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18 December 2007 -
bpl opens new Poundbury office - bpl today moved to its new
premises at Poundbury, Dorchester. The 6000 square feet offices will
house the firm's commercial and property litigation departments and also
allow for the further of the firm's residential teams.
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12 December 2007 -
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22 November 2007 - Yvette Cooper
has today announced that Home Information Packs will be extended to all
properties with effect from 14 December 2007.
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19 October 2007 - Housing Market -
the recent credit crisis coupled with the introduction of HIPs and election
uncertainty has affected the housing market according to the latest findings
of the National Association of Estate Agents. Numbers of buyers and
sellers are both down in September 2007, despite there being a rise in the
number of smaller flats for sale. The NAEA say "Those that have
entered the market have shown careful consideration before reaching a
decision as the average number of viewings before a sale remained at 12 –
slightly up from last September’s 11. Meanwhile, the time taken to sell
increased from 18.2 weeks in August to 19.1 in September. This is compared
with an average of 16.5 weeks in September 2006."
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13 September 2007 - bpl move to new
office - bpl has announced that its new Dorchester office which is
currently being fitted out will open for business by the end of 2007.
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17 August 2007 - Government announces
HIPs to affect 3+ bedroom homes from 10 September 2007 - in a move which
was anticipated by the property industry, the Government has announced that
it considers there to be sufficient energy assessors available for HIPs to
become required for properties having 3+ bedrooms from 10 September.
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27 July 2007 - bpl in major expansion - bpl has exchanged contracts on
new offices at the prestigious Mey House development at Poundbury,
Dorchester. The office will house bpl's rapidly expanding commercial
property and private client team, acting for high net worth individuals.
Angela Thompson, Business Development Director says "Although our
existing office in Poundbury was opened only 2 years ago we have found that
we have outgrown this. The new office will be four times larger and
feature state-of-the-art computer networks and client hosting facilities,
providing one of the most sophisticated legal centres in the west country.
We are recruiting at all levels in advance of our Autumn opening".
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25 July 2007 - HIPs Update -
Barring another dramatic U turn the
government is set to re start the introduction of Home information packs as
from 1st August 2007. From this date any house with four or more
bedrooms will need a HIP. Initially, however, the previous requirements for
the HIP to be complete and in place before the property has been marketed
have been relaxed but only for a short time. In summary, therefore, a HIP
will have to have been ordered to market a property with more than four
bedrooms after 1st August 2007. The government’s
stated intention is to introduce the scheme for three bedroom houses and
then for all houses and the rumour is that the necessary commencement order
for three bedroom houses is imminent and may take effect from as soon as
early
September 2007. In summary, the position remains confused and it
is not being helped by a lack of general public information from the
government as to how their new scheme will work. David Bridge, director at
bpl solicitors said “At this stage we are all learning but at have excellent
contacts throughout the industry and are well placed to advise and discuss
the new requirements with estate agents, mortgage brokers and individuals
and to provide solutions to anyone involved in house moving – be that as
part of the industry or as a private individual business.”
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22 June 2007 - Postal Strike - Royal Mail workers have announced that a postal strike will take place on
Friday 29 June 2007. We at bpl will do everything possible
to help our customers but it is inevitable that strike action could delay
cases. Chris May, bpl's Operations Director says "We have been
planning for possible postal action and have an action plan in place.
We will be using alternative postal services such as Secure DX and also
emailing wherever possible. However, if customers of the firm have
documents to deliver to us for completions on that date, it is essential
that they endeavour to return these by no later than Thursday 28 June 2007.
The knock-on effects of the strike will last into the following week, as
postal workers deal with the backlog which has arisen. We will,
therefore, be recommending to our sustomers that all payments are made
electronically rather than by post to avoid delays in receipt".
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01 June 2007 - One month to go before
smoking ban - The
smoking ban takes effect in England on
1 July 2007,
making it a criminal offence to smoke in a smoke-free place from that date. Employers and others who
manage smoke-free premises must put up no-smoking signs and prevent smoking
or face criminal sanctions. The smoking ban is already in force in
Wales. Chris May, bpl's Director of Operations says "the new
rules affecting business owners are complex and anyone running a business
should seek advice now on what they need to do to comply with the new law.
The smoking ban covers premises open to the public and premises used as a
place of work (including voluntary work) by more than one person. These
premises must be smoke-free at all times. The smoking ban only affects
premises to the extent that they are "enclosed" or "substantially enclosed".
There are exemptions, for example, for designated smoking rooms in care
homes, hospices and prisons. Individuals need to be aware that
smoking in a smoke-free place is an offence and offenders will be liable to
pay a fixed penalty of £50 payable within 29 days, although this will be
discounted to £30 if paid within 15 days. The fine can rise up to £200
on conviction by a Magistrates' court. In addition, for business
owners failure to prevent smoking in a smoke-free place is also an offence
attracting a fine of up to £2,500 on conviction in a Magistrates' court.
Businesses can also be fined for failing to display no-smoking signs with a
fixed penalty of £200 payable within 29 days. This will be discounted to
£150 if paid within 15 days. However, again if convicted by a
Magistrates Court the fine could rise up to £1,000."
