Overton & Jane Beaumont

Switalskis—Sally Ann Masih, Suzy Overton & Jane Beaumont

Trio of recruits strengthens Switalskis residential property team

Ward Hadaway—Steven Hayward

Ward Hadaway—Steven Hayward

Birmingham law firm appoints construction partner

Flint Bishop—six appointments

Flint Bishop—six appointments

Flint Bishop accelerates Northern growth through strategic senior appointments

NEWS
A High Court decision has clarified that a home may be unfit for human habitation not only where conditions endanger health or safety, but also where they seriously undermine comfort and convenience

A longer time limit for employment tribunal claims, new charity law thresholds, property tribunal recruitment and appellate guidance on small-claims costs feature in the latest Civil Way round-up

A recent High Court ruling could make issue estoppel considerably more complex in cross-border litigation, requiring parties to consider the foreign law governing the underlying claim
The Supreme Court has overturned Cheshire West’s bright-line test for deprivation of liberty, replacing it with a broader, more contextual assessment that gives greater weight to an individual’s wishes, feelings and apparent consent
Jonathan Fisher KC’s wide-ranging fraud report contains worthwhile proposals, but turning them into workable reform will require money, capacity and political will
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