Local authority planning: unravelling the ties that bind

DPA Planning’s director Sam Dewar says the private sector needs to better appreciate the current parlous state of local authority planning. The housing shortage continues to place an increasing strain on the whole planning process. However, it’s simply facile to... View Article

Financial freedoms

Patrick Mooney, housing consultant and news editor of Housing Management & Maintenance, reports on how councils are saying the new social housing Green Paper doesn’t go far enough. The pressures imposed by tight pursestrings have been very evident in recent... View Article

Surveying the industry

Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, explains the company’s annual House Builders’ Survey, and explores what the Government could do to alleviate the issues found. Most policy makers in central and local government now accept that we will struggle... View Article

Blog: insulate the installation for energy efficiency

As house builders are told by the UK government’s climate change adviser to be ‘ashamed’ of their efforts to tackle global warming, Andy Swift, national sales manager at ISO-CHEMIE, says that new foam sealant technology can improve the energy efficiency... View Article

Permission in principle: thumbs up (in principle)

Brian Berry of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) explores the advantages of the new ‘Permission in Principle’ route to planning permission. You may not yet be aware, but since June 2018 a new route to planning permission – ‘Permission... View Article

Construction’s tale of two quarters

The latest data release from the ONS, published today, shows that construction output rose 0.9% in the second quarter. This follows a 0.8% fall in Q1, in which activity was disrupted by severe weather conditions. Compared to a year earlier,... View Article

Blog: A brave new (planning) world?

The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the Government’s policies for planning and directs local authorities on matters around granting permission for developments. Sam Dewar, a planning expert and director of DPA Planning, gives his assessment of a... View Article

Venting an idea for UK hot spells

With the heat wave set to continue, James Parker examines whether UK homes need air conditioning to help cope with the heat. It can’t have escaped your notice that we have just been through one of the longest hot spells... View Article

Reform of land registration to stem property fraud

The Law Commission has announced its proposals to reform the system of land registration to bring it up-to-date with the modern world, and stem the rise of property fraud. The commission says that the Land Registry has had to make... View Article

Womble Bond Dickinson comments on the revised NPPF

The new revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPFF) was delivered and came into force on 24 July 2018. The Government’s response to the consultation on the revised framework notes that it has made a number of important changes in response... View Article

RICS makes an initial response to revised NPPF

Tony Mulhall, RICS Associate Director: The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) attempts to give greater clarity to the planning process, and aims to clarify planning burdens earlier in the process rather than during applications... View Article

RIBA responds to revised National Planning Policy Framework

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) makes an initial response to the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) by the Government yesterday, 24 July 2018. RIBA President Ben Derbyshire says: “The RIBA’s welcomes the publication of the revised National... View Article

Reaction to revised NPPF from law firm TLT

Katherine Evans, Partner and Head of Planning, commented: “There are a lot of changes to the revised NPPF in the government’s responses. “Looking at paragraph 67, it appears that “small sites” have changed to “small and medium sized sites” and... View Article