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We are pleased to announce the appointment of Fiona McLeish to our Residential Conveyancing Team. Fiona is a Graduate of the Institute of Legal Executives and brings with her 7 years Conveyancing experience.

Matt and Fiona have previously worked together at another Law Firm and Matt is extremely excited about working with Fiona again, adding "At Brogan Property Lawyers we are trying to bring conveyancing into the 21st Century with innovative ideas and forward thinking and having previously worked with Fiona I know that she has the same philosophy of the way that we want to do things that I have. I am extremely excited to have Fiona on my team and I know that both our clients and professional colleagues will benefit from the fact that she now works at Brogan Property Lawyers."

Did you know that it is possible to take advantage of existing tax legislation and eliminate SDLT due on properties purchased for £250,001 or more?

This Tax Planning scheme has been running for over 4 years and over 2000 cases have been successfully completed.

Robust Counsel's opinion is provided by a leading Tax Counsel at Gray's Inn Tax Chambers in London and HM Revenue & Customs have queried the planning and were promptly and easily satisfied that there is a legal loophole for reducing SDLT.

If you would like more information about this scheme please contact us by phone or email.

A bid to scrap the 2.5% hike in VAT has been overwhelmingly defeated in a major victory for the coalition Government.

The Scottish and Welsh nationalist move was rejected by a majority of 295, after a lengthy debate on the Budget-enacting Finance Bill in the Commons on Tuesday night.

MPs voted 321 to 246, a Government majority of 75, in favour of increasing VAT to 20% from January 4, 2011.

Housing minister Grant Shapps was quoted today as saying: "Today the new Government is ensuring that home information packs are history. This is a great example of how we are determined to get straight down to work and cut pointless red tape which is strangling the market". The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats pledged last week in their coalition agreement to get rid of the packs but keep Energy performance certificates, which show how energy efficient a property is.

Property Lawyers and Estate Agents largely welcomed the news that Hips would be scrapped with immediate effect, and praised the Government for its rapid move.

The Bank of England Base Rate looks set to remain low for the foreseeable future.
 
Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, said today that while inflation currently remains over its target rate of 3%, that figure is likely to fall back to below 2% in 2011 and remain there for a number of years, removing any incentive the Bank might have for hiking the Base Rate.
 
Bank Base Rate has now stood at 0.5% for 14 months.
 
Today's quarterly inflation report reveals that inflation in April stood at 3.4%, a slight increase on the figure of 3.2% recorded in March. Rising inflation was attributed to the return of VAT to 17.5%, the increase in energy prices and the depreciation in Sterling.

Estate agents have different systems for marketing new properties but whatever system they adapt it will prioritise the “hot” buyers. These are the buyers that the negotiators, those whose job it is to line up the initial viewings, consider to be in the best position and the most likely to offer on a property. To have any chance of bagging a popular property you must be considered a hot buyer.

This is particularly important in a seller’s market. When demand is strong many properties will go under offer before the majority of buyers ever get to hear about them. Negotiators are looking for three things; a lack of complications, preparation and decisiveness. Let’s look at these qualities in more detail.

Housing market sees spring bounce, estate agents say.
 
The number of people trying to buy or sell homes has picked up in the past month, according to estate agents.
 
The number of potential sellers rose in March to its highest level for six months, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said. And the number of prospective buyers went up by 7% last month.
 
The NAEA said spring had brought its usual increase in activity, and suggested sales would improve in the coming months. "Spring has finally arrived and brought with it a much needed boost to the housing market, particularly among sellers," said Gary Smith of the NAEA. "This figure has been low in recent months and this is a welcome indication that reflects a growing confidence that the recovery is well underway."

First Time Buyers were handed a pre-election boost today worth up to £2,500 after the chancellor scrapped Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on homes costing up to £250,000.
 
The new £250,000 threshold, which takes effect at midnight tonight and will last for two years, meaning nine out of 10 people buying their first home will not be liable for the tax.
 
The move will be partly funded by an increase to 5% in the duty on homes costing £1m or more, which will see buyers of these properties having to hand over a minimum of £50,000 in tax. That change will come into force next April.
 
The chancellor said: "The housing market has now stabilised and has begun a slow recovery. But many first-time buyers, particularly those without large deposits, still find it hard to get a mortgage. I want to help them, but do so in a way that is properly funded."