November 2015 #336 – Law Journals

Planning Update: Room for improvement

Will strategic regional planning ever return to the English planning system? Daniel Murphy investigates how the current planning system could be improved ‘Local authorities now need to demonstrate that they have properly addressed strategic planning matters in their local plans and have complied with the duty to cooperate.’ One of the key themes arising from …

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Devolution Revolution: The new reforms to planning policy

Laura Nation considers the Chancellor’s proposals for devolution and their implications for planning and development. Are they an attempt to reintroduce regional strategies? ‘If Greater Manchester cannot come together with one voice on spatial planning matters, there is a risk that there is little hope of more fragmented multi-council entities finding a single, authoritative voice.’ …

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Party Walls: Special foundations

Basement extensions have brought with them a host of party wall issues. Stephen Bickford-Smith and Andrew Smith examine a case concerning ‘special foundations’ for the purposes of the Party Wall Act 1996 ‘It had long been argued on behalf of adjoining owners that reinforced concrete underpinning falls within the definition of “special foundations” in s20 …

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Business Rates: A backward step to uncertainty

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Alan Watson reports on the Chancellor’s announcement on rates at the Conservative Party conference earlier in October ‘There are obviously huge ramifications for businesses across the country and the combination of the Enterprise Bill and George Osborne’s rates proposals means that life is going to be very difficult for those who wish to challenge their …

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The Smoke And Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations: Cause for concern?

The new Regulations came into effect at the beginning of October. David Smith analyses their practical implications and highlights some problems ‘The Regulations are widely framed and apply to almost all residential tenancies. They apply to any situation where an occupier is granted a right to occupy a premises or part of one as their …

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Relief From Forfeiture: Making a molehill out of a mountain

Charlotte Ross explores a case concerning forfeiture of a head lease where the court refused to grant relief ‘There might be some breaches that would be so serious and irremediable as to justify the refusal of relief, but in most cases relief will be granted on the breach being remedied and the tenant paying the …

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Construction Focus: On-demand bonds – a return to form?

John Starr reviews recent cases highlighting that the courts will only interfere with irrevocable obligations, such as bonds, in exceptional cases ‘The only established exceptions to the rule that the court will not intervene should be where there is a seriously arguable case of fraud, or it has been clearly established that the beneficiary is …

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