Legal
HS2 blight buys open up as rail route “safeguarded”
Owners of property along the the planned HS2 route between London and the West Midlands can, as of yesterday (9th July), ask the government to buy their property under statutory Blight procedures. S
Notting Hill gut job causes “irreversible damage” to listed building
An architect and building contractor have pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to causing irreversible damage to a Grade II listed townhouse in the heart of Notting Hill
Required Reading: How to Buy and Sell Short Leases
Short leases; big opportunity or tall order? We asked Child & Child's Katie Cohen and Mo Hakim and Prosper Marr-Johnson of Marr Johnson & Stevens to put together the definitive crib sheet...
Give and Take: The need-to-know on new permitted development rights
Several new permitted development rights, including office-to-residential and extended extensions, came into force on 30 May to allow certain works or changes of use without the need for planning permission
The Law Review: Judicial reviews, squatters, office-to-resi and social media
Mishcon de Reya's Real Estate team gives the skinny on the latest machinations in property law, including office-to-resi permitted development rights, changes to the judicial review system, squatters, …
Rozzers of Rent: Why lettings agents shouldn’t be on immigration duty
It's already tough enough being a letting agent, what with all the money laundering and cannabis farms, says James Bailey; new rules that will see agents and landlords policing tenants' immigration statuses…
Landlords’ immigration checks will be a “light touch” – Prisk
Mark Prisk, the Housing Minister, has claimed that landlords' responsibilities for checking the immigration status of their tenants, as proposed in the Queen's Speech, will be a "light touch"
Required Reading: Stamp duty land tax and prime residential property
Anthony Hennessy of Brecher deftly guides us through the SDLT maze, summarising the factors that owners of high value property should now be considering..
New immigration laws to tackle “beds in sheds”
"Tough" measures that will see lettings agents take a front-line role in tackling immigration, announced in yesterday’s (8 May 2013) Queen’s Speech, have not gone down well in the industry (read what Trev…
Intestacy Rules: How will the proposed changes affect rural property owners?
As the government announces potential changes to Rules of Intestate, Clive Beer of Savills Rural summarises the far reaching implications for rural property owners...
HMRC HNW unit nets a record £220m from wealthiest taxpayers
HMRC's specialist high net worth unit brought in a record £220 million of extra tax from Britain's 5,800 wealthiest individuals - those with assets of more than £20m - last year.
Mishcon bolsters property finance team
Mishcon de Reya has boosted its Real Estate Group by recruiting Raji Bartlett as a consultant.
Bartlett joins from SJ Berwin, where he was a Partner in the Finance Department for 16 years