The Guardian: "Prince Charles is not a dabbler – he's deeply committed. But he's naive"

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?

Barnet Times: "Reporter Chris Hewett takes on training session with Saracens' conditioning coach at Allianz Park"

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."

Daily Telegraph: "Planning minister’s war on the countryside"

"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.

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."

"Countryside at war as planning system collapses"

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."

Daily Telegraph: "Right to light under threat in planning law shake-up"

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.

Mill Hill Residents Association: "It was a dark and stormy night..."

"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."

Link to MHRA web site

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"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."

"Ferdinand Mount: Why we owe it to our children to build, build, build"

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."

Barnet Times: "Saracens fan Louise Warr gives her first impressions of Allianz Park after test event against Cardiff Blues on Sunday"

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."

Daily Telegraph: "Mortgages cheapest since height of crisis"

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."

Barnet Times: "Saracens opens Allianz Park in Barnet for Hasmonean Boys' School PE lesson"

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."

Daily Telegraph: "Planning rule book is torn up"

Link to web site

"A review by Lord Taylor of Goss Moor has concluded that up to 80 per cent of the 7,000 rules governing where development can take place should go.

"Last year, the Government faced a major battle over proposals to simplify planning laws, because they appeared to create a bias in favour of builders.

"The proposals suggest changes to how that law is interpreted, in a process which could generate new pressure to develop more of the countryside."

Daily Telegraph: "MPs plot to stop rash of new housing squeezing local schools and roads"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"A group of twenty Conservatives and Liberal Democrats is seeking changes to the law to stop new housing being built in towns and villages without adequate infrastructure.

"The group wants an amendment to the Government’s Growth Bill, which would force local councils to consider whether there would be enough public services in the area to cope with new housing.

"The changes have been tabled by Nick Herbert, a former Conservative minister, who warns there is currently a lack of infrastructure to support development."

Evening Standard: "Taxpayer forks out £218m a year to have poor road resurfacing work done again"

Link to web site

"Taxpayers are forking out more than £200 million a year to repair street surfaces which are poorly relaid by utility companies' contractors after roadworks, according to research released today.

"The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils in England and Wales have to redo 340,000 shoddy resurfacing jobs a year - 17 per cent of all private companies' roadworks - at a total cost of £218 million to the taxpayer."

ConservativeHome: "Newly built neo-classical social housing in Islington"

Link to web site

"The picture above is of Union Square in Islington. It shows newly built social housing. As part of a redevelopment of Packington Estate, these houses, in sympathy with the rest of the square, replace the 1960s ugly slab blocks.

"The Hyde Group housing association who are responsible for the scheme says:

"The terrace of four and five bedroom traditional town houses on Union Square, are all for social rent. The 17 family homes on Union Square are designed to mirror the existing Edwardian street properties."

"Hyde is replacing 491 council homes, and adding 300 new homes which will be sold on the open market to finance the £130 million scheme (not completely - there is a £33 million "gap funding" subsidy from the Government.) There will also be new community spaces, a youth centre, retail units, and employment spaces." 

---

Link to PDF file

"London is in the midst of a housing crisis, with demand having outpaced supply for too many years. London’s homes are also overcrowded. Building more, larger, family sized homes is one way in which we can begin to solve this crisis. We also need to build quality homes, designed to high environmental standards, in order that London plays its part in mitigating climate change.

"As this report will show, this needn’t occur at the expense of the public purse. In fact, the opposite is true: significant value can be created from designing and building homes to the highest environmental standards, as has been demonstrated at other sites across the country, such as the BedZED development in south London.

"The 8000+ homes to be built on the Olympic Park over the next two decades represent a generation-defining opportunity to build high-quality family homes and help regenerate this historically neglected part of the city. Done well, the project has the ability to re-define regeneration in London."

Daily Telegraph: " 'Garden tax' clampdown facing homeowners with large grounds"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"Those with more than 1.23 acres of land face having to pay a 28 per cent levy on gains on the sale of a home.

"The new stance by tax authorities, reviving the enforcement of rules on the statute book since the 1960s, threatens to upset the long-held assumptions of many that profits from the sale of one's main home are exempt from tax."

The Independent: "Planning minister: We need to build more homes in the countryside"

Link to web site

"The amount of land that is built on in Britain needs to be expanded by up to a third to tackle the nation’s housing shortage, the new Planning Minister will say [later today].

Nick Boles will reveal a controversial plan to build more homes in the countryside in order to give today’s younger generation their “basic moral right” to an affordable home. He will also attack many of the modern homes being built by developers as 'pig ugly'.

"... Before becoming an MP in 2010, Mr Boles advocated building in the Green Belt in a report for Policy Exchange, the think tank he headed, which has close links to Mr Cameron."

