Latest letters
More support is needed for tenants
Editor: I read with interest your coverage of the BPF’s call for landlords to submit evidence to MHCLG’s eviction ban consultation, which will undoubtedly offer the government invaluable insight as to what should happen after the ban is lifted.
The government must act on cladding
Editor: When no one can be held responsible, everyone must be accountable. That is why we have a government to collect and use our taxes to defend us, protect us, educate us, heal us, house and employ some of us, or support us when we are not.
There’s a bright future for smart flex providers
Editor: It is heartening to see enquiries and demand for flexible workspace rising in response to the government’s roadmap for easing lockdown.
Why councils save up CIL payments
Editor: With regard to your recent feature on Section 106 payments, at any given time, there is likely to be a balance of unspent S106 funds, as contributions are received from developers throughout the year.
Flex offices still have a bright future
Editor: Knotel filling for bankruptcy may have come as a shock to the flexible workspace sector, but it was not a surprise. Clearly, the pandemic created significant challenges for flexible workspace operators, and it is those with a leasehold model, which have faced their own rent commitments throughout the pandemic, ...
Government must tackle the CIL stockpile
Editor: I read with interest your investigation into the stockpiling of CIL receipts. CIL does not place any obligation on local authorities to actually spend the revenue raised. The funds are simply ring fenced for provision of infrastructure at some point. This can lead to the stockpiling of funds mentioned ...
Arc floats a new planning framework
Editor: A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) policy paper has shed long-awaited light on the government’s spatial framework for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. Are we looking at a return to regional planning?
The moratorium extension is a big blow
Editor: It comes as no great surprise that the government has performed a U-turn on the moratorium on commercial property evictions.
A missed chance to fix rates system
Editor: The Budget offered the industry some clarity on what will happen when the 12-month business rates holiday for retail, leisure and hospitality ends this month. But the mere three-month extension fails to realise the scale of the problem facing businesses’ bottom lines, or the issues of the business rates ...
City centres need special support
Editor: We fully support the move to extend the business rates holiday and furlough scheme, and to introduce Restart Grants, which will help the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors bridge the gap until the restrictions are eased and trading can resume.
Where was boost to housing supply?
Editor: Unsurprisingly, the housing market featured heavily in Rishi Sunak’s Spring Budget as he laid out the UK’s Covid-19 response.
Industry must do more to help retail
Editor: The extension to business rates relief, a VAT freeze and restart grants provide much-needed respite for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
