Recent Posts
Nicola Gooch
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council considers a new garden village for the Garden of England
It isn't very often that I write about events taking place in my own back yard, but on this occasion, I am going to make an exception. ...
23/03/17
Nicola Gooch
Minister goes to MIPIM... and makes an announcement that his Diary Secretary may regret
This week, the great and the good of the property industry are networking in the South of France. I am not amongst them*, but Gavin...
17/03/17
Nicola Gooch
Housing Forum report: Take politics out of planning to boost housing supply
Many people take issue with the way in which individual planning applications are decided. The system is far from perfect, and can...
16/03/17
Nicola Gooch
We are not yet prepared for supporting an ageing population: Carl Dyer talks to Planning Resource
Those of you who have been reading these posts for a while, may have picked up on the fact that our team has an interest in the...
10/03/17
Nicola Gooch
Wrangling over Reasons: R oao CPRE Kent v Dover District Council heads to the Supreme Court
When the Government removed the statutory duty to include reasons for granting consent on the face of a planning permission in 2013,...
08/03/17
Nicola Gooch
Homes of the Future - Technology and Retirement Living
Earlier this week McCarthy & Stone and the Agile Ageing Alliance released a report which considers the implications of technology for the...
02/03/17
Irwin Mitchell
Do you have, or can you see, Japanese Knotweed at your Property?
An article on the BBC news website has highlighted that a homeowner has been successful in claiming compensation from Network Rail, when...
01/03/17
Irwin Mitchell
"When constabulary duty's to be done, to be done, a Landlord's lot is not an 'appy one, 'appy one"
If you ever read the books about "The Scarecrow" by Russell Thorndyke, tales of smugglers on Romney Marsh, led by the local Parson, and...
28/02/17
Nicola Gooch
Aarhus Cost Protection Limits for Judicial Reviews no Longer Set in Stone
Today, the 88th Amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules comes into effect. You might think that this is a slightly odd topic for a...
28/02/17
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