The Independent: "Dozens of developments pose threat to sanctity of green belt"

Link to The Independent

"The scale of the threat to the green belt is revealed today, with a report highlighting more than 35 proposed developments on protected land.

"Local authorities are under growing pressure to rip up countryside-planning rules by approving dozens of building projects including mines, industrial parks and 81,000 homes, according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

"Government policies requiring councils to allocate more than five years' worth of land for new housing is opening up large swaths of England's 1.6 million-hectare green belt to developers, the CPRE warns."

Daily Telegraph: "We need new houses built on fields, not these 'mixed-use’ Soviet estates"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"... The insistence on housing quotas of 'affordability' by governments has had a negative short-term impact.

"Sir Adrian Montague has been reviewing the rental market for the Coalition, and wants the quotas done away with altogether. His report this week suggests that such requirements have put developers off building (Keith’s opinion appears not to be unique), with the result that even the private rented sector is becoming less available to those waiting to get on to the ladder.

"Thus the law of unintended consequences: there aren’t enough houses in London, so the cost is too high. The government intervenes with affordability quotas, which will never be sufficient to deal with the root cause of the housing crisis.

"Those quotas put some buyers off, which in turn puts the developers off, which in turn leads to rents for those locked out of the market becoming inexorably higher."

Daily Mail: "Ministers ready for a battle over greenbelt grab as they plan to seize land for housing and new airport"

Link to web site

"Ministers are planning to seize chunks of the greenbelt to build housing developments and pave the way for a new hub airport, the Mail has learned.

"The Treasury is prepared to ‘have a fight’ with green campaigners by pushing through rules which would let ministers redesignate areas of greenbelt as available for development.

"Chancellor George Osborne plans to let ministers rather than local councils decide where to build hundreds of thousands of houses by reclassifying them as projects of national importance."

London house prices rise: Capital bucks the trend as the rest of the country suffers

Link to Evening Standard

"Official figures showed today that London house prices rose overall by 6.5 per cent last year.

The surge in the capital drove an England-wide increase of 2.3 per cent for the year to June, according to the Office for National Statistics.

But analysts predicted that house prices could edge downwards into next year, amid the uncertain economy and 'fragile' consumer confidence.

"... Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said:

"We continue to suspect that house prices are headed lower over the rest of 2012, and very possibly beyond."

Barnet Times video: "Hidden cameraman exposes Barnet Council binmen disposing of industrial waste in Mill Hill"

Link to web site and video

"Embarrassment reigns at Barnet Council following the release of a video which appears to show binmen disposing of industrial waste. 

"The video, which appears to have been filmed in secret, was posted on YouTube on July 29. 

"It seems to show Barnet Council binmen in Page Road, Mill Hill, allowing two men to throw items including bags of cement and mattresses into the back of a refuse truck."