Now that children are back to school and the holidays are over, we recap a busy Easter period for the property and construction industry, to keep you up to date as the wheels of commerce attempt to navigate some difficult double-dip potholes...

The Property Market Monthly Fact File - April 2012
The property market fact file is a collection of data compiled each month by our chartered surveyors and the propertysurveying.co.uk team, collating survey data, statistics and related trends and information from the building and property market. This will help many persons with an interest in property to gain an accurate view of what is happening in the property market as a whole in the UK.
To read the monthly fact file, click here.

Budget Analysis 2012 – How this year’s budget will affect the property industry and you
Following Mr Osborne’s March budget, we have distilled the points most relevant to the property industry and explained what they involve in practice. In doing so we have created your guide to the aspects of Government intervention that you need to be aware of, whether you are a surveyor, solicitor, estate agents or potential property purchaser.
To read the whole article, click here.

Editor’s Easter Comment
The editor, himself an experienced Chartered Surveyor, reveals his views on the changes to Listed Building VAT and the path he thinks future policy should follow.
To read the whole article, click here.

Supreme Court Refuses Appeal - Tens of Thousands Benefit from Solar Panel Subsidy Reinstatement
The new Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, (who replaced the previous secretary in slightly ignominious circumstances) has been defeated in a battle begun by his predecessor and ended by the Supreme Court.
To read the whole article, click here.

Westminster becomes latest council to convict under Fraud Act 2006 - sparking calls for greater powers
Ref: Westminster CC v Herminio Nascimento
A former tenant of an illegally subletted 2 bed property in Westminster has been sentenced to 16 weeks in prison and legal fees of £7,100, marking a landmark first conviction by Westminster Council under the Fraud Act 2006.
To read the whole article, click here.

Changes to EPC Law to Have Imminent Impact on Sale of Property
A number of changes to the current Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) legislation will be brought in from April 6th this year. All interested parties, including surveyors, estate agents, property purchasers and conveyancers, should be aware of these changes and what they might mean for property transactions.
To read the whole article, click here.

Research claims another Dale Farm is ‘Inevitable’
Research from the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain has claimed that less than half of the Government’s proposed 620 new gypsy and traveller pitches will actually be built before 2015, a fact which they claim will exacerbate the ‘dire shortage’ of sites and make a new Dale Farm scenario ‘inevitable’.
To read the whole article, click here.

Government Reveals ‘Ban’ on Green Belt Gypsy Development
The recently published ‘Planning Policy for Traveller Sites’ has outlined specific provisions for gypsy pitches on ‘Green Belt’ land which critics are suggesting could further accentuate the shortage outlined by the ITMB.
To read the whole article, click here.

In case you missed it…..
Incredible 3D printer could hold the key to a new Industrial Revolution
The future of Britain’s construction industry could be held in a model of Tower Bridge, smaller than a grain of sand…
To read the whole article, click here.

If you have any suggestions for articles to be written, send an email to the editor via the office email below.