04/19/2017

Developer John Fisher says the requirement for affordable homes on small developments could threaten the viability - and therefore deliverability - of those schemes. Mr Fisher, managing director of Thames Valley housebuilder T A Fisher, says small developers seeking to maintain a high threshold of quality could find it difficult to incorporate both affordable houses and developer infrastructure contributions on smaller projects. Government changes to national planning policy have sought to

04/06/2017

Rebecca Thomas, Partner - Professional Support at law firm BrookStreet des Roches, explains recent clarification on whether business rates are due while a building is under refurbishment. The question of whether business rates are payable while a property is being redeveloped has been determined by the Supreme Court in a decision which will be welcomed by owners and developers. Overturning the Court of Appeal decision in Newbigin (Valuation Officer) v SJ & J Monk, it was held that where a

03/29/2017

Following a recent judgement, a rent concession on a property could now be in very different legal territory. Martin Billings and Rosie Gibb, partners in the Real Estate department at BrookStreet des Roches, explain the full implications. It is not unusual for a rent concession to be documented in a side letter, keeping the arrangement both confidential and personal to the tenant. It is also common for a side letter to contain provisions which allow the arrangement to be terminated if the

03/08/2017

Vail Williams partner Stephen Hill explains some of the effects so far of the controversial rates revaluation. The Valuation Office Agency has now finalised its revaluation of rateable values. The resultant changes in rate liability will come into force on April 1, 2017 and the new assessments will be used to calculate rate charges for at least the next five years. The arrival of rate demands over the next few days showing these new assessments will be in a number of instances a surprise

02/28/2017

Abigail Gisbourne, solicitor in the real estate department at BrookStreet des Roches, looks at the implications for both landlords and leasehold tenants after a key ruling over letting out property through the likes of Airbnb. The case of Iveta Nemcova v Fairfield Rents Limited has served as a warning to residential property owners who are part of the Airbnb generation. The case involved a residential leaseholder of a property in a block of flats where the lease contained a covenant “not

04/28/2017

The International convention centre in Reading may be operating by 2020 after planning approval for Royal Elm Park was secured on Wednesday (April 26). The centre, capable of holding up to 6,000 people, and the multi-storey car park, will be among the first buildings to go up as part of the £300m build. Reading FC chief executive Nigel Howe told Thames Valley Property there would now be a period of around a month while legal agreements were completed before discussions could begin with

04/28/2017

New plans have been unveiled for a leisure, culture and community hub to replace the Carnival Pool in Wokingham. Phase two of the Carnival project will see the new building replace the existing leisure centre, bowling alley and car park, subject to planning permission later in the year. Wokingham Borough Council had previously planned to keep the existing pool open. Bernie Pich, head of regeneration said: “With work nearing completion on the new car park and bowling alley unit, we started

04/28/2017

St Edward Homes hopes work on its planned 1,500 homes and a primary school at the former Pyestock/National Gas Turbine Establishment site at Fleet, could start this year. The developer, a joint venture between Berkeley Group and the Prudential, submitted its plans for 135-acre Hartland Village to Hart District Council in February and is hopeful of a decision this summer. If approved, work on the scheme could start later in 2017 with the first homes ready in Spring 2020. In its latest