The recent release of Halifax’s annual quality of life (QOL) survey has highlighted what some are calling a widening of the north south divide. In a thorough ranking of all 405 local authority districts, just 8 areas of the top ranked 50 locales can be found outside the southern and eastern regions of England.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
Two prominent MPs, David Davis (Conservative) and Frank Field (Labour), have put together a report suggesting that the Government go further with their proposed changes to the Right-to-Buy scheme – providing the opportunity for potentially another 1 million tenants to get on the property ladder.
To read the full article, click here.
The Housing Act 2004, and more specifically Chapter 4 of the Act, sections 212 – 215 and Schedule 10, requires that deposits for all assured shorthold tenancy (AST) agreements created on or after 6th April 2007 be protected under a Tenancy Deposit Scheme. We provide a guide to what is required and why landlords and agents should be careful when handling tenant’s deposits.
Find the whole guide here.
Licensing changes are being implemented by councils around the country which, despite resistance from dancers and residents alike, threaten Britain’s many and various ‘sex entertainment venues’.
Read the rest of the story here.
PropertySurveying.co.uk – With the Government currently consulting on proposals to increase the maximum discount under Right to Buy (RTB) to £50,000, fears are growing around local authorities that new homes will not be assured as a result.
The consultation’s wording reiterates the Government’s commitment to replacing every social housing unit sold with another affordable home. Some councils, however, are arguing that the borrowing caps their financial resources are governed by restrict them from being able to raise the necessary capital for this goal. With unit values as low as £70,000 in some areas, some councils could be looking at receipts as low as £20,000 to build a new affordable house – something which the Communities and Local Government Department itself believes will cost £40,000 – £50,000 per unit.
surveyorsbarnet.co.uk – The Council for Barnet in London has put forward plans to restrict tenants aged 18-25 to just two year tenancies as part of a shake up of its housing allocation policies.
The tenancy agreements would also be conditional upon unemployed tenants taking part in skills development, training or education which could lead to employment. They would, of course, be reviewed every two years; allowing the council to reallocate housing away from those, for example, not deemed to be trying hard enough to find gainful employment, and towards those deemed to deserve greater support.
Additionally, new tenants over the age of 25 would be offered a five year tenancy agreement, the minimum outlined by the Government.
Both measures are part of a wider exploitation of the powers gained through the recent Localism Act, with additional moves towards prioritising social housing for servicemen and women and towards tackling under occupation.
More information on under occupation and underused homes can be found here.
At nearly twenty six years old, the Lloyd’s building is now one of the youngest listed buildings in the country and joins just a handful of post war structures to receive the accolade.
The listing was carried out by the Minister for Tourism and Heritage, John Penrose, on the advice of English Heritage.
English Heritage’s Designation Director Roger Bowdler said: “We are delighted that the Minister has endorsed our advice to list the landmark Lloyd’s building at Grade l. Its listing at the highest grade is fitting recognition of the sheer splendour of Richard Rogers’s heroic design. Its dramatic scale and visual dazzle, housing a hyper-efficient commercial complex, is universally recognised as one of the key buildings of the modern epoch.”
It is a world renowned structure and a building that has been described as “heroic and Cathedral like”.
To read more on listed buildings and how they affect you, click here.
For further information on VAT and listed buildings, click here.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps has urged people across the country to help solve rough sleeping this Christmas. People are invited to call local 24-hour hotlines if they see someone sleeping on the pavement in their neighbourhood.
Supplementary information on over 9,000 services – hostels, day centres and other advice and support services for homeless people and those at risk of homelessness can be found at Homeless UK. For details of outreach teams in London, visit Homeless London.
The government plans to establish a new national single phone number which will provide a central point of contact for people across the country to get help for rough sleepers in their neighbourhood.
Based on London’s No Second Night Out number, this new phone line and website will ensure anyone wanting to get help for rough sleepers in their area will know where to go and who to call.
The Minister for Housing said: in a civilised society no one should have to sleep on the pavement.
Legislation and general red tape surrounding listed buildings can often be confusing and open to interpretation by an individual. The situation with Value Added Tax (VAT), charged by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), is just one of many such complications.
To read more, click here.
 A recent High Court ruling decided the local authority in question was not liable for damage caused by their tree as long as they were unaware the tree posed a real risk to the property in question – a new precedent for future cases and a cause to breathe a little easier for local authorities.
To read more, click here.
