Housing Market to Rebound in 2011?

Despite uncertainty over house prices, and with some commentators predicting that mortgage lending may fall to its lowest level for 30 years next year, a substantial majority of consumers think that 2011 may be the ideal time to buy, according to a recent survey by the Building Societies Association (BSA)*.

Some people may have concerns that a fall in the value of their property due to the recession makes it unwise to purchase a new property now.
However, any property purchased now is likely to cost substantially less than at the peak of the market, and so there are most definitely good deals to be had, particularly if you are trading up. In fact, there might never be a better opportunity to do so!

The December 2010 edition of the BSA's Property Tracker survey showed that most people (59%) believe that the best time to buy property is within the next 12 months, and a further 11% would buy in 2012.

Commenting on the results, Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgage Policy at the BSA said,

"Although the housing market remains uncertain, the public do not expect house prices to fall as dramatically as they did two years ago. As such, many expect that the best time to enter the market will be in the next year or so”.


For all your conveyancing needs, contact
EDC Lord and Co on 0208 848 9988
One of our experienced conveyancers is ready to help you now.


*Source: www.bsa.org.uk

Libel success against “Solicitors from Hell” website

Below is a press release by Carter Ruck Solicitors who acted for EDC Lord in a libel action against the owner of the website Solicitors from Hell, who was publishing very damaging and untrue comments about EDC Lord and its Partners.


The law firms EDC Lord & Co and Jordans Solicitors have successfully settled
their libel action against Rick Kordowski, the owner of the website “Solicitors
from Hell”.
Mr Kordowski has removed the false and highly defamatory material posted on
the website about each of the firms and its solicitors. Mr Kordowski has also
provided an undertaking to the Court that he will not republish the false
allegations or list the firms on his website in the future.
The firms initially wrote to Mr Kordowski asking for the allegations to be taken
down, but he refused to do this without payment. As a matter of principle, the
firms refused to pay Mr Kordowski any money and they were left with no option
but to issue libel proceedings against him.
The firms and its solicitors are pleased that the false allegations have now
been removed from the website and that they will not be republished by Mr
Kordowski.

For further information please contact Luke Staiano on 020 7353 5005
and at luke.staiano@carter-ruck.com.

Seeing is believing!

Here at EDC Lord Towers we place great emphasis on personal service; being available when you need us; and communicating effectively*. For those reasons it has been said that the law thrives upon presenteeism, to the extent that being in the office at all times is seen as a virtue. But, equally desirable for us is getting to know our client’s businesses, and the environment in which you operate. We believe that we can give you the best advice when we really know how your business works. However, even lawyers can’t (yet) be in two places at once, so occasionally something has to give. For the next few weeks, Andrew Isitt our Dispute Resolution Partner, will be out and about undertaking reviews with clients at their places of business. The purpose of the exercise is to listen to your assessment of the current state and future direction of the markets in which you operate, to your assessment of the prospects for your business in 2011, and to discuss how we can best tailor our services to meet your changing needs in the future. So, whilst the idea of solicitors leaving the sanctuary of the office to visit their clients is not (quite) revolutionary, it is still rare enough to warrant a blog post! However, in this communication-age being out of the office should not mean being out of touch, so should you need Andrew you can contact him on his mobile 07979 602058, or by e-mail to aisitt@edclord.com or you can speak to his secretary Lyn, direct on 020 8862 8954.

* To that end you will find no references in this article to “solutions”; “going forward”; “deliverables”, “key drivers”, or other such over-used jargon. For further pet hates see:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3532338/Thinking-outside-the-box-is-most-despised-business-jargon.html

Snow Wins/ No Fees

Is anybody out there? The severe ( for the UK) weather has meant that many people have been unable to make it in to their places of work today. Not so the good people of EDC Lord and Co , all of whom have braved the worst the British winter can throw at them, and have made it, by hook or by crook ( or by off-road bike in my case), in to the office, so that we can continue to be of service to our clients despite the inclement weather. Unfortunately, trying to be productive is very difficult when there are very few people on the other end of the phone, or in their offices. The modern communications revolution should mean that many more people are able to work from home irrespective of whether or not they can travel beyond their front gate. But anyone who’s ever bemoaned the lack of a mobile signal outside the M25 , will not be surprised that teleworking ( defined as those people who work from home using computers and telecommunications technologies) is not as universal as some parts of the media would have us believe. Although there has been a rapid increase in the number of people able to work from home in recent years, it started from a very low base. So, in 1997 “teleworkers” accounted for a mere 4% of the workforce. That figure had doubled by 2005 ( the last year for which published statistics are available) to 8% of the workforce ( 2.4 million people) who worked wholly or mainly from home. In addition, a further 1 million people occasionally worked from home, making a total of just under 12% of the workforce*. Undoubtedly, that total will have increased in the last 5 years, and no doubt extreme weather episodes will increase it again in the short term, but even if one makes a generous assumption and doubles the totals again, that still means that 3 out of every 4 workers cannot work if they cannot make it in to the office. Because we live in an inter-connected world where our productivity depends upon others fulfilling their roles as much it does us fulfilling our own, for those that do make it in, what they are able to achieve is limited by those who couldn’t make it. So, if you’re one of the people who slogged through the snow/bedded down in the office/ stayed in a hotel/ or who can telework from home: let’s talk! For everyone else, get the sledge out and enjoy the white stuff while it lasts!


* Home-based working using communication technologies, by Yolanda Ruiz and Annette Walling, can be found in Labour Market Trends October 2005, published by UK National Statistics.