Professional Comment and Legal Views – Page 13
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Professional
Helping to bring life to empty units
Our high streets and shopping centres are visual testament to property sector difficulties. Whatever the reason may be – shopping shifting to digital, pandemic-reduced footfall, Brexit uncertainty – empty commercial gaps present themselves as the public face of a troubling time for landlords.
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Upswing in corporate flex interest could spark ‘turf war’
Corporate flex space occupation boom could sow tensions between flex operators and traditional landlords.
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Is the industry waking up to the benefits of dispute resolution?
With nearly three quarters of respondents to a recent survey having encountered disputes or claims specific to Covid-19, it is becoming more common for contracts to add risks associated with Brexit and Covid to the list of outcomes for which the client or developer is not responsible.
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Professional
Offices still have a role to play but must adapt to new needs
While it is not ‘RIP offices’, the market needs to embrace the fact that they are not the only places to work in.
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Planning change key to freeports
The government’s prospectus for freeports has resulted in eight successful bids in England.
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RPDT won’t solve cladding crisis
Chancellor Rishi Sunak recently announced a Residential Property Developer Tax in his autumn Budget. The tax will be introduced from April 2022 and will form a targeted levy enforced at a rate of 4% on profits over £25m a year that arise from residential property development.
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Professional
What can be done to move the sustainability agenda forward?
DLA Piper has recently set science-based targets to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
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Professional
Use tech to fight climate change
Climate change is arguably the greatest environmental crisis humanity has faced. In the past few decades, countries have scrambled to prepare plans to mitigate its impacts. This continues with important forums such as COP26.
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Will tenants right-sizing their real estate bring next wave of claims?
As the UK emerges from the pandemic, the focus in the real estate sector has naturally been to address the question of lease arrears.
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Putting workforce diversity and inclusion front and centre
Increased diversity brings fresh thinking and a variety of perspectives and experience to decision-making.
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Professional
The green dilapidations process
COP26 is another reminder of the need to consider all opportunities for reducing emissions and waste as part of our industry’s daily practice. Often, that means revising the basic assumptions of our work. Dilapidations is a process that seems inherently wasteful. But is there a way around that? Yes.
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Building strong business cases
Building a successful business case to secure public funding support at a time when planning regulations are constantly evolving is not straightforward.
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What is a seller required to divulge about a property up for sale?
Surveys show that 36% of Brits would not buy a property where a death has occurred. However, you might be surprised to know that a seller is not legally obliged to disclose that a murder has occurred within a property.
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Professional
How can we get young people more involved in placemaking?
Some 89% of 16- to 18-year-olds have never been asked about the future of their neighbourhood. Taken from a survey we conducted last year, this is a disappointing statistic given this is the generation that should benefit from developments being delivered today.
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Professional
Whose data is it anyway?
An issue that remains unchanged over many decades is how owners can make the best use of their commercial property investment data.
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Professional
Meeting new Heat Network regulations
The amendment to the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations that came into force in late 2020 introduced three classes of buildings.
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Professional
Trocadero case a blow for tenants
The High Court recently handed down another decision upholding a landlord’s claim for rent arrears accrued during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Professional
Reimagined office lobbies can serve as shared cultural hubs
Post-pandemic, the workplace lobby can be redesigned to become the beating heart of an office building.
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Professional
How can offices lure staff back?
A recent BBC survey neatly highlighted the situation we find ourselves in as more workers start to return to the office.