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25 May 2007 - Karen Liddiard joins bpl
- bpl are delighted to announce that
Karen Liddiard has rejoined their Poundbury office. Karen
rejoins from a smaller local practice as part
of bpl's major new expansion in Dorchester which will coincide with the
opening of new office premises later this year. Karen Martin, bpl's Human Resources Manager says "Karen brings with her a considerable
depth of experience and local knowledge. We will be looking to recruit
substantial numbers of new staff over the course of this year as the new
office expands in what will be a major boost to the West Dorset economy".
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22 May 2007 - Government delays
introduction of HIPS - despite strong denials to the contrary, the
Government has abandoned plans to introduce HIPS for all property sales on 1
June 2007. The last minute announcement causes potential
confusion for home buyers. Commenting on the news, Angela
Thompson, bpl's Business Development Director says "The original promise
of easier homebuying has been swamped by a green agenda. Whilst these aims
are laudable, an attempt to create a "big bang" was bound to be fraught with
difficulty. The Government has to tread a very careful path and we
risk consumers being alienated from a scheme which was designed to help
them". Chris May, bpl's Operations Director says "We have
prepared all our systems for the HIPS introduction and are ready to fire on
all cylinders whenever HIPS commence. The packs are now intended to be
introduced, for properties having 4 bedrooms or more, on 1 August 2007.
The clock is still ticking and hasn't stopped for owners of these
properties. At this time, particular, we are finding that estate
agents and clients are turning to us to seek guidance on what they should
do".
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15
May 2007 - Opposition proposals to scrap HIPS fail in the Commons
- The
Opposition proposal to scrap HIPS failed today after they lost a vote in the
Commons by 234 votes to 306 for the government.
The government have argued packs will reduce
the number of abortive transactions and encourage people to choose homes
which are more energy efficient. The House of Lords will vote on the
subject next week following the criticisms raised by the select committee
which urged the government to "seriously" consider deferring the
introduction of the packs. The Opposition has argued that the energy
performance certificates, which are mandatory in HIPs, should be introduced
separately. These provide a “fridge like” rating on a property’s energy
efficiency as well as advice on how to improve a home’s rating. The vote
cames a day after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said
it would seek a judicial review because the government had not consulted
properly on the law.
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1 April 2007 - bpl installs Axxia
Artiion software - Chris May bpl's Director of Operations
announces the latest investment by bpl in Axxia's class-leading accounts
package,
Artiion
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29
March 2007 Philip Hall joins bpl as Associate - bpl are delighted to
announce that Philip Hall has joined them as an associate in the Commercial
Property department from Clark Willmott. Philip will be based at bpl's
rapidly expanding Poundbury office -
see Press Release
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29
March 2007 BPL to take part in Land Registry Chain Matrix trial
- bpl are to take part in the Land Registry Chain Matrix Trials in
Bristol and Portsmouth -
see
Press Release
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29
March 2007 Donna Fraser admitted as Fellow of the Institute of Legal
Executives - bpl are pleased to announce that senior conveyancing
Executive Donna Fraser has been admitted as a Fellow of the Institute of
Legal Executives -
see Press Release
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28
March 2007
BPL act on climate change
Read
about our plans to reduce the environmental impact of our operations with
new technology proving that "going green" also makes good business sense
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2 February 2007
HIPs trial to be extended to London Borough of Southwark and North-West
Wales With effect from the 12th and 19th February respectively,
two additional areas will be added to the current HIPs Pilot.
bpl's
Chris May, who is a resident of Southwark, says "The launching of
the free HIPs trial in south London, with its large proportion of leasehold
properties, will provide a further road-test for the current pilot.
Leasehold properties present their own challenges in terms of the collation
of information. It will be interesting for all stakeholders to assess
what their effect is on timescales in comparison with areas where freeholds
predominate."
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2
February 2007 Senior lawyer Jenny Nobbs admitted to Fellow of the
Institute of Legal Executives bpl is pleased to announce that
Jenny Nobbs, who started her career in the law in 1977, has been admitted as
a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives - see
Press Release
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30 January 2007
bpl announces participation in
Land Registry Chain Matrix™
pilot
bpl will take part in the pilot operating in Bristol and Portsmouth starting
March 2007 and running for 6 months. Angela Thompson, bpl's Business
Development Director says "We are pleased to be part of the government's e-conveyancing
initiative and working with the Land Registry on this important project.
Only a small number of firms across the country will take part and we look
forward to contributing to the development of the project prior to its full
launch".
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29 January 2007
bpl welcomes new IT Head
Martin Lake -
bpl is pleased to announce that
Martin Lake has joined as Head of IT. Martin joins from working with
Virgin Mobile and NTL:Telewest on their data integration project. Martin
joins at a time of major investment in new IT systems and projects
integrating with new third-party systems including the Land Registry
Matrix and HIPs.
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26 January 2007
New Alcatel VoIP Telephone System installed - bpl announces
that its new internet based telephone system has gone live, enabling higher
levels of customer service to be provided see
Press Release
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1 January 2007
Louise Davies becomes Associate with bpl - bpl are delighted to announce
that
Louise Davies has become an Associate with the firm from this date.
Chris May, Director of Operations, says "Louise has considerable expertise
in both Commercial and Residential Property as well as the
Social Landlord
area and is a major asset to the firm in this field of work".
