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Residential property market slows but demand remains high

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

Demand for residential property remains high in the UK, despite a slowdown in April.

According to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the “mad rush” to take advantage of stamp duty holidays waned last month.

Transactions fell by 36 per cent compared with the record level of UK home sales in March, with a further extension to the deadline for stamp duty relief into the summer likely to have been behind the fall.

The news follows last week’s announcement from the Office for National Statistics that the average price of a UK home had risen 10.2 per cent between March 2020 and March 2021.

Analysts expect interest and prices to remain high and a total of 111,260 properties were sold in the UK in April, down from 173,410 the previous month, the HMRC figures show.

This remains nearly 200 per cent higher than the same month a year ago, when the housing market was effectively closed in the first national Covid lockdown.

One of the ways in which ministers sought to stimulate the market and, in turn the UK economy, amid pandemic restrictions was through stamp duty relief.

This was expected to end across the whole of the UK at the end of March, prompting a surge in sales to beat the planned cut-off date, but only Scotland stuck to that deadline. England, Northern Ireland and Wales have extended the relief for a few months longer.

Sam Mitchell, chief executive of online estate agent Strike, said: “After the mad rush in March to complete and exchange ahead of the original stamp duty holiday deadline, property transactions eased in April as buyers and sellers were offered a little bit of breathing space thanks to the extension.

“However, with not long to go until the June deadline [of stamp duty relief], the countdown is officially back on and pressure is mounting.”

He echoed other analysts in pointing out that, with the number of homes on the market failing to match supply and the launch of low-deposit mortgages for first-time buyers, there was little chance of activity and prices plunging even after the tax relief was withdrawn.

The figures came as the UK’s largest building society, the Nationwide, reported that its pre-tax profits in the year to April nearly doubled from £466m to £823m.

Property experts are warning that the market will continue to be busy in the coming months, despite the stamp duty holiday nil rate band being reduced to £250,000 on July 1, 2021.

This threshold will remain in place until September 30, 2021, before reducing to £125,000 from 1 October 2021. For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our expert team today.

Temporary COVID-19 adjusted ‘right to work checks’ to revert to physical checks from 21 June 2021, Government warns

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

The temporary COVID-19 adjusted right to work checks will revert to face to face and physical document checks from 21 June 2021, it has been confirmed.

The announcement comes as lockdown restrictions and social distancing rules lift across England.

The temporary rules, which have been in place since 30 March 2020, allow employers to carry out right to work checks over video calls, while job applicants and existing workers can send scanned documents or a photo of documents for checks using email or their mobile phone.

However, the adjusted rules will revert back to physical checks from 21 June – meaning employers and employees should be prepared to comply or risk falling on the wrong side of the law.

This will include physically checking the applicant or worker’s original documents, or checking the applicant or worker’s right to work online if they have provided you their share code.

Commenting on the updated guidance, the Government said: “The temporary COVID-19 adjusted right to work checks will now end on 20 June 2021, and from 21 June 2021 employers will revert to face to face and physical document checks as set out in legislation and guidance.

“This is aligned with the easing of lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures, as set out in the government’s roadmap for England and those of the devolved administrations.”

It was revealed last month that 77 employers were fined for failing to comply with right to work rules in the final quarter of 2020. However, experts expect fines and enforcement activity to increase in the coming months as lockdown restrictions ease and EU workers are required to show proof of eligibility to work in the UK.

The penalties for non-compliance are up to five years imprisonment or an unlimited fine.

Click here to find more guidance on the right to work checks for employers.

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our expert legal corporate team today.

Long hours killing workers says WHO

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

Long working hours are killing hundreds of thousands of people a year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The first global study of its kind showed 745,000 people died in 2016 from stroke and heart disease due to long hours.

The report said working long hours was estimated to be responsible for about a third of all work-related disease, making it the largest occupational disease burden.

The WHO suggests that employers should now take this into account when assessing the occupational health risks of their workers.

The report found that people living in South East Asia and the Western Pacific region were the most affected and said the trend may worsen due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the UK you cannot work more than 48 hours a week on average – normally averaged over 17 weeks. This law is sometimes called the ‘working time directive’ or ‘working time regulations’.

You can choose to work more by opting out of the 48-hour week. If you’re under 18, you can’t work more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week.

Exceptions to the 48-hour rules include:

·        where 24-hour staffing is required

·        in the armed forces, emergency services or police

·        in security and surveillance

·        as a domestic servant in a private household

·        as a seafarer, sea-fisherman or worker on vessels on inland waterways

·       where working time is not measured and you’re in control, e.g. you’re a managing executive with control over your decisions

The WHO research found that working 55 hours or more a week was associated with a 35 per cent higher risk of stroke and a 17 per cent higher risk of dying from heart disease, compared with a working week of 35 to 40 hours.

