A developer can go ahead with plans to build student flats in a university town despite strong opposition from the local authority. The case centred on the provisions and requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The site in question, which was designated as a landscape setting area, was situated in Exeter where there
During the recession, many firms shelved plans to move to better and larger premises. Indeed, some businesses looked to downsize rather than expand. However, as the economy gradually recovers and confidence slowly returns, some firms may be considering whether the time has now come to make a long-delayed move. The demand for property has recovered
The government wants to speed up the planning system and make it easier for developers to build more houses. The proposals centre on ‘section 106’ agreements, which oblige developers to meet certain conditions before planning permission is granted. These conditions often involve issues such as building new roads for improved access and providing an affordable
Tenants are to be given greater protection against eviction by rogue landlords under new measures announced by the government. Ministers are focusing on the small minority of landlords who evict tenants simply for asking for essential repairs to be made. The new measures will extend the existing restrictions on a landlord’s powers to evict, such
The government is urging private companies to follow the example of the public sector and start providing employees with loans to cover deposits on rented accommodation. It’s part of a push to provide a bigger and better private rented sector. In February, all government departments agreed to offer deposit loans to staff wanting to take
A court has ruled that landlords and letting agents can be held liable for disturbances caused by their tenants and could face fines of up to £20,000. The case involved home owners at the Sandbanks development at Poole Harbour in Dorset. They complained about noise from a three-storey property which was rented out for stag
A landlord has been prevented from serving a possession notice because the tenant’s deposit had not been placed in an authorised protection scheme. This was in spite of the fact that that the deposit had been paid before the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) regulations came into force. The case involved a tenant who had started
Buy to let investors could save a total of £50m a year because of the stamp duty reforms, if property purchases continue at the current level. The reforms, announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the Autumn Statement, swept away the much criticised ‘slab tax’ approach to stamp duty and replaced it with a more progressive
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a commercial tenant was not entitled to a refund of prepaid sums after exercising a release clause. The tenant had a commercial lease which was due to expire in 2018. The terms included a break clause that offered the tenant the option of terminating the lease in either
The government’s ‘right to rent’ scheme, which will require landlords to check the immigration status of tenants, will be piloted in Birmingham and the West Midlands from 1 December 2014. Landlords will need to check a tenant’s ‘right to rent’ before providing a property. This includes seeing evidence of identity and citizenship. Landlords will then