Recent Posts
Nicola Gooch
Inspector tells Mid Sussex Council to plan for more homes
Mid Sussex Council submitted its new District Plan to the Planning Inspectorate for examination in August 2016. Earlier this week, the...
22/02/17
Nicola Gooch
Streamlining Newts - or at least their licensing arrangements
Hidden away in the detail of the Housing White Paper was an announcement about Great Crested Newts. Namely, that following a successful...
17/02/17/55fad6bcb00e7e097cd579a6/560907bc3d94740a947e0567/2017-02-09-10-55-58-222-2180645197_cce849b416.jpg)
Nicola Gooch
The Housing White Paper: Very Heavily Abridged
The Housing White Paper was finally unveiled, in the House of Commons, on Tuesday lunchtime and has dominated the news for most of the...
09/02/17
Nicola Gooch
Suffering Housing White Paper Overload? Let's talk CIL Reform instead
On a day where parliament is discussing BREXIT and appropriate measures for protecting the public from seagulls (and most planning...
07/02/17
Irwin Mitchell
Over-elm..ing protection for Woodlands (pardon the pun)
The Telegraph has published a very interesting article on the much anticipated Housing White Paper (due tomorrow) and Government plans to...
06/02/17
Nicola Gooch
Is the Government about to get on board with the Retirement Housing agenda?
Gavin Barwell spent much of the weekend on television discussing the Housing White Paper, which is now expected on Tuesday this week....
06/02/17
Irwin Mitchell
SDLT surcharge on second homes nets additional £1.19bn
The Times has reported (behind a paywall) that the additional 3% SDLT surcharge on residential properties brought by someone who already...
02/02/17
Nicola Gooch
RTPI Publishes Practice Note on Planning For Dementia Friendly Developments
Yesterday, the RTPI published its first practice note on "Dementia and Town Planning". The practice note is only 16 pages long and I...
31/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
Property Fraud - Protect yourself
Lessons can be gleaned from a recent high profile case on property fraud. Landlords (both residential and commercial) should heed the...
27/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
To buy or not to buy (but can I afford it?)
An interesting article from The Telegraph has picked up that it can take the average first time buyer 10 years to save for a deposit to...
26/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
(un)affordable Housing Crisis - 2017
A recent International Housing Affordability Survey (2017) has highlighted some of the most expensive places to live in the world by...
26/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
Too Hot to Handle - The EU's Energy Directive
The European Commission’s guidance on the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive (which requires heat meters or heat cost...
26/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
Irwin Mitchell helps secure major North Street Quarter mixed-use development in Lewes, East Sussex
The South Downs National Park Authority granted planning permission for a major 416-home mixed-use scheme which will not only provide 40...
23/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
Un-lock garage sites to solve housing crisis?
Specialist crowdfunders Property Partner have used a number of FOI requests to establish how many under-used and under-maintained lock up...
20/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
Midlands Engine goes 'Brum'
Interesting news from the Birmingham Mail, picked up by Bisnow.com, reveals that Birmingham tops the list for the most new company...
18/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
First Time Buyers on the increase
Encouraging figures released by Halifax (and reported without paywall by Mortgagestrategy.co.uk) show a continued recovery in the number...
14/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
Snow limit to the perks on offer...
Whilst waiting for the housing white paper it is always worth observing what perks the luxury developers are offering at their prime...
11/01/17
Irwin Mitchell
"I do, therefore I spend" - Visa report on consumer spending
Take from it what you will, (and read it in parallel with the report on the massive amount of unsecured debt in the UK), but surely one...
10/01/17
Nicola Gooch
Planning Permission In Principle is on its way: Draft Regulations laid before Parliament
It looks as if at least one of the more radical reforms in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 is due to come into effect in the not too...
10/01/17
Nicola Gooch
Ministers pave the way for the Housing White Paper by pre-announcing its content
As a wise man* once said there appears to be a pattern associated with major government policy announcements. First there is a week or...
06/01/17
Nicola Gooch
DCLG's New Year's Resolution: Build More (Starter) Homes
It is the first working day of 2017 and already we have two announcements from DCLG - both of which are centred on delivering housing....
03/01/17
Nicola Gooch
In the Fourth Week of Advent, DCLG gave to me.... A New Housing Fund & Disagreements with Inspectors
The week before Christmas has been a decidedly busy one, with the announcement of a new £60 million housing fund and the release of no...
23/12/16
Irwin Mitchell
Yes, Counting matters, but interpretation matters more
On Saturday, The Times, quoting from the BDO report trumpeted a 1.7% year on year increase for Retail sales figures for November,...
13/12/16
Nicola Gooch
In the Third Week of Advent, DCLG gave to me... Yet More Neighbourhood Plan Uncertainty
In a move which has made me feel decidedly un-festive, yesterday, in the House of Commons, Gavin Barwell issued a new written ministerial...
13/12/16
Nicola Gooch
In the Second Week of Advent, DCLG gave to me... A National Estate Regeneration Strategy!
Last week the festive fellows at DCLG treated us to a National Estates Regeneration Strategy, intended to 'breathe new life' into...
12/12/16
Nicola Gooch
Durham County Council puts local plan on hold until Housing White Paper is published
The delay in publishing DCLG's Housing White Paper appears to be having a knock on effect for some local planning authorities and their...
07/12/16
Nicola Gooch
In the first week of Advent, DCLG gave to me....
This the first of four posts based on a popular Christmas song, each of which will contain a quick recap of the week's news from DCLG. In...
02/12/16
Nicola Gooch
GLA opens consultation on new affordable housing guidance
The Greater London Authority is currently consulting on new supplementary planning guidance that addresses the tricky issue of securing...
30/11/16
Irwin Mitchell
Land Registry Privatisation laid to rest - until next time
Tucked into the Autumn statement today is a footnote that the government has decided not to proceed with Land Registry Privatisation. So...
24/11/16
Nicola Gooch
The Last Autumn Statement.... but no Housing White Paper
Philip Hammond has just delivered the Autumn Statement and wiser heads than mine will be analysing its contents as I type. Although the...
23/11/16