Residential Property Law and Conveyancing Update 2022

KEY SUBJECTS

• SDLT – MORE CHANGES
• TOPICAL PROPERTY ISSUES AND CASE LAW UPDATE
• LEASE EXTENSION AND BUYING/SELLING FLATS – AVOIDING THE PROBLEM AREAS
• ESTATE RENTCHARGES – WHERE ARE WE NOW?
• NEWBUILD: ISSUES TO CONSIDER
• BUYING AND SELLING PART OF THE LAND – TIPS AND TRAPS
• PLANNING: ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET?

SPEAKERS

Paul Clark, Solicitor and SDLT trainer, Consultant, Cripps LLP

David Keighley, Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

Sarah Thompson-Copsey, Non-Practising Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

Ian Anderson, Senior Director, Lichfields

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

09.30am CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

SDLT – MORE CHANGES

On 30 November 2021, as a result of spurious claims by so-called SDLT advisers, a consultation was published that will probably result in major changes to MDR (multiple dwellings relief) – and also to mixed-use, if not its total abolition (so that both residential and non-residential rates would apply to mixed-use property). Almost certainly MDR will cease to be available alongside “annexe relief”. Almost certainly the changes will result in higher tax for many. This session will:

• Consider the issues around mixed-use and MDR, and proposed changes
• Illustrate those changes with worked examples
• Report on other SDLT news
• Comment on significant SDLT appeals

Paul Clark, Solicitor and SDLT trainer, Consultant, Cripps LLP

TOPICAL PROPERTY ISSUES AND CASE LAW UPDATE

This session will examine the implications for residential property of recent case law, practice guides and related developments. To ensure the content is both topical and relevant the issues to be covered will be determined nearer the time but are likely to include:

• Restrictive Covenants: Obsolescence, Annexation and Identification
• Implementation of the Fifth Money Laundering Directive
• Leasehold Reform and update
• Joint Tenancy: Mistake
• Land Registry update
• Practice Points

David Keighley, Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

LEASE EXTENSION AND BUYING/SELLING FLATS – AVOIDING THE PROBLEM AREAS

20% of England’s population live in flats, yet lease terms and statute can make the process of buying, selling and owning long residential flats far harder than might appear at first sight. This session will look at some of the more common problem areas and how to avoid them:

• Selling the flat and freeholder’s consent
• Advising your client on the lease terms including: sub-letting the flat, carrying out alterations and service charge obligations
• Maximising the value of the flat for your client on sale or purchase
• Enfranchisement, lease extension or right to manage – which is better and why?
• Ground rents, easier lease extension and other proposed changes

Sarah Thompson-Copsey, Non-Practising Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

ESTATE RENTCHARGES – WHERE ARE WE NOW?

• What is an Estate Rentcharge and why are Estate Rentcharges used?
• How do Estate Rentcharges differ from Positive Covenants to pay towards maintenance?
• How can I tell the difference between an Estate Rentcharge and a Positive Covenant?
• Does it matter what an obligation to pay towards maintenance is called?

David Keighley, Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

NEWBUILD: ISSUES TO CONSIDER

This talk will look at some of the more pertinent issues which need to be considered when advising clients on transactions of newbuild properties.

• EWS1: The latest guidance
• Fire Safety Legislation
• The 2022 New Homes Quality Code of Practice

David Keighley, Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

BUYING AND SELLING PART OF THE LAND – TIPS AND TRAPS

Whether your client is selling part of their back garden or buying a little bit of next door’s land the practical issues you will need to consider in order to protect your client’s interests are the same. This session will look at:

• Maintaining the value of the retained part and controlling the use of the ‘sold-off’ part
• Making sure the site is accessible – but for what?
• Why the rule in Wheeldon v Burrows is still a worry
• Practical issues: fences, boundary markers and upgrading drainage

Sarah Thompson-Copsey, Non-Practising Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

PLANNING: ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET?

The Queens’ speech in May 2021 announced a radical overall of the planning system which was intended to be brought forward in 2021/22. Alongside changes to Permitted Development and to the Use Classes Order, the changes were designed to empower ‘top down’ influence by the Government to ‘deliver homes and level up’. However, with the appointment of Michael Gove as the grandly titled: ‘Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations’ in September 2021, changes have been put on hold. The expectation is these will be released in Spring 2022, but will they be a radical overhaul, or be watered down?

This session will explain:

• A Summary of the Changes expected in the proposed reforms
• Possible reasons for delay
• The potential implications of a new ‘zonal-led’ planning system
• The further permitted development and prior approval regime expected
• Further predicted changes to the Use Classes Order

Ian Anderson,  Senior Director, Lichfields

5.00pm CLOSE OF PROCEEDINGS