real estate blog

Everyone in the social housing sector will be familiar with the changes to the shared ownership leases, introduced by the Affordable Homes Programme 2021 – 2026. These changes resulted in: The minimum initial share being reduced from 25% to 10%. New shared owners being able to buy additional shares in their home in 1% increments […]

Behind some of the current political headline-grabbing which signals that a general election may not be too far away, Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recently provided further detail on a key pillar of the government’s long-term housing plan, revealing a strategy of prioritising urban regeneration. In his speech, […]

Draft regulations regarding Electric Vehicle Charging Points have been published and are currently under consideration for approval by Parliament. Here’s an ‘at a glance’ summary: The draft “Public Charge Point Regulations 2023” are aimed at improving the customer experience of using public EV charging points. They are not yet in force, and the timeline for […]

To mark the end of his four-year term as the Chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA), Councillor James Jamieson sets out a six-point plan which calls on the Government to do more with a view to councils being able to properly resume their historic role as major builders of affordable homes across England. The […]

The recent Supreme Court decision in R (on the application of Day) v Shropshire Council has highlighted a problem for developers acquiring open spaces. In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that a buyer who had acquired land for development from Shrewsbury Town Council had acquired it subject to statutory trusts imposed by the Open […]

Further to last year’s Real Estate Blog series on the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (‘ECTEA’), the transitional period for overseas entities that own qualifying estates in land in the United Kingdom (in England and Wales this means freehold properties and leasehold properties for leases of terms of seven years or more) to […]

Having an adopted highway exactly where you need it to access your site is almost like development magic. Essentially, often the difference between everyone having access for everything, and no one having access for anything. But how do we know whether the highway fairy has waved their wand over a piece of land? In a […]

Following Julia Lock’s blog last week on “Surface Water Drainage – matters for developers to consider at site acquisition stage”, this blog considers the Government’s intentions to require sustainable urban drainage systems (“SuDS”) for construction projects in England from 2024 (under Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (“FWMA 2010”)). SuDS are […]

A development site’s surface water drainage solution may appear straight forward on paper. For example, there may be an existing combined or surface water sewer on, or close to, the site, or a ditch or watercourse nearby or running through or abutting the site. However, developers need to ensure that sufficient due diligence is carried […]

Property transactions are mostly exempt from the VAT regime. However, this means that VAT incurred on any associated property works and fees cannot be recovered. Opting to tax a property allows the person opting to treat certain transactions as standard-rated for VAT purposes, thus enabling recovery of the incurred input tax on costs. If a […]