Category: Property Market Section

Government urges public to help rough sleepers this Christmas

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.

  • Coming soon – a national helpline

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.

Alterations to Listed Buildings and VAT

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.

Richest buyers costing £1bn in stamp duty Avoidance

Stamp duty avoidance on £1m+ properties could be causing the Government a loss of £1bn in revenue. With pledges from Mr Osborne earlier this year to tackle tax avoidance, many will be pointing to this as an area he should be scrutinising closely.

To read more, click here.

High Court to assess Norfolk County Council’s £500m waste incinerator battle

kingslynnsurveyors.co.uk The people of King’s Lynn have taken their battle with Norfolk County Council to the High Court in proposals for a judicial review of the planned £500m incinerator development on the outskirts of their town.

Read more on the case on the propertysurveying news website here.

Should rules surrounding the ‘Green Belt’ be relaxed to allow for further development?

A new report originating from a popular think-tank, ‘Policy Exchange’, has put forward strong arguments for the relaxation of rules surrounding development on ‘Green Belt’ land.

To read about these arguments and the wider response, click here.

Drafting Leases advice – Tenant’s property – The Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977

Most tenancy agreements stipulate obligations on the tenant to remove all of its goods at the end of the agreement. There is no guarantee, however, that the tenant will oblige in this. By leaving goods at the property, the landlord can inadvertently be put in a position he or she likely didn’t predict.

To read more on this and benefit from our advice, click here.

Several big development projects pushing ahead in West Midlands

www.birminghambuildingsurveyors.co.uk

There is a serious under supply of housing in the West Midlands where housebuilding has fallen by 50 per cent in recent years. But despite a difficult economic backdrop, several partnerships in the region are pushing ahead with major developments to meet the growing demand.

Between 2008 and 2033, the number of households across the West Midlands is projected to grow from 2.24 million to 2.7 million. That equates to annual growth of around 18,000 households or a total expansion of 20 per cent.

It is one of only two regions, the other being the North East, where annual household growth is expected to average less than 20,000 between 2008 and 2033.

Read more about this story here. To find a surveyor in the West Midlands, click the link at the top.

Plymouth’s new ‘garden city’ gets the go ahead.

plymouthbuildingsurveyors.co.uk – A new development in the Sherford valley has received the go ahead after years of protests and planning struggles.

The plans to build 5,500 homes on the east side of Plymouth come from developer Redwood and have now been approved by the South Hams District Council. All is not lost for protestors, however, as the planning submission must still be approved by plymouth City Council.

Read more here. For surveys in the Plymouth area, click on the link above.