Self build couple face £83,000 bill for failure to ask first
A couple's failure to obtain planning permission prior to starting work on a self build project has attracted an unexpected £82,994.88 bill. Habib and Jade ...
Planning officer submits “ridiculous” planning application
The chairman of a planning authority has withdrawn his own planning application after being informed it would not be approved. Councillor Arshad Hussain is head ...
World’s most expensive problem property … probably
Despite being supported in his application by his neighbours, the owner of a £13.5 million property has not been given permission to rebuild the existing ...
Newt-counting planners grant Boris permission to build
Brightwell Manor is a three storey, Grade II Listed house in the picturesque village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire. The original building dates back to the 17th ...
Drama Unleashed: Titchfield’s Unauthorised Theatre – A Tale of Parking Plots and Pantomime Protests
In the sleepy village of Titchfield, where the drama usually revolves around tea choices and garden gnome placements, a theatrical scandal has unfolded. A 450-seat ...
The ins and outs of hedgerows
The Hedgerow Regulations came into force on 1 June 1997 and are still current. The regulations were created with the intent of protecting important countryside ...
Condemned property now lawful
A local authority has taken so long to enforce a demolition order that it has been left with no choice but to regard the existence ...
New fire safety rules for all holiday let property
New rules for fire safety compliance in holiday let property come into effect from 1st October 2023, which include home owners and landlords letting out ...
What happens if I fail to seek planning permission?
You will usually need to apply for planning permission when developing land or a building (including changing its use). Development that is carried out without ...
Arcady to be demolished
A West End theatre producer, Adam Spiegel, has been instructed to dismantle his coastal residence dubbed "Arcady" (an ideal rustic paradise) by North Norfolk District ...
Homeowners told to tear down house built without planning
A partly completed four bedroomed house in Walsall, West Midlands has again been deemed unacceptable by the local authority. The house at 117 Sandringham Avenue, ...
England’s newest new town branded failure
A new town being constructed ten miles from Cambridge has been described as the largest of its kind since the development of Milton Keynes, back ...
Unhappy about a planning application?
Planning control is in place to help protect the general public interest. This does not necessarily equate to the private interest of individuals, who can ...
POA property adverts banned
National Trading Standards has deemed the use of the term "price on application" (POA) in relation to the sale of houses misleading, as it hides ...
Bungalow extensions contributing to retirement property shortage
The bungalow has long been the choice property for people of retirement age or planning for the future, and an aging UK population means the ...
Call for planning policy to reflect home working
A major house builder has called for planning policy to be amended, to reflect the increasing demand in working from home. Barratt Developments commissioned the ...
Gove reviews housing targets
As Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, Michael Gove is reviewing the issues he has inherited, including ...
Green belt accused of causing more building in rural areas
Green belt policy was written into law after the introduction of the New Towns Acts of 1946 and 1981, which helped reduce the population of ...
Hope Cove bit of a misnomer as residents give up hope
South Hams District Council has come under fire from a parish council and residents of seaside village for its planning policies, as Hope Cove gets ...
Permitted development expanded for high street property
Property developers in England are now able to convert a range of high street business properties into flats without the need for planning permission. The ...
National Planning Policy updates advice on rural building
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has been updated and makes changes to advice on building within rural areas. The document previously required a home ...
Fire safety proposals for public buildings still allow combustible cladding
The Department of Education's (DoE) new fire safety proposals for school buildings still allow for combustible cladding to be installed on buildings less than 18 ...
Home Builders Federation blames councils for ‘housing shortage’
In a retort to local authorities, who have accused house builders of 'land banking' in order to suppress supply and drive demand, the Home Builders ...
Planning laws should protect ‘growth, heritage and environment’
The government's plans to reform planning should be used as an opportunity to improve communities and ensure any changes are good for 'growth, heritage and ...
Home fuel burning restrictions come into force
On 1st May 2021, the Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuel Standards) (England) Regulations 2020 came into force as part of the government’s Clean Air Strategy ...
House building needs in north addressed by revised fairer formula
The government is devising a ‘fairer formula’ to its target of house building in England. The plans should result in more new homes being built ...
Calls for urgent action on leasehold reform
The housing minister, Luke Hall, has caused frustration amongst MPs, after saying that Covid 19 was to blame for the government's three year failure to ...
Permitted development rule changes throw caution to the wind
In a surprising announcement that included restrictions on the ability of local councils to prevent unwanted or unsightly development, the government has made changes to ...
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 ...
‘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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
£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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...