Category: General Section

Solihull Secures Landmark Tenancy Succession Victory

In a complex battle of conflicting statute versus common law positions, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (Birmingham) has finally won out in the Supreme Court, marking a new precedent for future cases of joint tenancy succession.

The case dates back to 1967 when Mr and Mrs Hickin became joint tenants of a property in Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, under a tenancy later made secure by Part IV of the Housing Act 1985.

Full details of the case and its verdict will be coming in our newsletter, released at the beginning of August. To subscribe, click here.

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Big Contractor Bosses Unite to get Britain Building

Twenty Three of the Country’s biggest contractors, including Kier Group (based near Stevenage) and Wilmott Dixon (based near Welwyn Garden City), have put their names to a new campaign: “Creating Britain’s Future”. They want the Government to speed up the decision making process and find new ways to help finance construction projects.

The initiative has kicked off with a letter published in the Daily Telegraph setting out the industry’s ability to stimulate growth, and the official launch today at London’s Centre Point tower to an audience including representatives from the CBI.

Planning Inspector Suspends Wigan Council Plans

Wigan Surveyors – In a letter to Wigan Council, inspector Kevin Ward has suspended the planning document for six months in order for the council to carry out additional work and public consultation on further housing sites. His concerns are that the plan does not deliver enough land for housing.

The inspector indicated that the council should plan for at least 16,500 homes over a 15 year period, but that the current plan for Wigan contained a shortfall of 2,500 which needed to be rectified.

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Entire Georgian Crescent of properties up for sale in Bath

Bath Surveyors – A crescent of beautiful Grade I listed homes in Bath that would easily be at home on one of London’s premier streets has been put up for sale. The selling of the crescent properties, totalling 9 five-storey houses and 20 apartments, will be the first of its kind in Bath for 200 years.

Some of the houses are already on the market for £2m each, and the whole £60 redevelopment programme should be complete in 2014.

If you’re thinking of buying a period property, a survey is essential to ensure you go in to a potentialy complex purchase with your eyes open. Period properties have the highest probability of hidden defects. Contact an independent Chartered Surveyor through propertysurveying.co.uk

Brighton & Hove takes on One Planet Living Framework

Brighton Surveyors – To curb the localities ‘voracious’ appetite for resources which many believe is unsustainable for both the community and the planet at large, Brighton and Hove have taken on the One Planet Living Framework with ten guiding principles to creating a pleasant, sustainable and ‘green’ environment.

The result has been a new community f 172 flats within Brighton, next to the railway station, which were completed in 2010. They have been constructed in local, high performance materials and the energy is generated via a biomass boiler, solar panels and a contract to fill the remaining requirement with guaranteeed green energy from the One Brighton Energy Services Company.

Sheffield Project to include Football Pitch on Roof!

Sheffield Surveyors – The construction company ‘Wates’ has won a prestigious project in the City of Sheffield, to build a new £8.5m college University Technical College on the Porter Brook Site, Shoreham Street.

Their plans for the site impressed, describing a three storey structure topped with a five-a-side football pitch to save space. Construction should start in September and take a year to complete.

Birmingham Moves Forward on Affordable Homes

Birmingham Surveyors – Birmingham Council has become the third local authority, and the first outside of London, to sign on to the Communities and Local Government’s £1.8bn affordable housing scheme.

The council will receive £6.7m in funding to help them deliver 305 affordable homes for rent. That equates to a substantial subsidy of almost £22,000 per home. In total, the plan hopes to create 80,000 new homes by 2015.

Spate of burglaries target student houses

Chester Surveyors – Opportunists have been taking advantage of careless students, with reports of numerous doors unlocked, and some wide open, on walkarounds by local police. The high proportion of electrical goods in such houses has been a big draw to criminals, with a high re-sale value for items like laptops, ipads and phones.

If your child is off to uni this September, make sure they appreciate the danger and lock their homes.

2.6m sq ft development in Salford seems set to go ahead

Salford Surveyors – A large scale development in the Salford area of Greater Manchester which seemed to have stalled after concerns were raised over vandalism of an empty building on the site, has sparked back in to life with the demolishment of that building.

The scheme at Middlewood locks has outline planning consent for a large, mixed use site of residential, commercial, retail and leisure facilities. They have stated that they plan to moderate their original plans in light of the current climate and present a scheme suitable for Salford’s current needs.