Recent Posts
Irwin Mitchell
Unbuckling the green belt
Any decision to build on the green belt is going to be controversial. There is a clear need to increase supply of all types of home...
12/01/16
Nicola Gooch
Is CIL being used to discourage unpopular developments?
Below are some extracts from a Planning Resource article, which suggests that some councils are using CIL as a mechanism for discouraging...
12/01/16
Irwin Mitchell
Exclusivity clauses are now (properly!) banned
There were big headlines in May last year when exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts became unenforceable. These clauses prevent...
11/01/16
Irwin Mitchell
What do you think is vital today?
Surveyors Lambert Smith Hampton have published their "Vitality Index" - not a ranking of the value of smoothies based on kale and...
08/01/16
Irwin Mitchell
Sports Direct: at it again
Sports Direct has announced that they will be paying more than the minimum wage from now on. So that's good. They have also appointed...
06/01/16
Nicola Gooch
Housing and Planning Bill: Amendment to break LPAs monopoly over processing planning applications
Greg Clark has proposed an amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill which, if granted, may allow developers to choose who processes...
06/01/16
Irwin Mitchell
COP 21 - Leading companies commit to zero energy buildings
Existing EU requirements require all new buildings to be "nearly zero energy buildings" (nZEBS) by 2020. In an exciting move at the...
06/01/16
Irwin Mitchell
Legal highs in the workplace. Are you covered?
So-called legal highs are often in the news these days, but as indicated by these recent statistics employers would be wise to consider...
06/01/16
Irwin Mitchell
Easing complications from that post-Christmas breakup
The papers have been full of the usual articles about post Christmas marital breakdown. Ipswich Building Society is making a point of...
05/01/16
Nicola Gooch
Proceeds of Crime Act used to seize profits from unlawful development
Hackney Council has seized £700,000 from a developer who built a block of flats without planning permission, and then proceeded to rent...
05/01/16
Irwin Mitchell
Racism kicked out of M & S
Marks and Spencer have dismissed their high profile recent recruit for allegedly using racist language. A well known brand is...
05/01/16
Nicola Gooch
Government Launches House-building Programme
The Government has decided to start building houses. In a pilot project, to be launched today, the Government will commission up to...
04/01/16
Irwin Mitchell
A disingenuous headline - "It's cheaper to buy a home than to rent"
Santander research headlines that the current cost of buying is cheaper than renting in all areas of the country, except eastern England,...
18/12/15
Nicola Gooch
NPPF: Select Committee launches inquiry into Christmas consultation
December has always been a popular time for public consultations, so it did not come as a particular surprise to many of us that the...
17/12/15
Irwin Mitchell
What rights do our volunteers have?
I don't want to sound like Scrooge in the run up to Christmas but this is a question any organization engaging volunteers should...
15/12/15
Nicola Gooch
Airport Expansion: When meeting long term needs becomes political dynamite
The continued procrastination over whether to expand Heathrow Airport seems to play into a much wider theme in the British (and...
14/12/15
Irwin Mitchell
America is becoming less middle class
The top 1% are getting richer, the highly educated and well paid are getting richer and everyone else is going backwards. White collar...
09/12/15
Nicola Gooch
Court of Appeal rules on legal definition of a "Tree"
The Court of Appeal has issued a decision which confirms that the word "tree" for the purposes of a Tree Preservation Order or Tree...
09/12/15
Nicola Gooch
Government proposes key amendments to the National Planning Policy Framework
A consultation on crucial changes to the National Planning Policy Framework opened today. The proposed amendments to affordable housing...
07/12/15
Nicola Gooch
Planning Appeal refused due to breach of Pooling Restrictions
A developer in Surrey has recently been reminded of the importance of making sure that the planning authority has counted their s.106...
07/12/15
Irwin Mitchell
After the Autumn Statement, more news on Business rates for retailers
In the last couple of weeks,. business rates have been in the news a lot. Now, a recent report from Colliers on the current revaluation...
07/12/15
Nicola Gooch
Reasons, reasons and material considerations
Given the increasing prevalence of neighbourhood plans, it is not surprising that we are now getting a number of cases which deal with:...
04/12/15
Nicola Gooch
Yet more red tape to cut: Cabinet Office review of building sector re-opens
In an apparent concession that they didn't manage to get through all of it the last time around, the Cabinet Office has re-opened its...
03/12/15
Irwin Mitchell
Buy to let ownership moving from individuals to the corporate sector?
The cynic might be forgiven for speculating that the Autumn Statement proposals, coupled with the Bank of England's recent "concerns"...
02/12/15
Irwin Mitchell
West Sussex - Abolition of Internal Drainage Boards
The environment agency is looking to abolish internal drainage boards (IDBs) in eight areas of West Sussex and Kent. Where an IDB is not...
02/12/15
Irwin Mitchell
Getting it right from the outset
As an employment lawyer I see a lot of issues that arise because fairly simple employment measures haven't been put in place at an early...
30/11/15
Irwin Mitchell
Car sharing: is this the sign of things to come?
Uber is at the vanguard of mobile technology and sharing of resources, but there is no reason why other areas can't also benefit on a...
30/11/15
Irwin Mitchell
Silicon Abbey?
This is more about the built environment and power of cities than property law, but the Centre for Cities has released a map using Patent...
30/11/15
Irwin Mitchell
A viable alternative?
Nicky Gavron AM has commented on potential proposals for developers to publicise their viability assessments. These are used in planning...
30/11/15
Irwin Mitchell
The annual bonus - the jargon explained
I love the idea that we need expert help to understand the banking sector. The legal universe perhaps, no maybe all businesses have...
30/11/15