Miscellanea
Urban commons are under siege in the age of austerity – here’s how to protect them
The UK’s surviving urban commons are precious green spaces, says law professor Christopher Rodgers, but the laws that protect them are confusing, complicated and in some cases outdated...
Guy Meacock on the very real threat to London’s urban villages
London's idiosyncratic 'villages' - from Barnes to Marylebone High Street - contribute a large part to London's international appeal, says Guy Meacock of buying agency Prime Purchase.
Ranked: Britain’s ten most ‘in demand’ seaside towns
St Ives is the most popular coastal town in the country, according to property portal Rightmove
NYC apartment owners pay $11m to keep their views
Residents of a high-end block in west Manhattan have managed to prevent a new development from obstructing their views of the Empire State Building - without a court case in sight...
Resurgent British film industry drives luxury short-let boom in London & the Home Counties
Knight Frank reports an 82% boost in film-related enquiries, as tax breaks and currency movements bring increasing numbers of A-list stars and production crews to the UK
Hedgehog Highways & Bird Bricks: Government orders housebuilders to protect more wildlife
MHCLG publishes new guidance for property developers, with instructions on how 'to do more to protect Britain’s cherished wildlife'
Italian government to auction off historic palazzi and villas in €1bn ‘fire sale’
93 buildings - including an 11th Century former convent in Venice, and a 15th Century palazzo in Florence - are being sold off by the populist League and Five Star parties to help trim the country's €2.
On the Science of Place: Ten steps for successful placemaking (and why St James’s Square is officially London’s most beautiful address)
'Groundbreaking' study by Cadogan & Create Streets looks into what really makes a place tick, providing ten key steps for developers, architects, planning authorities and landowners to follow, and explaining…
Just six Local Authorities have moved land searches online
The Land Registry has been making strides along its "digital street" programme for some time, and this week marks a full year since the online Local Land Charges Register first went live.
‘We Are Hampstead!’: North London residents up in arms over boundary redraw
Proposals to reclassify a number of streets in the Hampstead Town ward as Gospel Oak have not gone down well in NW3...
Greedy fingers are wanting too big a slice of the property pie
Seasoned buying agent Simon Barnes reports on a worrying trend in the PCL market...
British Housing Ministers, ranked by their track record of delivering new homes
There have been 17 different Housing Ministers in the last 20 years, but who delivered the most new homes?