All Ask the expert articles
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ProfessionalWill debate over the London Plan lead to a review of the green belt?
You will no doubt have seen the headlines about reduced housing targets, increased demand for industrial land and the need for a green-belt review in the inspectors’ response to the London Plan.
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Professional
Do CVAs create an unfair market for solvent retail tenants?
CVAs have certainly generated mixed feelings on the high street. In the past few weeks, high street landlord British Land has rapidly settled a challenge to Monsoon Accessorize’s CVA, allowing the struggling retailer to cut its rents by 25% to 65% across half of its stores.
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Professional
How will Quality of Life Foundation help the UK to build better homes?
The built environment plays a huge role in shaping people’s lives and how they feel, as well as having an impact on the wider environment.
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Professional
Can co-living schemes fit into property’s existing legal regime?
The rise of co-living is a revolutionary development in rental markets, offering a number of perks without the drawbacks of renting. Rather than just offering a place to live, it is a social movement based on a sense of community and collaboration.
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Professional
What can be done to boost supply of housing in outer London?
London is facing a housing crisis. The population is growing but the capital cannot deliver enough homes – especially affordable.
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Professional
How can landowners protect themselves against trespassers?
Earlier this year, the government announced draft measures to increase police powers to deal with unauthorised encampments and launched a review into making trespass a criminal offence – both proposals undoubtedly welcomed by the property industry.
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Professional
How can procurement mitigate the risks of office development?
According to the latest Deloitte crane survey, activity in the office sector continues apace, with 3.5m sq ft started in London alone over the six months to May – a 38% increase on the previous survey last autumn.
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Professional
Is there still value in keep-open covenants for retail landlords?
The fragility of the retail sector poses a real difficulty for landlords in protecting the value of their assets. Many retail leases include keep-open covenants but enforcement can be problematic with only limited options available: seeking an injunction, claiming damages or forfeiting the lease.
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Professional
Would CVAs prove a good bet for troubled bookmaker chains?
When William Hill announced that it was consulting with landlords over plans to close 700 betting shops, other big retail bookmakers such as GVC Holdings (parent company of Ladbrooks Coral) and Betfred made similar noises. This follows the government’s decision to cut the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). ...
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Professional
How can tenants rid themselves of unwanted office premises?
Earlier this month, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) withdrew its appeal against the High Court ruling that its lease was still valid and Brexit did not operate to frustrate it.
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Online
The time for change: what to expect from the property agent working group’s report
Since the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group first convened last year, details of its deliberations have been scant. However, the group is now preparing to share its report – an important development in the government’s leasehold and sector reform agenda.
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Professional
Will Building Safety consultation transform construction sector?
The government’s 192-page consultation paper on the Building Safety Bill, while not a light read, should not be skipped through or ignored.
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Professional
When can landlords expect a zero rates bill during a refurbishment?
The Upper Tribunal has reconfirmed that empty properties undergoing refurbishment or improvement should have a nil or reduced rates assessment, dismissing a Valuation Office Agency (VOA) appeal that attempted to limit the 2017 Supreme Court ruling in Newbigin v Monk.
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Professional
What will the fallout be from protracted ATM rates dispute?
I wasn’t surprised that the UK Supreme Court accepted the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA’s) petition to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling that ATM floorspace should not be separately assessed for rates – just extremely disappointed, for various reasons.
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Professional
What are tenants’ protections against unreasonable landlords?
The rocky relationship between Mike Ashley and Debenhams raises interesting questions around protection for commercial tenants. Where landlords’ actions exceed the usual battles over rent and renewal, what can be done if ulterior motives drive the landlord to force the tenant out – or potentially even drive them out of ...
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Professional
Is the rent being paid on some units relevant to rateable value?
A shopping centre is anchored by a department store. The department store closes; no other retailer is willing to take over. Alongside the anchor store, a row of shops is now economically obsolete, but they do not empty overnight; the leases have not expired. There is no demand for any ...
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Professional
How do we protect our island from the impact of climate change?
Earlier this month, the Environment Agency said that England’s flood planners must prepare for the worst when it came to climate change. This is the first time I’ve heard the government be open.
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Professional
Is the future of permitted development looking bleak?
As Louis XIV’s finance minister reportedly put it, “the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to procure the largest quantity of feathers with the least amount of hissing”.
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Professional
How much should a seller disclose about their property?
The principle of caveat emptor, or ‘buyer beware’, is the cornerstone of property transactions. It places the onus on the buyer to do its homework before entering into the contract, rather than on the seller to give free and full disclosure.
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Professional
How should the industry react to the RICS service charge changes?
A service charge is “a means by which a landlord can recover from tenants the cost of maintaining and repairing a building and providing certain services”. However, this frequently leads to disputes, as a landlord will want to maintain investment value while a tenant will want to ensure they receive ...
