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| Link to web site |
"Research from Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward and Zoopla suggests that there is a massive premium on properties in or near to a ‘village’ in London. Looking at 24 village areas across London, the data shows that on average there is a £200,000 premium – so that while they estimate the average value of a property in London at £456,802, a home in a 'village' is just over £690,000.
"Admitting that it's hard to pin down an exact definition of a village, KFH says their typical attributes are green spaces, independent shops, weekend farmers markets and thriving high streets, plus good schools, which together form close-knit communities."
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| Link to web site |
"A host of independent economists have criticised the Coalition’s decision to push ahead with a controversial mortgage guarantee scheme.
"George Osborne confirmed on Monday that the Help to Buy subsidies, which will offer state insurance for 15 per cent of the value of new mortgages, will be put into operation next week. The scheme was originally not scheduled to be introduced until January. 'We are the party of home ownership and we’re going to let the country know it,' said the Chancellor.
"But writing here in The Independent today, figures affiliated to institutions ranging from the Trades Union Congress to the Institute of Economic Affairs call on the Chancellor to reverse course."
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| Link to web site |
"A major regeneration of a 1960s housing estate has been given planning approval, paving the way for the first phase of development.
"The Dollis Valley Estate in High Barnet will be demolished under the plans, submitted by developer Countryside Properties and commissioned by Barnet Council."
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| Link to Daily Mail |
"Building houses will create more ‘human happiness’ than preserving fields, the Planning Minister has claimed.
"Nick Boles says the Government is determined to speed up the rate of house building, despite opposition from countryside groups.
And he said communities who refused to support the initiative risked losing their hospitals and high street shops as their populations shrank."
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| Link to web site |
"Revelations about the Duchy of Cornwall's accounts
revive the debate over the scale of Prince Charles's involvement in
fields other than waving, opening things, collecting art and
accumulating rent.
He's often accused of exceeding the
prerogatives of a constitutional monarch, most recently in successfully
lobbying a fellow royal, the Emir of Qatar, to drop Richard Rogers as architect for a housing scheme in Chelsea.
But, even if we accept the argument that he is only intervening in
aesthetics and ethics, not politics, what do his interventions really
mean?
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| Link to web site |
"Times Series chief reporter Chris Hewett travelled to Saracens' new stadium on Friday for a training session with the club's strength and conditioning coach.
"The result was a serious appreciation for the dedication of top-level athletes...
"When England rugby player Chris Ashton tells you, 'don’t worry, you’ll be fine', you like to think he’s speaking the truth."
"Property developers have been privately promised that planning laws will be liberalised again within weeks, to allow them to begin a house-building boom backed by this week’s Budget.
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| Link to web site |
"Nick Boles, the planning minister, attended a meeting with some of the country’s biggest property developers hours after George Osborne’s speech on Wednesday, in which he told them he was prepared for an acrimonious battle with countryside campaigners.
"The Telegraph has obtained a recording of the meeting, in which Mr Boles discloses that he is poised to axe the planning permission requirement for many developments. He indicates that the main purpose of a £15.5 billion government package to support homebuyers is to create a building boom."
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| Link to Daily Telegraph |
"Simon Jenkins, the Chairman of the National Trust, said every day another community is coming forward to complain of a new wind farm or housing development in a beautiful area.
"He said the last year is the worst he has ever known for threats to the countryside, with a number of key heritage sites in danger from not only wind farms but fracking, high speed rail and even nuclear disposal. He warned:
"Local Britain will be a warfare area. Everywhere you go people are fighting random developments. This can only be tackled by proper planning."
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| Link to web site |
"In a new assault on planning rules, the Law Commission began a consultation, which is backed by ministers, which could lead to the centuries-old entitlement to daylight being ditched to stop home owners holding up building projects.
Currently, households can object to developments, including neighbours’ extensions or new houses, if they threaten the amount of natural light that enters a home.
Removing the protection could leave almost three million households powerless to prevent large developments near their homes, reducing their value and appeal, campaigners warned.
"Join us if you care about protecting Mill Hill and wish to have your voice heard on the following matters:-
- Traffic problems such as congestion, air quality, parking and risk of accidents. In particular you are disappointed by the new-style phone parking system in Mill Hill Broadway
- The impact and direction of future planning developments in Mill Hill
- Ensuring we have adequate public transport in the area.
"Furthermore, MHRA will act as a network for you to link with your neighbours for further information about other local matters such as security, and we will schedule MHRA events with selected speakers. MHRA is here to strengthen existing community relations."
