North East Law Firm, Jacksons has reported a strong start to the calendar year for its New Build teams in the firm’s Teesside and Newcastle offices.
Head of department, Associate Solicitor Jonathan Wall, launched the New Build Department in the firm’s Stockton office in January 2018 with a team of three people. He has hired another seven members of staff since then, in order to meet with client demand.
In May 2019, our Newcastle office launched its New Build Department with the appointment of Solicitor Isabelle Edmondson (Scottish Qualified).
The department has seen an increase of 50% in clients buying new build homes compared to this time last year. This is testament to the high levels of client care delivered by the team and the strong relationships with some of the house builders in the region who signpost buyers to Jacksons for legal advice.
Jonathan and his team are currently working with seven UK national builders as their preferred purchaser’s solicitor firm; Persimmon Homes, Miller Homes, Story Homes, Esh Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Bellway Homes and Linden Homes.
The number of lender panels the New Build team is able to act on now includes Virgin Money, Principality Building Society and Nottingham Building Society.
Jonathan says, “It has been really encouraging to watch the popularity of new build properties increase over the last couple of years. With the interest rate being cut again, we may see other house buyers taking advantage of it while it remains low. My team has worked really hard over the last two years, dealing with a large number of client matters at any one time, to ensure our clients move into their new home with ease and as soon as possible.”
The area of new build property has its own niche within conveyancing and is an extremely technically challenging area of the law. The New Build Department has key expertise in a number of specific new build property areas including, The Government Help to Buy Scheme, New Build Warranty Scheme Documents, Help to Buy ISAs and Lifetime ISAs, Planning Permissions and Building Regulations Approvals.
Jacksons’ New Build Department was shortlisted for the Team of the Year Property (Residential) at the Northern Law Awards 2019.
Following the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates in the face of the current pandemic, taking the base rate to 0.1%, this stimulus provides home buyers with the opportunity to obtain mortgages at extremely competitive rates, making home ownership more affordable than ever to an increasing number of people.
Jacksons Law firm is one of the North East’s longest established law firms and has been practising in the Tees Valley for over 140 years. Operating from its head office in Stockton on Tees, and an office in Newcastle upon Tyne, it is well placed to assist clients across the region on a wide range of business and personal legal advice.
