Harvey Gibbs

This is a question that I am often asked by clients who have limited cash resources but own a property which, particularly given current values, might be worth many thousands of pounds. Prior to the emergence of equity release schemes, the options were very...

If you are a builder and/or developer of new homes, you need to be aware of the New Homes Quality Code which was published in December 2021, following a full public consultation. The general aims of the Code are to improve the quality of new build homes and...

Probably most people who have purchased a leasehold apartment in a purpose-built block did not consider the possibility that additional apartments might be added to the roof of the block in the future. However, since 2020 this scenario has become a real...

Way back in the summer of 2001 I remember going to London for the day to hear a talk all about what was then the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. There were several eminent speakers from the Government and representatives of those involved in the...

A question which many conveyancers have been asked by their clients in the last eighteen months or so is whether there is anything in the title of the client’s property, or the property that they are buying, which might prevent the client from working...

“The ground rent on my lease is more than £250. Should I be worried?” This is a question which many leaseholders, and buyers of leasehold properties, have been asking in recent years. The chances are that if...

What sort of things should you worry about when buying a property? The neighbours? Any new housing estates that are likely to be built in the locality? Possibly. However, if you are buying the property jointly with someone else then perhaps the thing that...

England’s long-awaited victory over Germany came on the eve of the last day of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) “Holiday”. It was therefore with some very sore heads that Conveyancers in England arrived at work on 30 June faced with the...

Digital signatures in conveyancing – the way forward? Since July 2021 the Land Registry has been prepared to accept electronic signatures as a means of executing deeds in conveyancing transactions. The concept of electronic signatures was not...

I regularly receive calls from clients who are interested in a property they have seen which is to be sold by way of an auction. Occasionally the first we hear about it is when our client telephones to say that they were the successful bidder at an auction...

The payment of a service charge to cover the cost of maintaining communal facilities is well established for leasehold properties, such as apartments. What is not so well known however is that freehold houses can also be subject to a service charge, or an...

Perhaps now is the time for a reminder about the risk of becoming the victim of a property fraud. This is particularly so given that since March 2020 many of us in the property industry have been working from home, with most communications with clients and...

Perhaps surprisingly, a regular enquiry that I receive from clients concerns what is known as “adverse possession” of land. The public perception of this is that it is all about squatters who have seized possession of a building. However, most of...