Regulations & Planning

More homes on the high street with planning restrictions reduced

Overhaul of planning system to ‘build, build, build’ out of crisis

The government announced an overhaul of the planning system, in an effort to build homes more quickly and encourage building on brownfield sites. Under new ...
Read More

‘Bold action’ to come from planned housing bills

The housing minister, Robert Jenrick, has announced a series of new UK housing bills that will soon be introduced to the Commons. Building Safety Bill ...
Read More

Report damns 75% of new housing development

A national report for the Place Alliance and countryside charity, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), has been published by UCL, in response to ...
Read More

Idiots still building and buying houses in flood zones

Don't buy a house in a flood plain - or you may find many of your dreams washed away! The definition of a high risk ...
Read More

Housing – good growth for cities report

Declining unemployment, better skills and the establishment of new businesses have been the main driving factors behind improvements to living standards in the UK's cities ...
Read More

Connectivity a key driver of house prices

It has emerged that one of the most significant impacts on property prices is the ability to get to work easily. The University of Leeds ...
Read More

Permitted development lining the pockets of property developers

Tiny homes are starting to spring up across the UK as developers exploit a change in planning rules where offices can now be converted into ...
Read More

Why are we still building homes on Britain’s flood plains? Just say ‘NO’!

A Welsh village that is home to 850 people could soon need to be entirely relocated due to the threat of climate change, although refugee ...
Read More

Planning permission laws relaxed

The temporary rules introduced in 2014 that allowed homeowners in England to carry out certain extensions to their properties without planning permission have been made ...
Read More

Wrexham developer ‘blackmails’ Planning Committee

Wrexham Council has rejected a planned development that promised to deliver badly needed affordable housing to the town. Councillors accused the developer, Mandale Group, of ...
Read More

New housing not reflecting income or demand

The term 'affordable housing' describes lower rent property that is available to eligible households that are unable to afford the full market value. The term ...
Read More

Victory for postal workers brings EU letterbox regulations

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is celebrating a landmark victory for postal workers across the UK after the government agreed to alter building regulations on ...
Read More

Building infrastructure isn’t building homes

In 2012, we reported on the government's proposal to increase the level of construction of large scale infrastructure (speeding up the planning and other processes ...
Read More

Understaffed and underskilled planning departments

A new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has delivered a dismal picture of local authority planning departments which are struggling under current house ...
Read More

Game of Thrones star Charles Dance joins fight to save his local boozer, in local council battle

Charles Dance is fighting to save his local pub in Kentish Town, north London, from being turned into a branch of the supermarket chain, Nisa ...
Read More

£1.2 million house freed from its agricultural tie

A £1.2 million Florida-style mansion in rural Northam in North Devon, with beautiful views over the River Torridge, was originally granted planning permission as an ...
Read More

HM Land Registry registers its first digitally signed mortgage deed

The 5th April 2018 marked a landmark occasion for HM Land Registry - on this day the first digitally signed mortgage deed was used to ...
Read More

House not built to planning permission specification at risk of demolition

Two retrospective planning applications for a house in Lightwood, Staffordshire, have been rejected by Stoke-on-Trent Council, after the property was found to have been built ...
Read More

Planning precedent set as High Court judge ruins thousands of perfect days

Thornton Holdings Ltd, owner of the 120-acre estate 19th century listed Thornton Manor, near the pretty village of Thornton Hough on the Wirral,  was granted ...
Read More

Stamp Duty Land Tax still stifling the market

Late in 2017, the Chancellor’s decision to let first time buyers be exempt from stamp duty was welcomed by many.  Reducing the tax burden on ...
Read More

Common sense prevails as controversial Staircase Tax abolished

Small businesses across the land will be celebrating as the Chancellor confirmed the abolition of the Staircase Tax. In August 2017, business owners were shocked ...
Read More

What is ‘staircase tax’ and will it affect me?

In Woolway v Mazars the Supreme Court concluded that a 'hereditament' is “a self-contained piece of property, namely all parts of which are physically accessible ...
Read More

Permitted Development Rights for change of use or demolition of ‘drinking establishments’ is amended

Parliament has approved the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) (No.2) Order 2017, which amends the permitted development rights that allowed the ...
Read More

Do I need permission to convert my loft to living space?

It not normally necessary to apply for planning permission to convert a loft space into living accommodation, unless the roof space is extended, altered, or ...
Read More