Planning
Pickles wants cameras in planning meetings after bloggers threatened with arrest
Eric Pickles has warned that freedom of speech and independent journalism are under attack in local government, after local residents were threatened with arrest for filming and reporting council meetings
Defra puts the wind up DECC over rural house prices
There's a storm brewing between the Depart. for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Dept. for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) over what impact wind turbines have on rural house prices.
“Unprecedented” £825k planning fee for Kensington megabasement
A hedge fund manager is going to have to dig deeper than expected after being landed with an £825,000 Section 106 fee for a lumpy basement excavation in Ladbroke Grove.
Full steam ahead for Admiralty Arch hotel and resi scheme
Rafael Serrano has netted formal approval to turn Admiralty Arch into a hotel, private members' club and super-prime private residences, with construction due to kick off early next year.
Super-prime Campden Hill scheme to begin in early 2014
One of Kensington's most anticipated new schemes has just moved a step closer to construction
Move Along: Traveller sites given marching orders
Eric Pickles has told local councils that they should clamp down quickly on illegal encampments and unauthorised traveller sites, as he announced a new set of guidelines that gives "more power and a stronger…
Candy goes underground at Gordon House
Christian Candy is planning to create one of the biggest resi basement complexes in London under his new family pad, Gordon House in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Arrested Developments: The Doer Upper’s update
It's turning into a long Summer for our resident doer-upper Alan Page, as development matters take their sweet time to develop into a margin-worthy sale
Homes Shopping: Boles announces retail-to-resi permitted development rights
Planning Minister Nick Boles has announced a new batch of permitted development rights under a "town centre first" banner, including the right to turn non-prime retail sites and agricultural buildings…
Native Land gets planning nod for £300m Mayfair scheme
Developer Native Land had a corking result at last night's Westminster Planning & City Development Committee meeting, where approval was finally granted for the firm's £300m Old Burlington Street scheme.
Making the Grade: How to stay on the right side of heritage property laws
Legal eagle Nicky Richmond runs us through some of the big questions to ask before getting all romantic...
Return to tender as resi land values surge
Hot on the heels of Knight Frank's upbeat stats last week, CBRE is also pretty sanguine on the resi land value front, crediting improving consumer sentiment and government initiatives with an increasingly …