[1]Search Acumen [2], the conveyancing search provider, has partnered with Land Data – the NLIS regulator and leading authority on electronic land and property information – to host two editions of a webinar to help conveyancers prepare for changes to CON 29 and CON 29O[1] [3].
The Law Society’s revised forms [4] will go live on 4 July, with newly introduced amendments and added questions to ensure better-improved quality and consistency of information from local authorities.
The changes include three newly added enquiries for drainage matters, assets of community value and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), and will also see the Public Rights of Way enquiry shifted from CON 29O to CON29.
Conveyancers will have a choice of two dates – 21st and 30th June 2016 – to attend the webinar to understand what’s new, what’s changed and gain tips to prevent their search being rejected by the local authority.
The webinar will be hosted by Jan Boothroyd, Chief Executive of Land Data. Jan has been a long standing member of the Law Society CON 29 working party, which devised the revisions to CON 29.
Jan has provided training to local and central government on LLC1 & CON 29 since 1986 and is an adviser to local and central government on matters pertaining to Local Land Charges. She is also the author of Garner’s Local Land Charges, a comprehensive guide to matters in registering a local land charge.
The webinars are free to join, but due to limited space, registrations will be on a first come first serve basis. Each session will last no longer than an hour and a playback facility as well as a downloadable guide to the changes from Search Acumen will be available to attendees after the event.
The session will cover:
- Background to CON 29 & CON 29O
- Recap on changes
- Enquiry by enquiry in-depth review
The webinars will be held on 21 June 2016, at 10.30am and 30 June 2016 at 2.30pm. To reserve a place, please email marketing-team@search-acumen.co.uk [5]. Due to anticipated demand for the events, registrations are restricted to two per firm.
Andy Sommerville, director of Search Acumen, comments:
“Since the new forms were finalised by Law Society in October last year, we’ve been thinking ahead about the challenges conveyancers will face in adjusting to the requisite changes.
“The Law Society has worked very hard, devoting time and energy towards reworking the forms for greater consistency, but professionals now need to invest time to develop their conveyancing acumen and understand how to use the new forms to avoid errors and delays.
“We hope the webinar, with Jan at the helm, will meet this need and provide a concise and digestible understanding of the CON29 changes.”
Jan Boothroyd, chief executive of Land Data, comments:
“We’re delighted to be hosting a webinar in partnership with Search Acumen, ahead of the anticipated challenges conveyancers will need to tackle in July.
“We’re conscious of the workload that firms face, which is why I’m hoping to address delegates’ queries to prevent unnecessary delays and would encourage all conveyancers to attend.”
[1] [6] CON29 contains supplementary enquiries on Planning, Highways, Building Regulations, drainage and other matters of interest to home buyers. The form is in two parts: CON29 (R) contains the standard enquiries; CON29 (O) contains some additional optional enquiries.