The government is providing £500m to help housing associations build 11,000 affordable new homes, including some ‘rooftop’ properties. The funding boost will help the government towards its target of building 300,000 properties a year by the mid-2020s.The associations will have the freedom to spend the money on developments where it can have the biggest impact.
Cohabiting couples are being urged to draw up living together agreements to decide in advance how their assets should be divided if their relationship breaks down. The Law Society points out that unmarried cohabiting couples are the fastest growing type of family in the UK. Many of them assume they have the same legal rights
A City banker has successfully sued his architect after a home cinema designed to float above an indoor swimming pool failed to deliver a “wow factor”. Philip Freeborn was a successful banker and owned a luxurious home. He hired architect Daniel Marca to redesign his pool-house. They agreed on a cinema screen that would appear
The Justice Secretary David Gauke announced today the archaic divorce laws will be reviewed to end hostility between divorcing couples. The current position Couples must divorce on the ground of ‘irretrievable breakdown of the marriage’ established on one of the five following grounds: Two years separation with consent Five years separation Unreasonable behaviour Adultery Desertion
A chief executive who was dismissed after raising concerns that her company was trying to avoid paying tax has been awarded £57,000 compensation. The case involved Mrs Faiza Rizvi, who worked for the medical staffing agency, Capital Care Services, for 11 years. In 2017, she became concerned that the company was deliberately moving money out
The Court of Appeal has upheld a tribunal ruling that female workers in Asda stores were employed under terms and conditions that were comparable to men working in the company’s distribution depots. It’s an important decision as it could allow thousands of women working for major retailers and numerous other businesses to bring equal pay
A teacher at a Jewish nursery who was sacked after refusing to lie about cohabiting with her boyfriend was not subjected to religious discrimination. However, the nursery’s criticisms of her amounted to sex discrimination and harassment. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving the Gan Menachem Hendon Ltd nursery
The dismissal of a man who suffered mental health issues after having a heart attack at work was unfair. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving mechanic Gordon Flemming and East of England Ambulance Services NHS Trust. Mr Flemming was classified as disabled due to his anxiety depression disorder, but
Changes being introduced by the government could prove costly for families who haven’t yet dealt with the estate of a family member who died recently. The issue arises because since 2007, surviving spouses have automatically inherited the unused inheritance tax allowances of their dead partner. This has led some people to delay applying for a
Manchester Building Society has lost its £48m negligence claim against the accountancy firm Grant Thornton. The claim arose because Grant Thornton had audited the society’s accounts from 1997 until 2012. In 2006, the society began a policy of hedging lifetime mortgages by entering into 50-year interest rate swaps. The 2008 financial crisis led to a