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.
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.
manchesterbuildingsurveyors.co.uk – Wayne Rooney has commissioned the services of award winning architects, Pulmann Associates, to design him a brand new garden shed, replacing the previously paltry shack with a ‘mega-shed’ three times the size. This whilst at the other end of Manchester – dirty rat wrecks home!
Read more here!
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.
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.
21st November saw the Government release their Affordable Housing Plan – a set of measures designed to tackle Britain’s problems of undersupply and overpricing in the housing market – but has it gone far enough?
Read up on the housing plan and critical reaction here.
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.
Carl Brown writes of the new world of regulation for housing associations, which he argues is now looking likely to get off to at best, a confusing start.
Read the whole of his blog on the subject, here.
Chartered Surveyors for all areas, available to comment, advise and survey, are available here.
As of 31st October 2011, the Government has announced that they will be slashing Feed-in-Tariffs for domestic solar installations. Government Ministers have emphasised the need to stay within the allotted budget in the face of falling solar costs, but critics are foreseeing a sharp contraction of demand and an end to free solar financing schemes and social housing projects.
Read more here.
