The Law Society of Northern Ireland has celebrated its 2024 Conveyancing Week as an outstanding success. Organised by the Law Society's conveyancing and property committee, the focus of the annual event this year was on providing support, building relationships and widening engagement through a seri
Conveyancing
An implementation group tasked with reducing lengthy conveyancing and probate processes to just eight weeks has met for the first time. The group has been established to implement the recommendations of a report published in July, which found that conveyancing can currently take an average of 9.5 we
Newly-adopted national targets will aim to bring the length of conveyancing and probate processes to a maximum of eight weeks. An expert group on conveyancing and probate established by in December 2023 has told ministers that the conveyancing target could be met "in 2025" and the probate target cou
The introduction of a new conveyancer profession "would only be viable as part of a wide range of other more significant and pressing reforms", the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) has concluded in a new report. The watchdog was required to publish a report on the pros and cons of establis
The Law Society of Northern Ireland has urged members to complete a conveyancing survey which remains open until the end of next week. The Society said it is "keen to hear from solicitors at all levels and locations in order to identify areas of concern and would encourage all practising conveyancin
Property lawyers have been urged to prepare for a housing market crash similar to that seen in 2007 and 2008. England and Wales' Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which regulates conveyancing firms, has recommended solicitors prepare for a 40 per cent fall in deals.
Legislation removing this month's deadline to register rights of way with the Property Registration Authority (PRA) has come into effect. The enactment of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2021 today repeals a number of changes to the law on prescriptive easements and profits à prendre
Last-minute legislation to remove this month's deadline to register rights of way with the Property Registration Authority (PRA) will be published "imminently", the government has indicated. Ministers announced in September that they would introduce a “short amending bill” to amend the L
The end of the stamp duty holiday is not dampening activity in Northern Ireland's housing market, according to a Belfast solicitor. Janet Williamson, director of commercial and property at O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors, said her team was working on around 30 completions this week ahead of the stamp du
A looming deadline to register rights of way with the Property Registration Authority (PRA) will be removed following pressure from the Law Society and the Bar Council. Ministers yesterday agreed to introduce a "short amending bill" to amend the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 and repeal c
The High Court has dismissed all seven headings of a land conveyance counterclaim, deeming it to be “clearly an abuse of process”. The plaintiffs, solicitor Andrea McIlroy-Rose and her late father John McIlroy, issued proceedings in 2016 seeking injunctive relief and damages for an alleg
The latest edition of Folio, the conveyancing and land law journal from the Law Society of Northern Ireland, has been published. The first volume of 2021 includes pieces on drafting leases, the regulation of housing associations and issues affecting the agricultural property sector.
Solicitors have reported a surge in house completions in Northern Ireland as home-buyers take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, which will come to an end in September. Janet Williamson, director of commercial and property at O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors, said levels of completions "are at a point
Conveyancers could become a regulated profession in their own right under government plans to drive down legal costs. Justice Minister Helen McEntee today ordered the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) to draw up a report on the creation of a new profession of "conveyancer".
The number of property transactions in Northern Ireland has started to bounce back following the reopening of the housing market last month. There were 1,320 property transactions in Northern Ireland in June 2020, up from 540 in May and 410 in April, according to new HMRC figures.