Category: Legal Advice

Young people to be restricted to two year tenancies in London Borough

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.

London’s Lloyd’s Building Now Grade 1 Listed

surveyorslondon.co.uk

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.

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.

Tree root High Court case ruling welcome news to local authorities

 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.

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.

Construction guide – power cables

Every year accidents occur on large and small scale construction sites around the country, when due care and attention is not paid to neutralising the threat of un-insulated overhead and underground power cables. We have provided a guide to help you stay safe, whether you’re constructing a 10 storey block of flats, or merely repairing your chimney.

Read our guide 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.

Tenant services authority starts consultation on regulatory framework

The Tenant Services Authority has launched its consultation about the new regulatory framework. The consultation runs until 10 February 2012, and the new framework is expected to take effect on 1 April 2012. The new framework takes account of the new investment arrangements, ministerial directions to the regulator, and the Localism Act 2011.

Find out more on the National Housing Federation’s website here.

Judge rules Leasehold Service Charges covered by Consumer Protection Laws

Case Reference: Levitt v London Borough of Camden

A new case concerning a hot water system disagreement between leaseholder and freeholder in an apartment in the London Borough of Camden, has reached an important conclusion: a ruling that the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations apply to the service charge provisions of long leases. The decision in the present case could be determinative of contribution obligations if similar cases arise elsewhere under similar leases.

To read the rest of this article and the details of the case, click here.