Daily Telegraph: "Swathes of green belt land sacrificed"

Link to web site

"The Telegraph has established that more than 9,000 acres of land – an area the same size as the city of Gloucester – is set to be removed from the Green Belt by local authorities, following the Coalition’s controversial planning reforms.

"At least 40 per cent of councils with green belt land in their areas have already redrawn, or plan to alter, the boundaries of the protected areas, in an attempt to meet demand for housing and development." [Er. There isn't any great demand in the economy, is there?]

BBC: "Campaigners angry at Growth and Infrastructure Bill"

Link to BBC web site

"Campaigners have accused the government of creating a developers' charter with its Growth and Infrastructure Bill being debated in the Commons later.

"The government says the bill is needed to stimulate development.

"But critics say it betrays ministers' promises to leave planning decisions to be made at local level."

Evening Standard: "London house price boom ‘is over’ "

Link to web site

"London house prices fell last month for the first time since February. The average value dipped 0.2 per cent to £363,802, according to official Land Registry figures.

"Prices are now just 5.5 per cent higher than a year ago, although this is still a far better performance than anywhere else in the country.

"The figures suggest that the mini-boom, that started in the spring of 2009 and has been fuelled by a wave of foreign buyers, may be finally running out of steam."

BBC: "Councils urge ministers to U-turn over extensions plans"

Link to web site

"Councils across England are calling on the government to abandon its plan to allow larger home extensions without planning permission.

"The Local Government Association warned the proposals would 'give the green light to unsightly development' and cause 'friction between neighbours'.

"Last month Downing Street announced a consultation on easing the rules on home extensions of up to eight metres."

Evening Standard: "Recovery hopes dimmed by housebuilding ‘disaster’ "

Link to web site

"A 'disastrous' month for Britain’s building industry today raised fresh fears about recovery in the UK, as business leaders warned of stagnant growth and house prices fell again.

The latest alarming figures from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply showed the nation’s construction industry still stuck in recession during September. Housebuilders endured their worst month since a snow-blighted December 2010, while commercial building work saw its biggest slump for more than two years.

"Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply chief executive David Noble said:

"September’s figures show the construction sector’s cupboard to be well and truly bare, rounding off a disastrous quarter. After the longest continual decline in new orders for three years, this is of no surprise.

Looking ahead, there is little to be positive about. Homebuilding continues to be hit hard, and the commercial sector, so long the star of the industry, has lost its sparkle."

BBC: "Tory council set to defy relaxed planning rules"

Link to web site

"A Conservative council is set to defy the government over a relaxation of planning rules for building extensions.

"The proposals, covering England and intended to boost the economy, will allow larger home and business extensions without planning permission.

"But amid fears of a rash of ugly extensions, Richmond council officials in south-west London are considering ways to circumvent the policy."

Barnet Times: "Retired man campaigns to save trees at Old Camdenians Football Club in Mill Hill"

Link to web site

"George Maile of Burtonhole Close is calling for Barnet Council to prevent the killing of trees at the Old Camdenians Football Club, also in Burtonhole Close.

"Mr Maile, who is retired and lives next door to the club, claims that a number of trees in the “naturally beautiful tree line” have already been cleared and that more are in danger."

Daily Telegraph: "Green belt only safe 'for now', planning minister Nick Boles admits"

Link to web site

"... Shaun Spiers, the chief executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said:

"We would have hoped for much stronger defence of the green belt than the [new planning] minister gave in Parliament."

"Asked about Nick Boles' comments, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman denied there were plans to make it easier to build on the green belt. He said:

"There are flexibilities within the current planning regime – in some parts of the country, they are quite good at using those flexibilities.

We have a national planning framework which was finalised quite recently, and there isn’t any plan to change that."

The Economist: "The green belt is sacred. It should not be"

Link to The Economist

"CYCLING north through London, you experience the city’s history. Bloomsbury has grand 18th-century mansions. Farther out, in Camden, you pass pretty Victorian terraces. In Finchley, the houses are neat 1930s villas. And then the city simply stops.

"At the edge of the pre-war suburbs of Barnet there are fields.

"Traffic fumes give way to bird calls and the acrid smell of smoke from a bonfire on a nearby farm. This scraggy patch of land, part of London’s green belt, has been protected from the bulldozers for nearly 60 years. Some in the government would like to relax the belt a few notches."

The Guardian: "George Osborne plans deregulation of planning laws"

Link to web site

"George Osborne has signalled plans for a major deregulation of planning laws, raising the prospect of allowing more development of green belt land.

"In an interview on Sunday, the chancellor of the exchequer said he wanted to see more 'imaginative' thinking by planning authorities, which could allow building on previously protected land.

"His words will anger some ministers and members of the coalition who have campaigned for protected green belts around urban areas to remain free of development."

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."