Property Law Current Awareness

A guide for the grumpy!

Sometimes it's good to go back to basics and take a fresh look at a topic. In the past I've worked with property departments, helping them access and make the best of current awareness. However I felt a bit rusty last week so I've popped some sources together and I hope that others find this collection useful - and feel free to tell me about any others. My focus is UK material and I've steered clear of planning law.

There are a wealth of sources for ensuring that property lawyers are fully conversant with current affairs. From newspaper special reports, to social media, I have included an updating method suitable for everyone. 

Newspapers

I read the papers every day and don't feel that they cover property matters to the depth the lawyers need. However the FT publishes regular special reports on global property, and the Times weekly Bricks and Mortar provides information on the residential market. 

Trade Journals

Estates Gazette and Property Week remain the standard two for UK property news and commentary. Building and Construction News are also excellent and are good for legislative and regulatory comment.

Estates Gazette also includes EGi which is the benchmark for online property news services, however they have a free blog.

Email Alerts

Various people put together free alerts

Property Law UK - Register for free, monthly, emails which give a short summary of recent cases and other developments in property law.
Property Surveying Articles - Legal & Property News from the minds of UK Chartered Surveyors
Property Mall - Every day we publish industry moves, news and deals from agents, investment companies and others on Propertymall.com. This news is archived and we currently have more than 15,000 news items, all available on the website. It is a great source of comparable evidence to rent reviews and valuations.

Government Sources

Government press releases, consultation, policy documents often provoke comment therefore sign up for updates from the DCLG. The Law Commission is always working on law reform, currently land registration and right to light.

Blogs

I’ve already mentioned the Estates Gazette blog but these are good too:

http://nearlylegal.co.uk
http://blogs.lexisnexis.co.uk/purposebuilt/category/property/
http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/blog-posts/
http://constructionblog.practicallaw.com/
http://www.lawandlease.co.uk/
http://propertylegalblog.co.uk/
http://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/news-and-events/blogs/real-estate-law-blog

These are more useful to get a feeling for what is going on in general, but less important for ‘what’s new’ because any aspiring commentator should be getting the raw information and being the one to blog!

Twitter Accounts

A few, as recommended by one of my lawyers:

@propertyshe
@SavillsUK
@estatesgazette
@HenryPryor
@HomesProperty
@property_mall
@teleproperty
@CommunitiesUK

People should join Twitter because it does seem to break news quicker than anywhere else!

And finally

If you've access to subscription services, you should have Westlaw and Lexis Alerts set up. All are excellent for picking up cases and legislation. I won’t often know if a case is important or not – and by the time it gets to PLC it may have already been commented upon by bloggers and the newspapers. Therefore it is imperative that you have raw data information feeds set up so you can identify relevant issues.

Information Overload

I have inevitably missed a lot of useful sources here, avoiding various  free case law and legislation databases. However it's overwhelming and there is already a danger of too people receiving too many emails.

The key is to strike a balance. Perhaps have a PSL/PLC update, a case/legislation update service, a couple of email alerts from a trade journal/or collator of news, and have a twitter account which brings together bloggers and tweeters in the industry.