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| Link to MHRA web site |
"A wet and windy evening in Mill Hill, and the committee of the newly reformed Mill Hill Resident’s Association were unsure about just how many people would turn up at their inaugural open meeting at St Pauls’ School on the Ridgeway on Tuesday 29 January.
"Leaflets had been distributed and Chairman Richard Logue spent two hours on Saturday speaking to people at Waitrose supermarket, trying to garner support for the meeting, yet still the committee was slightly unprepared and very pleasantly overwhelmed by the numbers who showed up in force to hear about the Association’s plans and to air their own views and issues.
"The Mill Hill Resident’s Association was first established in 1909 and served the community in an effort to help the area retain much of the charm and heritage that still exists today. Longstanding Chairlady Joan Ellis recently retired from her very active role as head of the association, and has taken on the role of President, handing the baton of chairmanship to Hammers Lane resident Richard Logue.
"The Association has identified certain key areas for concern, including specific issues such as the unpopular pay by phone parking system, the chaotic Mill Hill Circus road works, parking problems on Saracens match days, the future of Mill Hill Fire Station and the redevelopment of Inglis Barracks, together with general issues such as crime and anti-social behaviour and public transport. There were presented to an attentive audience which squeezed in to the school hall, where there was standing room only.
"Councillors John Hart and Suri Khatri were both in attendance, as were residents representing all areas of Mill Hill. During an open-floor session, residents expressed their concerns for the erosion of our greenbelt, for the lack of public transport to Barnet Hospital and the lack of disabled access at Mill Hill Broadway Station, not to mention the difficulty getting up two flights of stairs for the elderly and those with heavy suitcases. Other issues included concern over the ongoing uncertainty at Belmont Farm, ......
"One lady suggested that the Association might also like to focus on the positive aspect of uniting the community and creating a network where we can help each other and try to be more community-spirited. This was met with much approval by the committee, and the room in general.
"Commenting on the extraordinary success of the meeting, Chairman Richard Logue said:
“I think it is very significant that 250 people care sufficiently enough about Mill Hill to come out on such a dreadful night, to attend this meeting and contribute to what was a very positive event. I am absolutely delighted with how the meeting went, and the committee and I very much look forward to following up on the suggestions and actions we have taken away from it.”
"At the end of the evening, the committee received over 50 household membership applications. Annual membership has been set at £10 per household or £5 per household for over 65s.
"The Association welcomes the views and concerns of residents and anyone with issues they would like explored by the Association should address them by email to: millhillresidents@gmail.com or visit the website at www.millhillresidents.org.uk."
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| Link to Evening Standard |
"Building
houses is one of the things that the British used to be quite good at, like roasting beef and writing poetry. Before the war, we regularly built 300,000 houses a year, mainly private developments. In the Fifties and Sixties, again we built more than 300,000 houses a year, this time nearly half of them council houses.
"But in the past few years we have struggled to pass the 100,000 mark. As a result, we have brought upon ourselves a dire housing shortage.
"The signs are unmistakable, certainly in London and the South-East.
Private rents go on rising and so do house prices. If the price of food had risen at the same rate as housing over the past 30 years, a supermarket chicken would now cost £47 and a jar of instant coffee £20.
"Shelter reported last month that private rents in London rose by an average of £750 a year in 2012."
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| Link to web site |
"The day was described as 'like seeing children on Christmas morning' by Sarries CEO Edward Griffiths, and I can think of no better way of describing the atmosphere that surrounded Allianz Park on Sunday. [Don't be too gushing, though]
"It may still look like a building site in places, but it was home, something Saracens had craved for so long.
"As cliché as it may be, there really was a feeling that there was 'something special' about the place."
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| Link to web site |
"Reduced borrowing rates and lower house prices have combined to leave the average household with more of their after-tax income than at any time since 2002.
"Mortgage payments absorbed 28pc of a new borrower’s disposable income in the final quarter of last year, according to analysis out today from Halifax, which is part of Britain’s biggest lender Lloyds Banking Group. At its peak in the third quarter of 2007, the proportion was 48pc.
"... However, the cheap deals remain out of reach for many would-be homeowners due to the banks’ larger deposit requirements."
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| Link to web site |
"The gates of Saracens’ new stadium were opened for community use for the first time this week.
"Hasmonean Boys’ School became the first to hold a PE lesson on the artificial pitch at Allianz Park, formerly the Copthall Stadium, on Wednesday."
