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Planning Reform

A report expected to be published today will call for radical changes to the Planning Regulations.
A study undertaken by the economist, Kate Barker, will be recommending a more centralised planning system, whereby major planning decisions will be taken away from Local Councils.

A spokesperson for the British Property Federation suggested that Local Councillors were avoiding tricky planning decisions for fear of a backlash from the local residents.

 

Meanwhile the Americans have announced how they will overcome the bureaucracy of their planning system. Nasa has decided to build a space station on the moon. The development which will include parking for one Space Shuttle is not due to be subject to local consultation.

Planning Refused for Stanstead Expansion…

Expansion plans for a second runway at Stansted Airport which could boost the number of passengers to over 35million a year have been rejected.

Planning officers turned down BAA’s planning application for growth of the existing runway. Their reasons for recommending refusal included the impact it would have on noise, air quality, and local quality of life. Councillors said they were concerned about the impact expansion would have on the local environment.

Campaign director for the “Stop Stansted Expansion” Carol Barbone said she was “absolutely delighted” by the decision.

BAA is likely to appeal against the decision, although unless they plan to make the second runway for Gliders only then we think it is unlikely to effect the outcome.

Turn it off

Ever walked around London after closing time and seen the lights on in an office and wondered who was working that late?

Global Action Plan sent their office junior around the City of London at closing time to count the number of light bulbs left on.

Incredibly £17m worth of electricity is wasted. This equates to a similar amount of Carbon as a flight from London to New York, 346,000 times.

Whilst having truned lights on at night could be blamed on cleaning, security or the office juniors getting fruity on the boardroom table, it is still a massive waste that can be easily addressed.

Global Action has assisted organisation in the past including the GLA, who recently reduced their energy use and costs by 9% in four months. (We are not going to consider

how a four year old local authority flagship building could be plagued by inefficiencies)

 Local Authorities up and down the country should take note. Consideration should be given to turning the lights off when every employee leaves for the evening at 4pm.

A Swap Shop for Vehicles…

We came across a new website the other day that looks quite unique . Its called swapmywheels.com and the basic premise is that you can register on the site for £10 allowing you to then advertise your vehicle on the website; be it a car, motorcycle or van, as an item for a swap with another interested party.

We at workinproperty think this is a great new idea and certainly worth looking at. It certainly beats being ripped off by some “Swiss Tony” dealer who in a bid to steel, no sorry part exchange your car, tells you that its the wrong colour and says” if only it had a tow bar and family pack” it would be worth more than the £1 he is going to offer you.

Space for Caravan

 An advert in the Eastern Daily Press has appeared for the rent of a bungalow in Norfolk.

‘..travelling families, large extended families, multiple occupancy, DSS and East Europeans, with all pets most welcome.’

The advert appeared after the owner of the property in the quiet village in Hunworth , North Norfolk was refused planning permission by the local council to repair cars at home.

In an act of revenge, Mr Massingham placed the advert following objections from his neighbours. The application was officially rejected as the local roads could not take the increase in traffic.

As an extra incentive the bungalow, worth approximately £600 per month, is being advertsised at £100 per month.

A statement from a workinproperty Director assured staff that there will be sufficient parking for all staff in our new accommodation.

Sony Advert in action

 Recognise the building?

Olympic Shambles

Let us start by saying what a great opportunity, on so many levels, the hosting of the Olympics will be.

Great for our athletes, regeneration of a pretty awful part of London as well the employment opportunities for our industry.

The costing of the project has so far been a bit of a mess. Since the inception of the project not a lot has occurred to the economy that could not have been anticipated.

If construction costs have risen then this should have been projected. The rise in the price of steel is not a recent phenomenon, and yet it is has only now been considered.

The revised costs as reported by Tessa Jowell yesterday will take into account inflation in 2012. How can this have been overlooked?

One of the true additional costs is the housing being planned for the site after the games.

All of these costs will be borne by the Lottery Fund and London Taxpayers. Exactly what benefit 8m Londoners will actually accrue from their contribution is for a discussion another day.

As far as we are aware the running of an Olympics is a profitable event. The TV rights, advertising revenue, the property sales at the end of the games etc. But where does all this profit go? Does it go back to the taxpayers who so kindly funded the project?

Over the coming years we are going to see massive overspend, mis-management as well as stories of people getting very wealthy….

House Price Madness?

What on earth is going on with the ever increasing house prices? There is so much being written on the subject that it is mind boggling.

The rise is being blamed on so many reasons, massive city bonuses, lack of supply fuelled by the ever increasing number of immigrants. Banks are offering new packages to help the less fortunate house buyer, including joint mortgages and an increase in borrowing of up to 125%. Interest only mortgages appear to be the norm. The continuing low interest rates fuels the increase in borrowing.

As reported by the RICS there has been a more sudden increase in prices, in what would appear to be panic buying… a ‘must get on the ladder’ mentality.

This all comes in a month when the number of house repossessions has increased.

There is a lot of optimistic rhetoric being published all the time.

Spare a thought for the more pessimistic press. For those just about to buy have a look at House Price Crash. Or maybe just have a look at their amusing movie .

There have been more recent predictions that suggest that a collapse will occur in 2010. Fred Harrison explained his theory in his recent book previewed in this article.

Whilst we believe something must happen, imagine if property prices did fall, the amount of negative equity….

This rant follows a survey we undertook yesterday. Whilst we run a job board and this blog, we also work as meagre Building Surveyors.

We inspected  a property yesterday for someone buying a flat. This Ground Floor Flat is riddled with damp from at least four different sources. The undertaking of the repairs will be a major inconvenience. The will be restricted access to repair the damp furthermore the water sources emanate from the neighbouring properties. Great!

My client was seeking a discount from the vendor, a Building Society which had ironically repossessed the property. His mortgage company would not loan him the money until the work was completed, costing circa £10k. The Building Society would only come down £2k. My client being left with an £8k shortfall.

This coupled with the fact that the property in 1997 was worth £47k compared to £153k current asking price. Madness, £153k for this pokey damp flat.

What really got me was when he turned round and said “the £2k discount was great, even better value for money” Oh boy!

We have included some links on our partner’s page to websites that may be of interest.

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