Property Fraud – SDLT Deadlines and Service 2021
Covid19 and Moving House
Moving house in Wales or England is still allowed under the government guidelines – which state that you can move house if it is necessary and safe for you to do so. Industry guidance on how to move home safely can be found here. Thank you for your patience during this unprecedented time.
Additional information on the Covid restrictions in place in your area can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-local-restrictions
We aim to provide business as usual for all clients with our team either working from home or in the office. Our offices remain closed to the general public at this time.
Property Fraud
We have had a number of cases recently where our client’s email systems have been hacked by fraudsters, masquerading as Convey Law Conveyancers, asking them to send money to a bogus bank account so that they can steal their money.
Please refer to the Property Fraud flyer that we sent you in the post and the Cyber Fraud video which is available in your Welcome Pack portal. Our bank details will not vary from that which we provided. Please call us on the correct direct dial telephone number that you have been given before transferring funds. Do not transfer funds to any other third party in the chain – mortgage lender – estate agent – as you should not need to do so.
Please ensure that you have the appropriate firewalls and email security procedures in place and do not advertise your property transaction on social media or elsewhere – doing so makes you an easy target for property fraudsters.
We would recommend that all clients take the benefit of our “Property Fraud Restriction” and sign up to the “Land Registry Property Alert System” when purchasing a property, which will help to protect the property from fraud following completion.
Thank you for your vigilance, together we will ensure that your property transactions are safe from property fraud.
SDLT – Stamp Duty Deadlines
Thank you all for your patience last month. We processed twice the number of property transactions than usual in March due to the lockdown backlogs and the postponed SDLT deadline of the 31st March.
Our Conveyancers are now catching up with their transactions and new instructions have been curtailed this month to ensure that we can provide service as usual as soon as possible. Thank you again for your patience, we are all working hard to make sure that your transaction meets your timelines.
You will be aware that the government have announced that the existing SDLT holidays for transactions under £500,000 in England has been extended until the 30th June 2021. The up to date position in relation to SDLT and Land Tax can be found by clicking here.
We will do everything possible to ensure that all clients that are effected by the SDLT deadlines achieve the tax cost savings. These transactions will be our priority over the coming months but we would reiterate that we cannot guarantee timelines beyond our immediate control.
Be Kind We Care
We are pleased to have initiated and support the industry-wide “Be Kind We Care” initiative which supports kind and professional behaviour at this difficult time. Additional information can be found at www.conveyancingfoundation.org.uk.
Thank you for your vigilance and your continued patience.
April 23, 2021