A new fund is being created to help speed up the delivery of thousands of new homes across England. Housing Secretary James Brokenshire says the government is entering into a partnership with Barclays Bank to provide £1 billion of loan finance to help support small and medium sized developers. Support, ranging between £5 million to
Tenants and leaseholders can now access official guidance on their rights when renting their home. The online rental guides, published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, are part of a continuing crackdown on poor practice by a minority of landlords and agents in the private rented and leasehold sectors. The Citizens Advice
A developer has won the right to build in open countryside despite opposition from the local planning authority. The case involved developer George Barlow and Cheshire East Council. Barlow had applied for planning permission to build 10 houses on open land. The authority failed to make a decision within the prescribed period, so Barlow appealed.
A woman who felt victimised after being accused by her boss of faking anxiety and depression to get a big pay-out has been awarded £8,000 compensation. The case involved Melanie James who started working for Capital Care Service in 2016 as a credit controller. She signed off work sick in March 2017 and was diagnosed
A wealthy businessman has left millions to the charity Oxfam after inserting a common tragedy clause into his will. Richard Cousins died along with his two sons, his fiancé and her daughter when their plane crashed in Australia on New Year’s Eve. Mr Cousins, who was the chief executive of the Compass Group, had made
A new law to protect the interests of vulnerable people in care is expected to be in place early next year. The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill will replace the current system known as ‘Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards’ (DoLs). DoLs are assessments currently carried out on people who do not have the mental capacity to make
The High Court has corrected an error in a trust to make it effective and ensure that it provides the intended tax benefits. The case involved the family of a woman who during her lifetime made three settlements of shares. The beneficiaries were her three children, their heirs and four charities. There were four trustees
There has been a huge rise in the number of couples citing “unreasonable behaviour” as grounds for obtaining a quick divorce. Researchers at Oxford University found that the number of divorces granted to wives because of unreasonable behaviour rose from 17% in 1971 to 51% in 2016. The increase was even sharper for husbands, rising
More than 120,000 first-time home buyers have saved a total of £284m because of the cuts to stamp duty introduced last November, according to government figures. The first £300,000 of the price of a property is now exempt from tax for people entering the housing market for the first time. It means that the new
The government is being urged to introduce major changes to divorce laws to reduce the stress and difficulties faced by couples when their marriage breaks down. A private member’s bill put forward by Baroness Butler-Sloss proposes a system of no-fault divorce. It would be the first major change to divorce laws in England and Wales