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"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."
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| 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."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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."
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| 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."