The study, conducted with the International Labour Organization (ILO), also showed almost three quarters of those that died as a result of working long hours were middle-aged or older men.

Often, the deaths occurred much later in life, sometimes decades later, than the long hours were worked.

While the study did not cover the period of the pandemic, WHO officials said the recent jump in remote working and the economic slowdown may have increased the risks associated with long working hours.

“We have some evidence that shows that when countries go into national lockdown, the number of hours worked increased by about 10 per cent,” WHO technical officer Frank Pega said.

The report said working long hours was estimated to be responsible for about a third of all work-related disease, making it the largest occupational disease burden.

The WHO suggests that employers should now take this into account when assessing the occupational health risks of their workers.

Capping hours would be beneficial for employers as that had been shown to increase productivity, Mr Pega said.

“It’s really a smart choice to not increase long working hours in an economic crisis.”

For help and advice on matters relating to employment law, contact our expert team today.

  

Construction output leaps ahead

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

Construction output in the UK jumped 5.8 per cent in March, more than the double of the country’s GDP growth in the same period, according to the latest data release from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The figures, which were released last week, show that GDP grew by 2.1 per cent in March, which was the fastest monthly growth since last August.

In a statement, the ONS said this was driven by growth in new work, repair, and maintenance.  Good weather and rising demand were also cited by the ONS as factors. The sector is now 2.4 per cent above its February 2020 level.

According to the ONS, “The construction sector expanded by 2.6 per cent in the three months to March 2021. The main contributors in new work were infrastructure and private new housing which grew by 4.3 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively, while the main driver in repair and maintenance was non-housing repair and maintenance which grew 3.2 per cent.”

Consequently, said the ONS, “Growth to construction for January and February 2021 have been upwardly revised to 0.4 per cent (up by 0.4 percentage points) and 2.3 per cent (up by 0.7 percentage points) respectively, mainly because of late survey returns.”

Total construction new orders grew by 12.2 per cent (£1,227 million) in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2021 compared with Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2020, following a 7.8 per cent (£848 million) fall in Quarter 4 2020.

Fraser Johns, CEO of major construction firm Beard, said that despite the growth there were still significant challenges ahead.

He said that the construction industry had been through the largest economic shock since the Second World War and had not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

He added: “An increase in demand and confidence boosted by the vaccine rollout and a roadmap out the crisis has played its part. Now the challenge is to build on that success by ensuring we attract the talented professionals required to take our industry forward.

“But in the short term we also have a significant challenge to face in terms of materials shortages, which in many areas is verging on a crisis. As an industry we must find ways to work around and plan ahead with supply chains to mitigate any serious delays, otherwise we’re in real danger of undermining our comeback from ground zero a year ago.”

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our expert team today.

Insolvency Service handed new powers to disqualify directors who dissolve companies

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

Directors who dissolve companies and leave creditors “out of pocket” may be disqualified for up to 15 years under new legislation, it has been announced.

According to the Government, the Insolvency Service will be given extended powers to investigate directors of companies that have been dissolved – closing a “legal loophole”.

Under current rules, the regulator has powers to only investigate directors of live companies or those entering insolvency.

It means that a director could be disqualified from running any other company for up to 15 years if wrongdoing or malpractice is found, even if the business has been removed from the official register of companies.

This also prevents directors of dissolved companies from setting up a near identical business after the dissolution to the detriment of customers, creditors and the public purse, the report adds.

The Government said the new measures will act as a “strong deterrent” against the misuse of the dissolution process – which has been used in recent months as a “method of fraudulently avoiding repayment of Government backed loans given to businesses to support them during the Coronavirus pandemic”.

Commenting on the new rules, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “We are determined that the UK should be the best place in the world to do business. Extending powers to investigate directors of dissolved companies means those who have previously been able to avoid their responsibilities will be held to account.”

Dr Roger Barker, Director of Policy and Corporate Governance at the Institute of Directors, added: “Company directors fulfil a central role in ensuring that their businesses are well governed. Although corporate dissolution may be inevitable in some cases, it should only be used as a last resort – after all other realistic avenues for protecting the interests of stakeholders have been exhausted.

“Using company dissolution as a mechanism for the evasion of a directors’ duties has no place in the governance of a responsible enterprise.”

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our expert legal corporate team today.