About CQS Conveyancing

Recent changes in Permitted Development rules aim to apply sustainable drainage (SuDS) to new or replacement paving around existing homes protect against flooding of properties. Coveyancers can find useful guidance at here . Historically conveyancers need not concern themselves with enquiries about such works. Paving anywhere in a garden related to a house or bungalow with any materials was considered to be ‘permitted development’ – effectively, planning permission without a planning application was automatic But not any more. As awareness of the restrictions grows, there are calls for the legality of recent paving to be covered in conveyancing pre-contract enquiries. Permitted development rights no longer apply for new or replacement drives or other paving unless permeable paving has been used or unless the water drains into a ‘rain garden’ area within the curtilage of the property. In England, these measures took effect in October 2008 and apply to paving over 5m2 and in the front...

One might expect a simple ‘Yes/No’  answer to the following question within the CML Handbook Part 2 : Does the lender require counterpart/certified copy tenancy agreement to be sent to you?  In recent years lenders have shoehorned in all sorts of obligations into their Part 2 requirements and last night’s changes are a good example of how lenders utilise Part 2’s to expand their legal conditions to conveyancers. Investec and The Mortgage Works in answering question 6.6.3 as to whether they require a copy of the tenancy state as follows: No,not required for properties let under a standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy within the meaning of section 20 of the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Housing Act 1996 and subject to a maximum tenancy term of up to 36 months. If the AST is of 13-36 months duration please notify TMW/Investec accordingly but there is no requirement to send in the tenancy agreement. Where the tenancy is not in the standard form(non AST)a...

No, I am not talking about cardiopulmonary resuscitation,but rather Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (known as CPR). Whilst estate agents have long been obliged to tell the buyer the truth if asked a direct question, the difference is that now they should give information that they suspect may affect the buyer's opinion of a property–-even before the prospective buyer comes to view it. Estate agents have been told by the OFT that they need to comply with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPR) and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 (BPR). And these are more powerful in terms of the protection afforded to the buyer than the current Property Misdescriptions Act, which will be repealed in October. This new requirement may potentially impact conveyancing because CPR erodes the doctrine of ‘caveat emptor’, thus offering a new layer of protection to the buyer’s conveyancer. Already one a...