News
Teaching Small Developers How To Build Homes
Online mortgage marketplace LendInvest has recently announced that it is launching a property development academy, in order to help new home construction. Housing supply has been an issue for some time, and the fact that demand has outpaced supply has led to dramatic house price increases. Best Practice Building LendInvest plans to help to educate…
Read MorePINS Behind The Scenes
The performance of the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) has come under much scrutiny recently. About PINS But what is PINS? First and foremost it is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Welsh Government. And what does it actually do? Well, its job is to deal with planning appeals,…
Read MoreWhat does Brexit mean for Planning?
The past few weeks have seen massive political turmoil for the UK, as the referendum saw the electorate vote for us to leave the EU, and the two main parties have undergone major staffing changes. Thankfully we do now have a new PM on board to steer the ship! There are no end of experts…
Read MoreStarter Homes and Affordable Housing
Further to our blog last month, another hot topic in the debate that led to the recent Housing and Planning Act 2016 was starter homes, ie, houses that are to be sold at prices at least 20% below market value and aimed at first-time buyers under the age of 40. To be honest, we’re not…
Read MorePlaying ball with the Housing and Planning Bill
A game of ping pong has been played with the Housing and Planning Bill between the House of Commons and the House of Lords in recent weeks, as the bill has gone back and forth being amended. This, of course, has caused a lot of anxiety as all this to-and and fro-ing has seriously delayed…
Read MoreJumping for Joy in Peterborough
Apex Planning Consultants was really pleased to help the UK’s first indoor trampoline park gain planning permission in Milton Keynes – and Bounce (MK) is now a very successful leisure business, situated opposite the Stadium:MK development. So we were delighted when the same client asked us to help them prepare a planning application for a…
Read MorePersistence Pays Off in the World of Planning
Often when clients come to us they have spent a long time – sometimes years – trying to get planning permission. Once Apex Planning Consultants get involved, we can draw on our many years of experience in the planning world to achieve what has previously seemed achievable. Take, for instance, a client of ours who…
Read MoreHigh Court Decision and Rural Areas
What does the recent High Court decision mean for rural areas? The recent High Court decision (Dartford Borough Council v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government) has held that the definition of ‘previously developed land’ (also known as brownfield land) within Annex 2 of the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) excludes residential…
Read MoreA Great Start To The New Year
2016 certainly appears to have got off to a good start – with the announcement from David Cameron that the Government has promised to directly commission the building of homes on publicly owned land. This, he said, would lead to quality homes – many of which would involve smaller building companies – being built at…
Read MoreDevelopment of Affordable Homes in London
Islington Borough Council has been buoyed by Government comments after it raised the issue of land prices for land where new homes are to be developed. The problem is that because of London’s spiralling land prices, developers claim that they cannot put the required amount of affordable homes into a development, because their initial costs…
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