A coalition of organisations in the construction industry has called for the suspension of section 106 agreements to help the sector survive the recession. The group wants a s.106 holiday, and then a cap on the value of such agreements; it wants targets for all local authorities to fastRead More →
As many as 95,200 homeowners over the last two years decided they could no longer remain in their properties because of fights with neighbours, according to a survey. However, the most common reasons for moving home saw one in three households move to climb up the propertyRead More →
As many regeneration schemes that rely on private funding stall and become in danger of being scrapped, the British Property Federation has suggested that money from multi-billion pound government programmes for hospitals and schools, could be used to part-fund regeneration projects. The federation has also called for stamp dutyRead More →
Business leaders would be offered tax breaks by a Conservative government to persuade them to recruit more staff, David Cameron will announce today as he puts plans to ease the ‘pain of mass unemployment’ at the heart of his economic agenda. The Conservatives say the measures – which areRead More →
A senior Treasury spokesperson yesterday admitted that it dealt with the failure of banks such as Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley in a way that was ‘excessively leisurely’, but added that the Bank of England had also been slow to act. Nick Macpherson, permanent secretary to the Treasury,Read More →
Forty flood-hit families a week have been returning to their homes following the floods in the summer of 2014. Figures from the councils involved in the floods said that of the 17,000 families who had to leave their homes 98 per cent are now back. However, 350 families areRead More →
Meanwhile Communities and Local Government has released figures showing the average cost of a home jumped 1.1 per cent during the month. The annual rate at which prices are declining is easing slightly to 13 per cent, down from 13.6 per cent in March. The annual average house priceRead More →
The number of private homes built across the country has slumped by almost two-thirds according to the latest figures from National House Building Council (NHBC). The three months from November to January this year saw the second largest decrease in the number of applications from builders looking to startRead More →
Britain’s biggest brickmakers have laid off more than 1,200 workers and started to send home hundreds more on a temporary basis as the housing crisis takes its toll on the supplies sector. Hanson has axed 600 staff as it permanently closed two plants, mothballed two others and plansRead More →
The lack of mobile phone reception and broadband coverage in rural areas has become the number one issue in dissuading young people from staying on in the countryside, according to the chair of the Commission for Rural Communities. In a report to the prime minister, Stuart Burgess, the government’sRead More →